If reading this entire announcement is more than you could give a damn about, this is the summary: Wu Jizun is now publishing series as a licensed publisher. Technically, Wu Jizun has gone legal for some time, but I’ve withheld from making any announcements. You can read here with confidence that I will finish what I start and won’t be hit with a DMCA. The following two series I release are xuanhuan and will be the only xuanhuans I ever translate. If both of them don’t live up to financial expectations, they’ll be the last two series I pick up. End.
Now, the detailed version for people who are here for more than just to read chapters and then close the window.
Since day one, back in April, 2017, the first big goal has always been to move to licensing. Some people, rather, some groups, started after me and have sped straight past me in terms of licensed works and readership; some have even already managed to make it a full-time job. Obviously, the sooner you can start licensing, the better, but it’s not a speed contest. Even if it was, I’d lose since I’ve never translated the popular genres. Plus, if someone takes 2 attempts to achieve something, it’ll take me 4, if not 5 or more. Even though there are many other goals I’ve yet to achieve (still don’t have a nice website), I’m glad I’ve finally achieved the small goal after all the investments I’ve made.
This is a dual-hosting agreement, so the novel will be published on the Chinese publisher’s platform, as well, although there will be a delay between releases here (wujizun.com) and their platform. Alongside translating and publication rights, we have been granted ebook and paper book publishing rights. I plan to only publish one of the series into an ebook, though.
On top of what I already have on my plate, I will now also need to be reporting to the publisher frequently on the series’, so I will be even busier.
I’ll do a giveaway to celebrate this event, but more details on that shall be delivered another day – once the Patreon is finalised, which I estimate is by the end of this week.
If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know the deal: no owed chapters. No off days because my leg is sore, nose is runny or waifu died. Mistakes shall be corrected.
The first series to debut is a Xuanhuan series titled “Almighty”. I repeat: Xuanhuan. I’m not about to sell my soul out just because xianxia and wuxia are more searched terms for views. Ever since I started out, requests for school romances and system novels have been the main requests I’ve received. While I still haven’t – and likely never will – touch school romances, this is a system/levelling novel that’s heavily reliant on its levelling.
Schedule: the temporary schedule is “around the same time as MYSD releases”. The long-term schedule is “I don’t know”. I’m in the midst of trying to find another job because this doesn’t pay bills. Whatever it is I find, the releases will work around it. In regards to release frequency, I’ll start out at 7 chapters per week. Depending on performance, I’ll adjust from there. I’m not starting at 14 chapters per week as there’s everything to lose and nothing to gain from it. More on this later.
To be frank with you, it’s not my cup of tea. The first reason I picked it up is because, among the hundred-odd I read, it was the one I predicted would do best in its genre and niche. The second reason I picked it up is because people flock to this type of story for reasons beyond me. I’m hoping to draw in readers to then promote wuxia, old-school xianxia, military and historical novels after the second series. The chances of me touching a third system novel are slimmer than the chances of me rolling Klee, so if you’ve wanted to read a system novel I translate, this is your only chance.
If, however, Almighty and the subsequent series flop, I’m going to call it quits on translation. For clarification purposes, if I don’t finish MKRL by then, I’ll still continue MKRL, but I won’t be picking up any new series.
I feel that I’ve done enough. I’ve tried to find ways to make it sustainable for myself, but it’s never worked out as expected. If you’re going to tell me that I need to release 14 chapters per week, I’ll have you know I’ve done up to 25 chapters (one manhua chapter) per week, and it hardly made any difference to releasing 7 chapters per week. I’ve proven I can handle 3 chapters per day; however, the observation is that it doesn’t produce any positive effects. I’m not killing myself for nothing.
I’ve tried something similar to watching ads (much less tiring than it), and less than a tenth of readers bothered supporting it. I’ve constantly honed my craft, but it hasn’t been enough, either. At a certain point, you have to decide that it’s just not going to work and cut it off before it kills you. For me, these two series’ performance is the deciding factor. I’m not willing to translate things I don’t like for years on end even if it is more feasible, so that’s not an option I’m considering.
Monetisation Model: “Almighty” will follow the usual Patreon system you’re familiar with. I may try something different with the subsequent series, or I may not. I will not be following J-Novel or WuxiaWorld’s model in case that’s something you’re going to ask. I have my views of things.
Disclaimer: I will not advocate for either story as being “good” or “lousy” just as I don’t critique on a topic I’m not educated on, and just as I don’t judge “pink” as a good or bad colour. You either like it or you don’t. Read the synopses. Check the tags. Maybe give it a try. If it’s not your cup of tea, cool beans.
