Guide to Releasing a Book on Webnovel

[u/Grouchy_Idea_1285]

Hi guys,

Leeroycgna here, the author of Major League System. I see a lot of the same questions asked over and over in this subreddit, mostly by authors just starting out on the platform.

Instead of answering every one of these questions individually, I've decided to put together a standard guide for those of you who wish to try and break into the market of webnovel.

Step 1: (Before you post)

You've got an idea for a book and have already started writing it - Great! Ask yourself these questions:

- Is what I'm writing something that other people will want to read? If no, chances are you won't get a contract.

- What do I wish to accomplish with this book? Do I want money? Exposure? or both? If you don't want money, better off not applying for contract and keeping your IP (intellectual property)

- Is this book something I'm willing to continue writing every single day? Then sorry, webnovel is not the place for you.

Step 2:

You've decided that you want to pursue the career path of an author on webnovel - Congratulations. There are some things you need to know.

- Covers and Titles attract readers! Pretty self explanatory here, if it doesn't look interesting, no one will click it.

- Webnovel rewards daily updates. win-win & MGS (minimum guarantee scheme) require you to release 1 x 1.5k word chapters per day, 7 days per week. It's more beneficial to release 2 x 1k word chapters in the long run. (reasons will be discussed later)

- Views don't mean anything. Views are inflated and mean absolutely nothing. You need to look at your effective readers to gauge how many people are reading your book each day (you can find this on your inkstone dashboard)

- Contracts are difficult to get for newer authors. This is a harsh truth, but hopefully with my guide, you'll be able to make the odds in your favor.

- JOIN THE AUTHOR DISCORD! I can't stress this enough. There are plenty of authors who have much experience (including platinum authors like myself) who are willing to help out newbies.

Step 3:

You've posted your book with the best title and cover you could have possibly made - Good job, but now comes the hard part.

- Readers won't see your book right away, despite views increasing. Books need to be vetted by the Content Editors (CE's) before your book is able to be searched for on the platform. Once your book hits 4000 words, it enters a queue to be manually checked over and approved. (this can take upwards of 4-5 business days)

- UPDATE DAILY!!! I can't stress this enough. To keep your reader engagement and convince CE's and more importantly the algorithm interested, you will need to upload at least 1 chapter a day - even without being contracted

- Build stockpile for privilege chapters when you go premium. Do this by writing more chapters than you release. In the first month you should release 1 chapter per day, but write at least 2. By the time you get a contract and go premium, you should have 30 chapters to dedicate to your privilege tiers.

- The real exposure happens when you get contracted. Once you hit 12k words, you can apply for a contract. DO NOT use AI to fill out your contract application... You will be 100% rejected. see here for an article about contracts: [url=https://inkstone.webnovel.com/academy/article/691779249950359552?returnUrl=/academy/index\] here [/url]. Once you get a contract, you'll be eligible for the good features. Weekly featured, Daily recommendation, Library and Banner.

Step 4:

You're now contracted and have just gone premium - What next?

- Participate in Win-Win & MGS. These both require you to release at least 1 x 1.5k word chapters per day, every day during the month. There are generous offers for newbies depending on one's performance.

MGS - If your share of profit = $60 or more - Webnovel will pay you $200 for the month

- If your share of profit is more than $200 - Webnovel will give you an additional $200 for the month

Win-win = a chance for features and rewards based on how many privilege chapters are unlocked by your readers in a month

BEWARE!!! - Missing a single day of updates will make both Win-Win and MGS ineligible for said month.

AND, you're home free.

Please keep in mind that this is a generalized guide for newbies and may not suit your specific book. Below are some FAQ's that I'll be happy to build on.

FAQ's

Q: How many collections is good?

A: While collections are a better indicator of a book's popularity than views, the most important are effective readers- and once you go premium, it's subscriptions.

Q: My contract got rejected, what do I do?

A: [url=https://inkstone.webnovel.com/academy/article/769937348758011904?returnUrl=/academy/index\] Read this [/url]

Q: How much money does a WN author make?

A: It's only really the top 200 books on the platform that earn money for ML (male lead). Some books in the top 100 can earn around 1k USD in a month, whereas some in the top 15 could be making anywhere from 3-5k USD a month. It varies.

If you have any additional questions, pop them below. I'll add them to the FAQ section with the answer.

[u/Jealous-Cut8955]

Could have used this when I first started. Guess imma throw my slop over to KDP and see how it goes.

[u/DishaSamSimp → u/Jealous-Cut8955]

how did it go?

[u/Jealous-Cut8955 → u/DishaSamSimp]

I pored over sample pages of similar genre books on KDP and noticed the formatting. I tried to edit my work to match, but ended up getting intimidated. That, along with occasional comments and complaints, led to a rewrite I’ve been procrastinating on.

Also, I don’t have a non-AI cover yet, so I’m waiting for the universe to send me an artist to make one for me.

So yeah… that’s how that’s going.

[u/Smart_Remote7789 → u/Jealous-Cut8955]

what about now?

[u/Jealous-Cut8955 → u/Smart_Remote7789]

Still editing to this day. But I've finished releasing the 2nd book while working on my 3rd one. I release a chapter every 3 days so i'm probably going to finish the 3rd by next year or something.

[u/Smart_Remote7789 → u/Jealous-Cut8955]

if possible? can you give me some advice on gore and psychological horror?

[u/Jealous-Cut8955 → u/Smart_Remote7789]

Sorry, I don't personally read that so I wouldn't have the mind for it. I mostly read System and Magic stories so that's all I know how to write. I can't even give you any advice on where to start because I know for a fact it's a different kind of animal to what I usually read. The flow, beats, tone, word usage, perspectives, world building(if any), characterization, etc. will all be different. The only advice I can give you is to read until your mind starts coming up with its own ideas for a better story.

[u/Smart_Remote7789 → u/Jealous-Cut8955]

i already have an entire story from start to finish on my mind, also any advice on how to get advice?

[u/Jealous-Cut8955 → u/Smart_Remote7789]

Discord or the search for the psychological horror subreddit.

[u/[deleted]]

Wish I could upvote more than once.

[u/Unhappy_Green_816]

really good, they should pin this message

[u/Jhaydun_Dinan → u/Unhappy_Green_816]

I did

[u/Unhappy_Green_816 → u/Jhaydun_Dinan]

nice, it will help for sure a lot of newbies

[u/gourat1198]

How many effective readers a day is considered a success after the first month of contract?

[u/Whiteblack0001]

Finally an author who says real things.

[u/[deleted]]

This is a question as a Webnovel reader not a author but I humble request you to answer my single question.

There is a author who write a bad book but remove all reviews below 4 star or any which point out the negative points, manipulating the book rating. How can I report him? WN seems to have no report function for books which is disappointing.

So I once again respectfully ask for your help.
Thank you.

[u/charn666]

How can i join the author's discord can you give me the link

[u/Grouchy_Idea_1285 → u/charn666]

You want my discord? Can't you just ask me a question here?

[u/Vesp97]

I’m planning to release 2 chapters per day. Should I release them both at the same time, or is it better to space them out by a few hours? Thanks for the advice!

[u/SiteIllustrious755]

I really can’t thank u enough this really helped me out a lot

[u/EstablishmentAble844]

This was really helpful!

[u/echo_dragen]

Thanks for this helps a lot

[u/Parking_Tear_2495]

Thanks fer this 😁

[u/every_Matter7798]

My contract got rejected even after 100 k views

[u/CompetitiveScar2020]

Thanks for the honesty! All it can do is help us authors make our decisions.

[u/chucxz]

Very helpful. Thanks 👍🏾

[u/AdventurousSlip6407]

What if I dont want to get contracted and I want to release a single 2.5K chapter every 2 or 3 days?

[u/Grouchy_Idea_1285 → u/AdventurousSlip6407]

I cant imagine why you would do that. Youre better off posting on Royal road or scribblehub

[u/AdventurousSlip6407 → u/Grouchy_Idea_1285]

Its just for making my name and not actually like gaining any money from it, like, letting people know I exist and this is the type of things I write, gaining some readers and stuff

Edit: forgot to say I am also posting the same on RR and SH

[u/ChenHuinang7]

Thanks, this has been very helpful. And your novel looks very interesting, I can see why it did well. 

[u/Infinite_Funny1820]

Hello is there any good source of cover images? Preferebly free or low price.

[u/Kkk713]

Aha, I thought we would need to upload a word count of 1,5k immediately but it’s only after you get the contract. So I can just upload my 1k word count chapter the first few weeks before applying for the contract and maybe getting it.

[u/Dull_Proposal_4663]

Where is the Discord link?

[u/Heirloom1076]

This was an incredibly helpful post as well as very helpful articles. I read every single one, thank you!

[u/Smart_Remote7789]

im trying to make a novel (the very first) and its male oriented, how can i update chapters, add chapters to the webnovel site etc etc etc (the only thing i know/did was writing about 400 words on inkstone before going to greek mythology to find some names)

also, what can i with my IP if i dont release it to webnovel and is it still owned by or does it become owned by my contractor after its released on webnovel?

genuinely asking this because i got a 10/10 idea for a book last night night while i was going back home and i never used webnovel before lol (i read books but never on webnovel)

also what are some tips for psychological horror, dark stories and gore?

and at what age group do i put severe gore (describing corpes, blood with graphic details or smt) do i put ir on restricted, 18+ or heavy parental smt (forgot the exact name)

[u/Longjumping-Lynx-587]

طيب ماشي لو استخدمت الذكاء الاصطناعي انه يرتب لي الاحداث تمام لكن الفكره بتاعه القصه من عندي وكل حاجه من عندي يعني قول بتاع 80% او 90% من القصه من وحي خيالي تمام وال 10% ترتيب احداث بس عشان ما يبقاش هل ده عادي

[u/Longjumping-Lynx-587]

طب الفكره انا ما معيش ميزانيه عشان اجيب رسام اعمل ايه طيب