What is your opinion of Webnovel.com?

[KaraKuriKurari]

So, I've been hearing that Webnovel is a pretty bad place for your novel, there's also the constant plagiarism going on there from what I hear. The question is do you like Webnovel yes or no? If so Why?

For me personally I have no beef with this website. Yet. It's just that they seemed to have generated fake views when you posted a chapter, that makes me kind of sad, and I feel like they lied to to me?

 

[Ace_Arriande]

Disregarding all the usual "bad Chinese company is bad and unethical" stuff that somebody else will probably cover:

As a reader, as far as I know, the only reason to really dislike it is the pay-to-unlock system where you basically end up paying per chapter. But honestly, it's just a more micro version of locking chapters in bulk behind Patreon walls which far fewer people complain about. Though, some readers might be put off by the hundreds upon hundreds of "reviews" that are 5 stars with copy-pasted text that literally reads like "Fdshgghrfesdhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." You can't really trust any numbers on there to be legitimate.

As an author, they are manipulative, unresponsive, and absolute utter shit. First off, if you post your stories to their platform and then want to delete them, there's no way to do it. If you email them and ask them to please remove your stories, they will lie to you in your face and say that they can't. That they literally can not delete the stories (despite somehow doing it whenever DMCA'ed). I had to upload gay porn to my cover and spam copyrighted material into my stories for 3 months in order to get Webnovel to finally realize I was breaking the rules and to delete my stories. Then there's all the controversy regarding their contract which is basically putting you into slave labor while taking complete ownership of your series away from you for less pay than you would make pursuing the normal Patreon -> Amazon route. Then there's not being able to use italicized/bolded/underlined text which is all extremely simple but not possible at all there, which is pretty silly. That being said, to try and be fair here, they have an excellent portal for authors with tons of stat tracking. Their author portal is honestly the best one out of all web serial platforms I know of.

So, it's alright for readers but shit for authors unless they're desperate, clueless, or just don't care about being taken advantage of.

 

[ForestDweller]

I only post there for exposure. Just don't accept their contract.

 

[gaylolis]

haven't been there for like forever.

their paywall sucks so i usually went to pirate sites to read them. their comment section was pretty good though--tons of meme material.

it's too bad i need to unlock the chapter to read the comments.

 

[The_LivingLegend]

I feel bad for any author that has to write there and I feel bad for any reader that wanted to read a novel but its paywalled.

 

[K5Rakitan]

My story is fanfiction and I'll never make money from it, so I post it everywhere I can because there aren't enough good reverse harem stories out there. It looks like I get a lot of readers on Webnovel, but they are mostly silent. I also don't like how I can't use italic font or post illustrations, so I tell people they can come to Scribble Hub if they want a better reading experience.

I don't read much there because of the whole paywall thing, but I get a few free unlock passes every day, I'm patient, and this story is 100% worth the wait:

Read Beauty And The Beasts Manga - Webnovel Comics - Webnovel

"Enjoy the extra wild taste of these sexy beasts!"#Beastmen #Reverse Harem #Transmigration#2019+2020 Female Lead No.1【Update: Tue Fri】As soon as she fell into the world of beastmen, a leopard forcibly took her back to his home. Indeed, Bai QingQing is at a complete and utter loss. The males in...

www.webnovel.com

 

[Deleted member 29316]

I upload my stories there too, and it's for free.

I haven't encountered any problems yet, save for some special readers. But that doesn't say anything on the system there. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[Stratothrax]

The actual site seems pretty well designed. Royal road likely has 3-4 times the traffic that scribblehub has, Webnovel likely has 3-4 times the traffic that Royal road has so in terms of the audience it is well worth getting in to.

 

[Ace_Arriande]

I only post there for exposure. Just don't accept their contract.

The actual site seems pretty well designed. Royal road likely has 3-4 times the traffic that scribblehub has, Webnovel likely has 3-4 times the traffic that Royal road has so in terms of the audience it is well worth getting in to.

The Webnovel app alone has had over 10 million installs on the playstore, so there's definitely a massive audience there. I don't think that much of it is faked, either, like some people like to believe without any evidence. However, while there is a giant audience there for exposure, the problem is how valuable that audience is if you're trying to build a reputation/fanbase. Similar to how Reddit users are the most worthless (literally) users among any social media website in the sense that they produce significantly less revenue than users of every other platform (Instagram users being the most valuable), Webnovel readers are significantly less valuable than RR readers and SH readers. You might get a lot of them, but they're there strictly for your story. They don't care about you, the author. They are less likely to follow you to your Patreon. They are less likely to read your other stories just because you wrote them. They probably won't follow you to Amazon if you publish there and not many will join your Discord server or sign up for a newsletter or anything. The webnovel audience is very much quantity over quality, so anybody who is trying to post to Webnovel for more exposure would be better off spending that time posting to other platforms where the users are more likely to actually have interest in the author.

Of course, that's all looking at it from the perspective that people usually mean when they're trying to build up an audience and get exposure. If you just want to share your story with as many people as possible and don't care about those things, then go for it. It's worth it. But if somebody is trying to get exposure to build up their potential career as an author or anything like that, it's one of the worst sites for that. This is speaking from personal experience and the experience of other authors with successful Patreons and the like that I know. You would honestly be better off trying to build a Twitter/Instagram/Facebook presence.

And while I'm on the topic, RR readers are the most valuable as they are the most willing to pledge to things like Patreon, buy your book from Amazon, and follow your social media and whatnot, while SH is between the two.

 

[ChubbyLiv]

Post your novel on Webnovel the sooner the better or some "reader/fan of your work" will do it in your stead one day with an excuse that everyone is doing it.

So at least, when your novel appears there, you're the author.

It's not that bad.

Very nice for extra exposure.

 

[KaraKuriKurari]

I only post there for exposure. Just don't accept their contract.

Yeah I think I'm just gonna post there for the purpose of exposure only.

 

[KaraKuriKurari]

The Webnovel app alone has had over 10 million installs on the playstore, so there's definitely a massive audience there. I don't think that much of it is faked, either, like some people like to believe without any evidence. However, while there is a giant audience there for exposure, the problem is how valuable that audience is if you're trying to build a reputation/fanbase. Similar to how Reddit users are the most worthless (literally) users among any social media website in the sense that they produce significantly less revenue than users of every other platform (Instagram users being the most valuable), Webnovel readers are significantly less valuable than RR readers and SH readers. You might get a lot of them, but they're there strictly for your story. They don't care about you, the author. They are less likely to follow you to your Patreon. They are less likely to read your other stories just because you wrote them. They probably won't follow you to Amazon if you publish there and not many will join your Discord server or sign up for a newsletter or anything. The webnovel audience is very much quantity over quality, so anybody who is trying to post to Webnovel for more exposure would be better off spending that time posting to other platforms where the users are more likely to actually have interest in the author.

Of course, that's all looking at it from the perspective that people usually mean when they're trying to build up an audience and get exposure. If you just want to share your story with as many people as possible and don't care about those things, then go for it. It's worth it. But if somebody is trying to get exposure to build up their potential career as an author or anything like that, it's one of the worst sites for that. This is speaking from personal experience and the experience of other authors with successful Patreons and the like that I know. You would honestly be better off trying to build a Twitter/Instagram/Facebook presence.

And while I'm on the topic, RR readers are the most valuable as they are the most willing to pledge to things like Patreon, buy your book from Amazon, and follow your social media and whatnot, while SH is between the two.

I kind of want to make a Patreon, so for you to tell me all of this info is really helpful for me, thank you!

 

[ChronicleCrawler]

So, I've been hearing that Webnovel is a pretty bad place for your novel, there's also the constant plagiarism going on there from what I hear. The question is do you like Webnovel yes or no? If so Why?

For me personally I have no beef with this website. Yet. It's just that they seemed to have generated fake views when you posted a chapter, that makes me kind of sad, and I feel like they lied to to me?

I tried researching more about this topic and dive in into webnovel so that I can personally have a taste of what the others are feeling as an author. And yes, I added my work there. No BS or hate - just pure logic of what I am seeing there.

Webnovel's platform - It's good. They have a very interesting site and one of the most visited e-novel platform. Just like what Ace has said. This place boasts a lot of readers. And just like any other site out there, I'm still seeing a lot of growth potential for their traffic - they're literally spending money. So, it is a good place if you want to get some exposure for your novel.

Webnovel readers -The readers are incredibly diverse. I have readers from kenya, south Africa, USA, EU, UK, US, Mid east, etc. There are a few bad eggs in the review section which just comment on anything they want simply because they need to earn some lvl exp. Yes, readers do level up over there. The higher the level the greater the powerstone (for voting novels) energy stone (for choosing possible new novels).

Webnovel author's platform - It's a good place since they provide extensive stats for you. From your views, valid reads, power stone earnings, reviews, collections, etc. The downside here is that they don't have any italics or bold. You also can't use special characters (you'll get police by their system). Their system also doesn't encourage Patreon or other donate sites. Nevertheless, if all you want is exposure its good. Oh, you also can't delete your novel but you can erase your chapters somehow and add that your on hiatus.

Webnovel Contract - this is a big issue for many. Of course even for me. They have a low barrier entry to get a contract so you can't expect much. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure. They do pay. And if your good, they do pay big especially if you are from low to middle-income economies which doesn't have much opportunity for publishing. Oh, based on what I am seeing - those countries with such economic status is their target author base. If your from EU or first-world country, you won't like their contract very much. Well, at least they won't force you to sign. I have a lot of online friends over there and they're earning. So as far as I know, they don't scam but their contract is a pain ain the ass and has a lot to improve on. I won't elaborate much on this since there's a lot of threads for this. It's only a matter of perspective. I mean, if they can pay you and you know that your novel can't earn like the big guys in Patreon - its a good deal. But hey, a piece of advice - read the contract properly, research, and ask questions. PS: they don't contract fanfiction.

 

[Daitengu]

As a user web novel is a pain in the ass. I don't use the app, cause I don't trust em.

As for why it's a pain, let's say I want to read a fantasy female protag yuri. I can go fantasy, I can go female protag, I can't advance search tags for both. And GL on yuri/les as that ain't a tag.

If you post a novel, I wouldn't be able to find it under the absolute tons of pants on head dumb chinese novels. Especially since I can only look up genres.

And fan fic? GL 99.9% are dropped.

Also as a reader, any time I stock up those freebie unlocks past 21, they get magically dropped to 8 - 15 the next day. Basically I just read 1 novel with unlocks and pirate the rest. And let's be honest, publishers printing physical books is the only way I buy them.

 

[IDreamNovels]

As a user web novel is a pain in the ass. I don't use the app, cause I don't trust em.

As for why it's a pain, let's say I want to read a fantasy female protag yuri. I can go fantasy, I can go female protag, I can't advance search tags for both. And GL on yuri/les as that ain't a tag.

If you post a novel, I wouldn't be able to find it under the absolute tons of pants on head dumb chinese novels. Especially since I can only look up genres.

And fan fic? GL 99.9% are dropped.

Also as a reader, any time I stock up those freebie unlocks past 21, they get magically dropped to 8 - 15 the next day. Basically I just read 1 novel with unlocks and pirate the rest. And let's be honest, publishers printing physical books is the only way I buy them.

It's because they expire after a week or so, so forget about stacking them.

 

[Sheng_Ling]

The Webnovel app alone has had over 10 million installs on the playstore, so there's definitely a massive audience there. I don't think that much of it is faked, either, like some people like to believe without any evidence. However, while there is a giant audience there for exposure, the problem is how valuable that audience is if you're trying to build a reputation/fanbase. Similar to how Reddit users are the most worthless (literally) users among any social media website in the sense that they produce significantly less revenue than users of every other platform (Instagram users being the most valuable), Webnovel readers are significantly less valuable than RR readers and SH readers. You might get a lot of them, but they're there strictly for your story. They don't care about you, the author. They are less likely to follow you to your Patreon. They are less likely to read your other stories just because you wrote them. They probably won't follow you to Amazon if you publish there and not many will join your Discord server or sign up for a newsletter or anything. The webnovel audience is very much quantity over quality, so anybody who is trying to post to Webnovel for more exposure would be better off spending that time posting to other platforms where the users are more likely to actually have interest in the author.

Of course, that's all looking at it from the perspective that people usually mean when they're trying to build up an audience and get exposure. If you just want to share your story with as many people as possible and don't care about those things, then go for it. It's worth it. But if somebody is trying to get exposure to build up their potential career as an author or anything like that, it's one of the worst sites for that. This is speaking from personal experience and the experience of other authors with successful Patreons and the like that I know. You would honestly be better off trying to build a Twitter/Instagram/Facebook presence.

And while I'm on the topic, RR readers are the most valuable as they are the most willing to pledge to things like Patreon, buy your book from Amazon, and follow your social media and whatnot, while SH is between the two.

To start writing in RR, do you need to pay something, or is it free like the webnovel until you accept a contract?

 

[Daitengu]

It's because they expire after a week or so, so forget about stacking them.

Well that's dumb. I'm an arc reader, not a chapter reader. I'll sit on a novel till there's like 50 chapters or a complete arc. I have some SUPER slow novels in my bookmarks from a year ago. Just waiting for the arc to be done.

 

[IDreamNovels]

Webnovel views are fake. I've experimented with first recording the number of views, then opening a chap. Then noting the number of views again. They multiply the view count by some factor, around ~4 I think. Either that or every page in app counts as a view. I am not entirely sure. However, the number of views is inflated without a dout.

 

[S10]

Personally, I find webnovel ok.

The fast pass system is annoying at times but you can make ALTs to circumvent it or pirate if you really want to.

I have never seen plagiarised novels recommended but /shug. It apparently is a problem.

The contract situation is special.
People mostly hate on the contract but imo it pays money. It actually does pat in the end (even if not much). The system works. There is no guarantee that your novel will even succeed in Amazon and you may make a bit from patreon but if you can be a content farm and consistently make 1.5k chapters every single day you can make a few hundred dollars a month from the guarentee system even if noone reads your novel.
Though this isn't good for people with slow release rates as you will only get the money from coins which won't be that much.
May authors seem to be fine with the contract.
I do wish webnovel made a looser one tho as some of the things in there are insane.h

 

[ChronicleCrawler]

To start writing in RR, do you need to pay something, or is it free like the webnovel until you accept a contract?

Free just like SH- but expect some harsh trashing if some goons past through your work expecting it as a work of Stephen King. So meh. RR is also a very good platform. No contract but they encourage you to create Patreon, or paypall an offer some advance chappois or whatever you can offer.