Webnovel. Anyone know much about them? Anyone distribute with them?

[alhawke]

So my rule of thumb is to press the delete button on unsolicited emails, but this one was interesting. I received an email with flattery naming my book and asking if I was interested in a "business" relationship with Webnovel, a Chinese retailer. I did some homework and read a two year old thread on Kboards. Apparently they contract "non-exclusively" with authors for a service similar to Scribd, paying per page. But I read that their contract involves taking copyright. Not gonna do that. Unfortunately, the whole thing smells fishy to me and to good to be true.

So, I'm curious. I suppose if a bunch of you is marketing your books there, I won't be so hesitant. But I have a feeling this isn't as good as it sounds. Have any of you been approached by them?

[TimothyEllis]

You need to go read the fine print on their site to get the whole picture.

The per page payout is really low.

The expectations are really high.

Anyone who thinks they can make money from this site, or actually does, would do a great deal better on Kindle.

I wasn't aware Webnovel was Chinese though, but it makes sense, as that's how they do things there from what I hear.

As far as I can see, its a net to catch all the naive first time writers.

[alhawke]

Thanks, Tim. Always looking for new opportunities, but I'll take a pass on this one.

[LilyBLily]

All these guys start with generic praise for one of our novels because they know we love to receive compliments on our babies. Keep to your usual rule.