WEB

NOVELS

AND YOU

A LOOK AT ALGORITHMS AND THE SELF-COMMODIFICATION OF AUTHORS

ONLINE

LITERATURE

The future writers of the world write online

Hiveworks, online comics

Places to find online novels and serials'

WEBNOVELS Unique and often free literature. "Imagine a book with 1118 chapters" (Forbes India, 2022)

Cover art of Salvos Book 10. Currently #1 on Royal Road

ALGORITHMS Algorithms are problem-solving calculations performed by a

computer that Parse data and give you information. (Malan, 2013)

ROYALROAD DATA

RoyalRoad Looks at:











+ the reputation of the people rating

IT WORKS ITS MAGIC The Algorithm Takes that data and gives what it thinks are the best stories. What is a "Good Story" Subjectivity V.S. Objectivity Rates story the same way, regardless of content.

FORMULA

2000 words a chapter end on cliff hanger. Use classic tropes Update multiple times a week Long-term storytelling.

The top stories use these 4 tricks to get clicks.

FILTER BUBBLE Effects: Algorithm recognises clear pattern and ranks stories with the magic formula incentivize the formula while longer, more nuanced stories get less views Creates a site-wide filter bubble. actively hard to find new types of stories that don’t conform to the current model of story telling (Dutton et al., 2019).

Maintain your position for a few moments by continuously creating short chapters. Cut longer intriguing chapters down to size for higher viewership Make repetitive content instead of Good content

HOW TO FIND STORIES WORTH READING

Beyond theFront Page? MOSTLY WORD OF MOUTH ON FORUMS AND DISCORD SERVERS Google search is too biased

towards large searches to have a preference for the small stuff

Notable mentions

WordPress stories: better than average, no secret formula, no front page.

WordPress stories publish on big sites to bring people in. They are generally more individual works that don't stand out on big sites and don't conform to the algorithm. One huge one everyone knows about...

THE WANDERING INN

over 11 million word Spin-offs and 9 published books Live streams writing to thousands of people Keyboard demon writing 20-40k words/week Has merch Took a "vacation" and wrote a spinoff (oops) Left royal road because their text editor sucks bringing her chosen people to WordPress. Pireate Aba breaks the mould of web novels. Dont expect a second wandering inn



IT'S HARD TO FIND THESE BECAUSE OF ALGORITHM BIAS

“When algorithms or their underlying data

have biases, the most basic functions of your computer will reinforce those prejudices.” (Garcia, 2016)

A universal statement, Google goes for the Low hanging fruit. Dig deeper, search smarter. ask others.

Ebooks and

Audio Books

UNIQUE INTERNET EXPERIENCE Web novels thrive on length, 1 year = 1 LOTR Amazon Subsidiarys sell them on length Audio and ebooks are good quality for the price

Amazon uses an algorithm to match you to the product. Noticeable quality of the product increases sales (Sarwar et al., 2000)

Samples AUDIOBOOKS HAVE SAMPLES. CHECK THEM OUT; THEY'RE FREE!

(Young, 2022)

(Aba, 2019)

TEXT EDITORS AND CHATGPT When we write in programs like word and get a red underline, that is an Algorithm

More advanced word processing programs like Grammarly and Word's editor are more advanced, but also algorithms.

And so is Chat GPT

CHATGPT Chatgpt is a text transform tool, otherwise known as a 'chat bot' here is a short story written by it.

The sun was setting behind the mountains as Sarah made her way down

the dirt road towards her home. She had spent the day helping her father

tend to the farm, but now her thoughts were on the letter she had received earlier that day.

It was from her childhood friend, Jack, who had left their small town years

ago to pursue his dreams in the big city. He had always talked about making it big as a musician, and it seemed that he had finally achieved his goal. His letter was an invitation for Sarah to come and see him perform live at a concert in the city.

As she walked, Sarah couldn't help but feel torn. She had always dreamed of seeing the world beyond their small town, but leaving her family and the

farm behind seemed impossible. Still, the thought of seeing Jack and hearing his music filled her with excitement.

As she reached her front porch, Sarah made a decision. She would take a chance and go to the concert. It was time to step out of her comfort zone and see what the world had in store for her.

With a smile on her face and a sense of adventure in her heart, Sarah

packed a small bag and set off towards the city, eager to see what the future held.

TOM SCOTT

(SCOTT, 2023)

SELF COMODIFICATION "There's an epigram tacked to my office bulletin board, pinched from a magazine -- "Wanting to meet an author because

you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pâté." -Margaret Atwood

Self comodifi-what? Self Commodification is the act of commodifying yourself in some way. Influencers commodify their image, Writers commodify their minds. It is only a commodity if its monitized

How do authors monitize?

Patreon Publishing 'Props'

Patreon

Patreon is a subscription-based service that can offer rewards and generally gives month- monthly payments Authors incentivize joining Patreon by utilizing a "backlog" "Buying in" gives you extra chapters, but only while you subscribed Depending on the upload schedule and author, RoyalRoad is generally multiple weeks ahead, and WordPress is generally one or two chapters ahead for each novel

Keep your eye on "While your subscribed"

Amazon Most independent creators cant rely on old school publishing houses.

Amazon lets people publish independently and gives bonuses for being the only place to read the chapters Hugely important for reaching broader sources The best way to find new good web novels online Authors get payment and a new audience who read their stories online. Big commitment

'Props' 'Props' or Prop-ups Small donations Often done through Ko-Fi or PayPal Help an author but only one time. No commitment

Cash Often an author does not write as a job but as a hobby. Those that go full-time are generally the best. Going 'Pro' is one of the most stressful times in a writer's life, cutting out their steady job for a turbulent one. To make it less turbulent, they have to set up a bunch of hoops like Patreon, which gives you access to the story weeks in advance and will last you an hour. Affective Labour keeps the hook in patrons mouths.

They have you by the hook

Affective Labour "It is vloggers who go against algorithmically recognized genres, or who lose viewers in a single video, that are actively punished by the platform." (Bishop 2018) The same goes for authors, if your story pulls out, so do your readers, and there is a lot of cash to lose. Notable Author of Beneath the dragoneye moons, SelkieMyth, earns an estimated $21k every month from patreon. Keeps readers on Patreon using multiple incentives including art and good story pacing and motivation to get them to keep their membership. Hooking the audience with affective labour works in moderation, don't over do it

Optimised Labour

Optimizing yourself as an author is a skill often developed when going 'pro'. Following the Formula Discord servers and outreach Cross overs Ploting etc.

Patreon subscriber after payday

FORMULA Finding the way an author's story fits into the formula is the quickest way to increase readership Lowering word count means you can release more chapters Feedback loop that increases your ability to go 'pro'

DISCORD AND OUTREACH Placing an author's notes to rate, comment etc., at the end of each chapter, along with Patreon and discord links, increases the likely hood of adoption Discord acts as the main hub where people can talk spontaneous memeogenisis as the community grows, creating free advertisements for your product Talking to the community increases engagement Special perks for subscribing to Patreon act as a status symbol

CROSS OVERS Shoutouts to stories increase the popularity of your own story as viewers bring attention to your story. Crossovers "trade" viewer base. Getting either gives you a boost. Make sure to share it to get social capital, and goodwill. It's good for you and the community, its not a competition.

Starts out vague and grows more pronounced over time

No plotting speed

RI SI N G PL PR O O TT D U IN CT G IO , RI N SI N G

Plotting is the practice of Plotting out the story and fleshing out what is actually going to happen and when.

Plotting increases the speed and consistency of writing, making it easier for the author. Plotting smoths out the edges and gives you the structure to make backlog

BACK LOG Making a backlog saves you the stress of missing a few days.

Backlogs are the best way to ride out the effects of burnout.

A backlog of chapters gives a way to automate chapter posting.

Backlog is the start of Patreon content and the first step to making it big.



WRITING WHAT YOU KNOW

Often people most likely to burn out are those that make the best authors Those with conditions like anxiety and depression are capable of getting across the complex nuances of related emotions without coming across as hollow. They are also the authors most vulnerable to negative emotions caused by effects like Imagined audience, Social Comparison and The Fear of Missing out. Manage these emotions, and implement solutions that work for you. Like Parnell's steps of media wellness(Parnell, 2017)

Burn out and real life Burning out is inevitable, but it can be managed by keeping a backlog. Most

viewers are willing to endorse a well-worded post about burnout. Take a week off, they want good content, and that comes from a relatively healthy writers that love their work.

Do what you need to do, and fix yourself up afterwards. Time working on yourself is time to work on yourself, use up your backlog, and try to write only while you're feeling up to the task and begin building into the habit of writing again.

Remember, the author's emotional state directly affects the story because they are the product. Subpar authors makes subpar products.

THANK YOU FOR READING

Pirate Aba memes

References: Aba, P. (2022). The Wandering inn [Sample] (A.Parsneau, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Podium Audio. https://www.audible.ca/pd/The-Wandering-Inn-Audiobook/1774240327 Bishop, S. (2018). Anxiety, panic and self-optimization. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 24(1), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517736978 Dutton, W. H., Reisdorf, B. C., Blank, G., Dubois, E., & Fernandez, L. (2019). The internet and access to information about politics. Society and the Internet, 228–247. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198843498.003.0014 Forbes India. (2022). In Asia, web novels are writing a new chapter in fiction. Forbes India. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/in-asia-web-novels-arewriting-a-new-chapter-in-fiction/75807/1 Garcia, M. (2016). Racist in the Machine. World Policy Journal, 33(4), 111–117. https://doi.org/10.1215/07402775-3813015 Gillespie, T. (2014). The relevance of algorithms. In T. Gillespie, P. J. Boczkowski, & K. A. Foot (Eds.), Media technologies: Essays on communication, materiality, and society (pp. 167-193). Cambridge: MIT Press. Malan, D. J. (2013). What is an Algorithm? YouTube. TedEd. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hfOvs8pY1k . Parnell, B. (2017). Is social media hurting your health? YouTube. TedxRyersonU. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o. Sarwar, B., Karypis, G., Konstan, J., & Riedl, J. (2000). Analysis of recommendation algorithms for e-commerce. Proceedings of the 2nd ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce. https://doi.org/10.1145/352871.352887 Scott, T. (2023, February 13). I tried using AI. it scared me. YouTube. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPhJbKBuNnA Young, h. (2022). Katalepsis [sample] (M.Calin, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Podium Audio. https://www.audible.ca/pd/Katalepsis-Volume-1-Audiobook/B0BDPGV24D