Has anyone received any propositions or deals from people interested in your stories before?

[Sylver]

I got a message from someone claiming to be an AE (acquisition editor) for Webnovel who was interested in my work and wanted to see if I'd be interested in sharing my work on their site, possibly under a contract if I was interested.

I wanted to share this to ask if anyone has had any similar experiences?

 

[Vnator]

I have, and so too have plenty of others.

But everyone here will tell you to stay far away from Webnovel. They take full ownership and rights of your work and slap you with a slave contract where you have to keep writing at an unsustainable rate or else you have to pay them back several times what they originally pay you. This also includes subsidiary companies working for them.

It's not worth the pittance they give you, and your time is much more valuable than that. But congratulations on joining the club! It means you're at least pretty good, so that's something to feel happy about!

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I did, but all were scams, or slave contracts, so I declined them all.

 

[YumekaWrites]

I have that before, but personally coming from someone who has works contracted on webnovel, I would not recommend their platform, they are very scammy, and if you sign a contract with them they own your story for 50 years, and you don't actually don't get 50% revenue from gifts amd chapter purchase, someone spent 9,000 coins on one of my series which equaled to well over $120 worth of coins that they sell themselves amd I got $27 from it. I quite posting chapter after I realized they scam their readers and writers.

 

[Mortrexo]

While it's true that Webnovel contracts are restrictive, people are still living five years back, and nowadays, they are not any different from any other reputable online "library." If you don't have a successful Patreon, and you are uploading the story daily with 2000+ words and struggling to find an audience, you can always try to read the terms of the contract. They do share them before you are obligated to accept anything.

Plus, the Webnovel audience, the ones who pay, are very loyal, and if you manage to create a fanbase, they will continue buying your chapters as long as you don't mess up too badly. Moreover, you can always wait for their many competitions and ask them to participate once these competitions occur to gain further reach among the core audience of Webnovel.

They've reached out to me a few times, but since, as I said, I managed to get a good Patreon fanbase, I haven't accepted. Plus, "non-exclusive" contracts exist, where the only limitation is to post two advanced chapters on Webnovel without counting Patreon.

 

[prognastat]

I've received them, but ignored them. Don't think my work is good enough for someone to actually reach out to me to sign me for anything that isn't meant to screw me over. It's passable, but passable doesn't get people reaching out to you.

There are a lot of shitty contracts/publishers. Unless you are reaching out yourself to a reputable publisher be prepared that they are likely trying to scam you.

You can always check it out, if you read it yourself and find anything suspect I would call things off. if you don't find anything suspect and are thinking about moving forward get a lawyer involved to see what they think about any contracts. If the moment you start saying anything about getting a lawyer to look/second opinion they start trying to pressure you in any way like saying they don't have a lot of time or they can only guarantee the offered rate for a certain time or anything like it, it's 100% a scam.

 

[LilRora]

I did, though not from Webbovel. I think they offered me something around 0,60 dollars for a thousand views my story makes on their site. I declined then, for multiple reasons including how ridiculously little that is.

 

[Corty]

Just write a lot of swear words, and make it so all your stories have all three warning boxes ticked and they will leave you alone.

Worked for me.

 

[J_Chemist]

I was given actually a very nice offer for publishing my story but declined. Not because it was a bad offer, as I'm still very enticed by it, but I just don't feel that my story is up to "standard" and I never went into this with the idea of making money. Not that it wouldn't be nice, but I don't like the idea of putting my story behind a paywall. I love the idea of keeping my story open and easily accessible to people. Though, I think I still could even if I took the offer but I'm uncertain. I'd have to ask. For now though, I don't think I have the energy to spare for publishing. Maybe in the future.

There is a piece of me that would love to see my story up for sale somewhere but I know the colossal effort it would take to convert that behemoth into a printable book. I exported it to an epub file a few days ago and my first book was 1,100 something pages. Insanity.

 

[Lorelliad]

Got one from Webnovel and something called A&D Entertainment. Didn't take either.

 

[Kureous]

I was given actually a very nice offer for publishing my story but declined. Not because it was a bad offer, as I'm still very enticed by it, but I just don't feel that my story is up to "standard" and I never went into this with the idea of making money. Not that it wouldn't be nice, but I don't like the idea of putting my story behind a paywall. I love the idea of keeping my story open and easily accessible to people. Though, I think I still could even if I took the offer but I'm uncertain. I'd have to ask. For now though, I don't think I have the energy to spare for publishing. Maybe in the future.

There is a piece of me that would love to see my story up for sale somewhere but I know the colossal effort it would take to convert that behemoth into a printable book. I exported it to an epub file a few days ago and my first book was 1,100 something pages. Insanity.

1100 pages?!

 

[J_Chemist]

1100 pages?!

It's a long story.

/s

 

[PancakesWitch]

Webnovel Contracts are not really slave contracts, people update every day to just keep readers engaged. you are not forced to post at all if you want. there are thousands of novels in that site that have been dropped for years, nothing ever happens to anybody lol. stop believing such weird rumors. However, it is true that they take a big share of it, and most authors that suck at making a cool and engaging story won't find any money there either, you have to really know the rule of cool, rule of cliffhanger, and go with the most popular things to earn any penny there. I myself make thousands there with ease, and I would say its good as long as you can go with the flow and the genres they like, and your writing is fun and fitting for the audience.
AD if im pretty sure is a half-contract, like, it doenst own your shit, it simply lets you profit off webnovel affiliated novels by putting your chapters to be paid there. But I doubt its convenient for anybody that is not a full time author, so just decline if you write for fun and upload like a chapter week or something (lol).
I would say never take any contract and never think you can earn money from your novels unless you get serious about it and become a full time author, this is not a market for half-assed people. You either go full on more than 3 chapters a week, hopefully almost daily to keep your audience engaged (in any site, even outside webnovel), or you just forget it.

 

[Tyranomaster]

I did, though not from Webbovel. I think they offered me something around 0,60 dollars for a thousand views my story makes on their site. I declined then, for multiple reasons including how ridiculously little that is.

So you're saying the story I only wrote 12 chapters on webnovel that I abandoned because I was just using it as a place to build up my writing skill is worth almost $150 now? Damn, maybe I did bet on the wrong horse. I'm only kidding however, as I'm glad I never took a webnovel contract. I'd enter into amazon, but never would I accept a company pay me for my shoddy work that is a "first draft" web novel.

I do put effort into my webnovel, but if I ever decide to publish, it has a lot more work to be done before its book worthy, there is a lot of editing and story changes I'd like to make in retrospect before I'd full publish it. I'm thankful to my patrons for supporting me though! They get a lot of advanced chapters out of the deal, plus they're actually funding me working on the project more (you know, like a patron). When a company does it though, it feels weird. Like, letting someone pay to see a first draft is great. Paying someone to pump out a bunch of first drafts and leaving them at that stage is less great.

Idk, maybe I value physical books too much, and should just be happy with web publication.

 

[LuoirM]

I've read about them but I've never been contacted by them, am I a failure?

 

[Mortrexo]

I've read about them but I've never been contacted by them, am I a failure?

They can't really reach out to everybody. In their editor, though, there is a really easy way to reach out to them. You just need to post enough words and have enough views. But, as I said before, be careful and read thoroughly through the terms.

 

[Corty]

Webnovel Contracts are not really slave contracts, people update every day to just keep readers engaged. you are not forced to post at all if you want. there are thousands of novels in that site that have been dropped for years, nothing ever happens to anybody lol. stop believing such weird rumors. However, it is true that they take a big share of it, and most authors that suck at making a cool and engaging story won't find any money there either, you have to really know the rule of cool, rule of cliffhanger, and go with the most popular things to earn any penny there. I myself make thousands there with ease, and I would say its good as long as you can go with the flow and the genres they like, and your writing is fun and fitting for the audience.
AD if im pretty sure is a half-contract, like, it doenst own your shit, it simply lets you profit off webnovel affiliated novels by putting your chapters to be paid there. But I doubt its convenient for anybody that is not a full time author, so just decline if you write for fun and upload like a chapter week or something (lol).
I would say never take any contract and never think you can earn money from your novels unless you get serious about it and become a full time author, this is not a market for half-assed people. You either go full on more than 3 chapters a week, hopefully almost daily to keep your audience engaged (in any site, even outside webnovel), or you just forget it.

The grant of rights is exclusive and extends for the life of copyright, and there is virtually no provision for termination by the author.

Lengthy, irrevocable contract terms are a common feature of serialized fiction apps, and Webnovel is no exception. Since the contract is governed by Hong Kong law, that means it extends for 50 years beyond the author’s death (rather than the 70 that’s the law in the US and most of Europe–not much comfort)

The only circumstance in which the author can terminate is in the event of breach by Webnovel (Clause 8.2). Such breach is defined as author income that has gone unpaid for more than 30 days, or “breach of [Webnovel’s] obligations stipulated under this Agreement”. There is no provision for the author to cancel at will, or even to remove their work from the Webnovel platform.

The author does retain copyright, and the contract is explicit that moral rights aren’t being transferred or waived (Clause 2.5). Nevertheless, many writers presented with this contract may not fully appreciate the implications of contracting their work 50 years beyond their death with virtually no ability to regain control of their rights.

then there is this:

Writers who express interest in the non-exclusive contract are contacted by a second person, who claims they got the writer’s “details” from the Webnovel editor who made the initial approach. This new person, however, is actually from A&D Entertainment, and the non-exclusive contracts they offer are A&D contracts (the switch).

– There’s what amounts to an ethics clause (Clause 4.3), which requires authors to “uphold the reputation of EMP Entertainment” and decrees that they “shall
not engage in any activities which in the opinion of EMP Entertainment, reasonably held,
may be harmful to the reputation of EMP Entertainment or its interests.” Companies can and do abuse such clauses–something that’s made even easier when the terms are as vague as they are here.

– Authors receive 50% of “net revenue”, which sounds good until you realize that it’s actually net profit

Aaaaaand there is so much more.

I'd like to see your contract if possible to compare. Of course, censor your private information first if you decide to indulge us, and let us see the contract that brings in "thousands" easily and what terms you are being subjugated to.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Common Web Novel L

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Webnovel Contracts are not really slave contracts, people update every day to just keep readers engaged. you are not forced to post at all if you want. there are thousands of novels in that site that have been dropped for years, nothing ever happens to anybody lol. stop believing such weird rumors. However, it is true that they take a big share of it, and most authors that suck at making a cool and engaging story won't find any money there either, you have to really know the rule of cool, rule of cliffhanger, and go with the most popular things to earn any penny there. I myself make thousands there with ease, and I would say its good as long as you can go with the flow and the genres they like, and your writing is fun and fitting for the audience.
AD if im pretty sure is a half-contract, like, it doenst own your shit, it simply lets you profit off webnovel affiliated novels by putting your chapters to be paid there. But I doubt its convenient for anybody that is not a full time author, so just decline if you write for fun and upload like a chapter week or something (lol).
I would say never take any contract and never think you can earn money from your novels unless you get serious about it and become a full time author, this is not a market for half-assed people. You either go full on more than 3 chapters a week, hopefully almost daily to keep your audience engaged (in any site, even outside webnovel), or you just forget it.

Interesting perspective, so you didn't have any issues with Webnovel contracts. In the community, they are often talked about as if they're the ultimate evil. In any case, congratulations on being able to make a living from your writing. It's clear that there's a lot of work behind it, and it's something to be taken seriously. I respect people who work hard.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Yes. I ignored them. There are lots of scammers these days. And even if they're legit, any decently successful publishers—even ones that just started out—wouldn't go looking for a random author on the internet.