To start things off, let me explain the structure of this chapter. It will be divided into the main info (that works for everyone) and the current info (Put as second, given how not everyone might care, especially later on)
1 - Going premium and what does that mean?
In short words, writing, like everything else, requires a lot of time and effort to be done. There is a great difference between writing one story as a hobby and as a serious project. With all the different stories and projects that I continue at this point, going premium (pay-to-read) was never a matter of if, but when. Just like everyone, in order to write as much as I do, I need to spend time on it. And given the writing workload that I'm taking on myself, I can't simply do it as a hobby anymore (I treat writing as my full-time job for over a year now). I need to pay rent like everyone, pay taxes like everyone, and from time to time, it would be nice to actually eat something. And ultimately, isn't doing what we love and living off that the greatest goal that anyone could ever have?
So in short words, going premium with a novel means that from a certain point (in this case, from chapter 66 onwards), the chapters will get locked behind a paywall.
2 - What is a paywall and how to work around it?
Locking chapters behind paywall basically means that said locked chapters needs to be... well... unlocked. You can do it with "Fast Passes" that are distributed for free by Webnovel (you earn them by fulfilling daily tasks like checking-in or voting) or you can unlock the chapters by using coins (paid currency one has to buy).
3 - What's the difference between coins and fast passes?
There are basically two. A single fast pass unlocks a single chapter, no matter its length (unless it is under privilege, but that will be explained below). On the other hand, the amount of coins one needs to spend to unlock chapter varies depending on how long the said chapter is. In short words, for every 200 words in the chapter, its cost increases by 1 coin (rounded up). That means a chapter with 1337 words will be treated as one with 1400 words and as such, cost 7 coins. For the first 4 months after going premium, the chapters will most likely cost around 8-9 coins, meaning they are between 1601 and 2000 words.
The second difference is that while using fast passes to read the story is completely acceptable and allowed... I do not get anything at all from it. That's why, if you not only want to read the story but also support me on the way to finish both this and all the other novels that I do write, you need to use coins (the only way in which I can earn anything for all the work and effort I'm putting to prepare, figure out and write this and other novels of mine).
4 - Privilege and what it is in the first place?
In short words, privilege is a way for premium (paying) users to get ahead of the free readers. It means that unless you pay the initial fee (for the first 2 chapters it will be a symbolical 1 coin) you won't be able to unlock the newest chapters.
For example, if a story is 100 chapters long in total, going premium from chapter 66 and having 15 privileged chapters, free readers will only be able to unlock chapters from 66 to 85, but they will have to wait for the chapter 101 to be released in order to even see the possibility of unlocking chapter 86.
Does that mean you won't be able to read the story or the updates will be slower? No! It only means that by paying for the initial cost of the privilege of its respective tier (like, 1st tier consist of 2 chapters for 1 coin, 2nd tier will be made later with 5 chapters and 200 coins etc) you will become eligible to unlock the chapters within the privilege that you unlocked.
That means, if you pay 200 coins for the second tier (example above) you will be able to read all the way to chapter 90 (while the story has 100 chapters in total). Once again, once a new, 101st chapter will be published, those readers who use the second tier will be capable of reading chapter 91.
Keep in mind two important things:
- Privilege, when bought, lasts for the rest of the calendar's month (calculated by China time). That means, its the best to buy it as early as possible to get the maximum value out of it. Obviously, once the privilege expires, unless you buy it again, you will have to wait for the standard release to catch up to once again continue reading the story where you left it.
- Chapters that are under privilege still needs to be unlocked, but one can unlock them only with coins. Fast passes will prove useless in that situation.
And here is my personal request - if you have a single coin to spare, I would love if you could use it to unlock at least the first tier. I understand if you don't have the money and have to rely on fast passes to read this story, but 1 coin is worth literally 2 cents to you, while it allows me to have at least a glimmer of hope of getting some form of promotion from Webnovel.
*****Now, for the current announcements****
1 - The current delay is caused by 3 aspects.
- I'm kinda burned out with writing at the moment, limiting it to the bare minimum I need to maintain
- I had to figure out the proper development of this story and forge an outline for the next events. This is already done and you can expect new chapters soon, but I still feel the need for an apology. So well...
I'm sorry for the current delay!
- I'm just lazy. I allowed myself to get spoiled with one day of not writing this novel, then came the second one and third and... And you get the gist of it. While I love writing, just the notion of starting it can be really hard and annoying.
2 - Missing bonus chapters
Well... I will try my best to provide them over time. There won't be any giveaways or other ways to obtain more of them before I finally get them over with.
3 - Day of going premium
This novel will turn premium at chapter 66 on 28th January of 2021. That means, in the next five days (as I'm writing it) you will get 13 free chapters, and I plan to reach chapter 70 by 28th January as well (the story is already planned that far, and wayyyyy beyond that point.
4 - Stakes of the novel
If you guys think that this novel was good so far, then you just wait until all the foreshadowing and groundwork I set in place will start paying off!
5 - Slothverse?
For those foreign to this term... Well, I can only tell one thing. Go read other novels of mine to understand this concept :D
(As for those lazy ones and grammar nazis who can't bear the grammar of my first premium novel, all the novels that got contracted are part of the shared multiverse and each of them has their specific spot on the greater timeline of the entire story. While it's not necessary to read other novels to enjoy and understand either of the stories on their own, there will be some occasional mentions and little puns that only the avid readers of all my novels will catch on!)
6 - How can I help?
If you want to support my efforts in writing beyond just using coins or in because you use fast passes and feel bad because of it, you can do four more things to help me:
- Share the story with your friends. The more readers, the more active the novel, the better the statistics and the better weapons I have in my eternal struggle with the site staff to get this novel the exposure it deserves (at least, in my opinion)
- Vote for this novel with power stones. While it does nothing but helps me flex this novel's ranking position (unless we get really high, then it actually helps by a LOT), it still is a huge factor in how mentally attached I'm to the prospect of writing it
- Share your thoughts in comments on the chapters. As simple as it might be, it allows me to notice that people are still reading the novel. And trust me, nothing is more depressing and disengaging in terms of my will to work on something that a complete silence in the chapter comments.
- If you are feeling really generous, you can either post a review to this novel to let others understand both its good and bad sides or just splurge and use your precious coins to send some gifts to it.
With all that said... I just realised how long this post turned out to be so well... You just wait, the chapters are coming! (but lemme get my coffee first)
Cheers!
MotivatedSloth, signing out!