The month of October 2020 has been slightly insane for a few reasons. For the most part, I'm finally going to have my driving practical test on the 23rd of October. Apart from that, I've been sick for about two weeks now and yet, I'm powering through the insane number of chapters I need to write thanks to the event I created to introduce new Webnovel Privilege Tiers in November.
To summarise what's happening, these will be the new tiers for privilege chapters and their cost from November 2020 onwards.
New privilege tiers and their discount rates:
Tier 1 - 2 chapters for 1 coin (0% discount on chapters)
Tier 2 - 5 chapters for 299 coins (20% discount on chapters)
Tier 3 - 12 chapters for 500 coins (50% discount on chapters)
Tier 4 - 24 chapters for 799 coins (70% discount on chapters)
Tier 5 - 50 chapter for 999 coins (90% discount on chapters)
Tier 2 approx. USD 5
Tier 3 approx USD 10
Tier 4 approx. USD15
Tier 5 approx. USD 20
It's just a little something to supplement my miserable writer's income for those who don't feel comfortable supporting me on Patreon.
Read Ball of Nothing here!
For those who don't know what Privilege Tiers are, they are content that can only be unlocked by paying for it. Think of them as a premium subscriber's content that will refresh monthly. You buy coins and use them to unlock tiers to read advanced chapters. The maximum number of chapters under this privilege scheme is 50 and while not many authors stock to 50 chapters, I have taken on the challenge of writing and stocking 50 chapters for my readers at the prices above that they can subscribe to monthly.
Want to know how to set up your Webnovel Privilege Tiers? Download the guide for free below.
Just a note, chapters within the privilege tiers can only be unlocked by coins and Fast Pass cannot be used.
Now that you understand what privilege tiers are and are considering setting up something similar, here are some things you should consider before you start doing it.
#1: You only get 50% of whatever your readers pay for the tiers.
Yes, this is explicitly mentioned in the contract. There will be a calculator that shows you the amount you'd be getting for the price you are charging for each tier's pricing but they don't tell you the fine prints until you get your monthly income report.
That said, the pricing recommendation would be 1 coin for the first tier with 2 chapters to encourage / trick readers into using their coins, getting hooked on the process and spending more in subsequent months.
As for the other tiers, it's up to each writer to decide. Discounts only apply for chapters within the tier so be careful about setting them up! If you're unsure, feel free to refer to my privilege pricing guide and strategy for reference. It's free to follow! The trick for better privilege tiers is the value for money concept. Think of it like selling a regular meal for $5 and only adding $0.50 for extra drinks and fries to your burger. Most readers would go for an upsized meal if they can afford it.
#2: Released chapters will be locked straight into the privilege tiers once the privilege tier takes effect.
Many Content Editors on Webnovel have been bombarded by panicked first time contracted writers setting up their tiers. The readers tell them they see a notification for a new chapter but that chapter is nowhere to be found. Where could it have possibly gone?
Well, I hate to break it to you but setting up a privilege tier is like building a dam of chapters. Unless it has reached the number of chapters you specified in your application, the chapters cannot be published for free reading to non-privileged readers. Think of it like a dam and its spillover effects.
#3: It cannot be unlocked with free coins.
If you follow Webnovel's Instagram religiously, you would know that every TGIF, they will release a code for the first x number of readers to claim 50 free coins. Can the free coins be used to unlock privilege chapters?
According to Webnovel's IT team, no they cannot. Hooray for authors but beware that readers who 'worked hard' claiming free coins might be seen complaining in your comment sections.
Life can be tough.
#4: You will lose readers.
"Why is this even a thing?!" you cry when people start dropping your book and leaving unreasonable 1-star reviews.
Well, like it or not, there are a lot of self-entitled readers who don't think authors should get paid for their hard work. Books, in their opinion, are only worth reading if they are free or pirated.
I'm not saying you'd lose all your readers but I'm saying you should be mentally prepared for such a thing. Some people are narrow-minded, you simply cannot help them. The best thing you could do is delete their comments and reviews then move on with your life.
#5: Piracy sites can still copy your privilege chapters.
As discouraging as this sounds, it is true. Better still, Webnovel hardly has any power to stop the pirate sites from doing what they do best - ripping off original works. It's a complicated thing here and an endless war of pirate sites trying to find new ways to copy works and make them free while the authors file DMCA strikes only to see new pirate searches appear all over again.
Even so, do you still want to spend time writing and stockpiling so many chapters for privilege tiers only to have them copied when they're out?
Destiny's advice? Sure, why not? While there are many dislikable people out there, I still strongly believe that true fans will do anything to support the creators they love. It might not pay off immediately or at all but if you don't give your fans a chance to prove themself by setting up at least 1 privilege tier, which should be the easiest seeing as it costs only 1 coin to unlock and 2 advanced chapters, you'd never know.
Bottom line...
I might struggle to write 55 chapters in 2 weeks in preparation for the new privilege tiers and give myself unnecessary stress along with finger arthritis but a small part of me thinks that it is a worthy investment for the future as Ball of Nothing is a relatively long serial work. I only have to do this once and it would stay for as long as Webnovel continues to support this feature.
To save you the pain, struggles and possible regrets of introducing privilege tiers, here are 5 things that you probably should know before you make grand plans for your book's debut to the world of locked chapters and piracy. I'm not trying to discourage anyone but from an author to another author, you have been warned.
That said, this is the latest information I received at the time of writing. It's always best to check back with the original source for the latest information as Webnovel has a culture of changing things every few months in the name of improvement.
Update: This is a more recent video explaining it in depth by AimeeLynn!
Any other questions? Feel free to send me a message on any of my social media accounts or join my discord server.
With that, stay sane and best endeavours!
Destiny Aitsuji
