Authors have a dream to create their own worlds, and they want to share their creations with the world in hopes of inspiring and entertaining a greater number of people. But to have this wish fulfilled, writing is just the first step of this journey. There are some channels in the modern tech-filled world, such as Amazon (and its Kindle program), Wattpad, Royal Road, Fanfiction.net, Scribblehub, Webnovel, Dreame, Tapas, etc. All of these are excellent channels, but most of them have their limitations.
Why would an author go the non-traditional publishing route?
They are unable to find a traditional book deal when just starting out. They might not even be able to get an agent or publisher to return a call let alone return an email. There are scams involved where a sum of money is paid before any publishing is done. (BE CAREFUL!)
Without the traditional route of advertisement and publications, how are authors to get their works out to the masses? As mentioned above, authors want their works to reach people. That isn’t simple when there’s a sea of content out there.
Enter the various self-publication platforms, although that might be a misnomer. All of them have their pros and cons. Self-publishing gives some of the highest royalties at 70% royalties instead of 10-15% the “traditional” publishers pay. There are authors who run personal Patreon or Ko-fi sites—getting close to 95% of the revenue from these platforms—to get additional sources of income.
To solve the traffic problem, they publish on other sites like Royal Road, Webnovel, Wattpad, to capture eyeballs before redirecting these readers to their monetization of choice.
All these platforms have their various catches, and it can be overwhelming for a new author trying to figure out the way to increase his potential income.
Here is a non-exhaustive table of the various platforms:
Patreon
- ✓ High earnings from self-management
- ✓ Author keeps all rights
- ✘Difficult to build a reader base. Requires directing readers from other sites
Amazon
- ✓ Earn up to 70% royalty on sales to customers in selected countries.
- ✓ Great for established authors
- ✘ Too much competition
Webnovel
- ✓ Has a big reader base that is willing to pay.
- ✓ Good for new authors to get readers and monetize their work from the get go.
- ✘Selling all rights, including their derivatives to Webnovel
Wattpad
- ✓ Has a big reader base
- ✓ Has monetization, but rather limited.
- ✘Usually requires self-publishing on Amazon or using Patreon
Royal Road
- ✓ Has a big reader base
- ✓ Author keeps all rights
- ✘No clear monetization method. Usually requires self-publishing on Amazon or using Patreon
Patreon is naturally the best, but most users on Patreon aren’t there for reading purposes. It’s difficult to build a reader base on the site alone. This requires the aforementioned redirecting of readers from other sites such as Royal Road.
Amazon is when an author joins the big leagues. However, this will require the author to have completed a substantial amount of work before they can attempt publishing a book or volume that’s part of a bigger series.
Webnovel is quite well-balanced, albeit one thing. It requires taking ALL rights from your work, including derivatives. It does have some nice perks such as the Minimum Guarantee System and reward systems, but monetizing on Webnovel basically spells the end of the other outlets.
EMP has signed a Content Publisher contract with Webnovel, allowing us to monetize work on their site without them taking the rights to said works. This essentially adds another monetization avenue for authors to take advantage of. They can continue posting their work on Patreon and Amazon, getting the high royalties they offer, while also taking advantage of the big reader base on Webnovel to further monetize their works. If you are interested, contact us!
Wattpad has been a go-to place for fan fiction and romance novels. It has, in recent years, introduced a monetization system with Wattpad Paid Stories, but little is known about it since it is invitation-only. It might end up curtailing your ability to monetize via other channels.
There are also plenty of other platforms that allow authors to publish, but their monetization options are none or questionable.