Question How do you ask for permission?

For those who do ask, I was just wondering how you guys ask for permission. Do you ask in English, or do you ask in the author's language? I've always been way better at understanding Japanese than speaking it, so just thinking of asking for permission gives me a lot of anxiety cause I know I'm gonna screw up my sentences in Japanese lol.

I've already started translating some of their stories, so I'm a little late on asking, but I'm considering doing it in the next few weeks (Gotta warn readers ofc).

 

given language usually and shoot a message through whatever service, I mean the worse that could happen is they say no or ignore you.

 

With cute emojis. (=^ェ^=)

Or get a professional beggar* to ask for you. Just like a lawyer can change a guilty to innocent, a professional beggar have a greater chance of getting someone to say yes, with any means possible.


(Job doesn’t actually exist, but it may in the future)

 

depends on your understanding of the language.the best bet would to ask in both.even if you get your grammar wrong in one language, you still got it right in the other.

 

These threads seem to be popping up a lot lately.
I will say what I have said to the other
Why not treat the author like the asset that they are and offer share of Patreon or ad revenue?
Even godly authors are humans and need to eat.
Self publishing as shown that anyone can be a publisher.
Act like a publisher

 

True, though I guess I just wonder in what language people do it. Thanks for replying!

!!!! I could appeal to them with cute emojis, I'm sure they'll say yes to whatever I say! Then I'll go look for future professional beggars then.

True, didn't think of it that way. Thanks!

Haha, they have been, so I figured it would be the best time to ask. I don't have ad revenues (nor do I plan to set up any), and I've removed my Patreon mostly because of my own values as well as trying to put myself in their shoes. True, though I am curious if anyone's actually done that, and actually got the author to agree. But I was mostly asking how one would ask permission from the other, instead of whether or not I should be making money off of it. Thank you for replying though!

 

Artists are suffering in Japan
Syosetu is exploiting them as Syosetu earns ad revenue from their works.
It is not about going against value
To me, it is about empathy.
It is one thing when your funds goes to paying translators like me
but it is another when you can raise funds to support the author.
Kind words mean nothing when the receiver is hungry and you are in a position to feed them

 

Does Syosetu actually make money from it? Didn't know that o.o

True, I definitely can't deny that last part. Though I do try to help the author by linking and instructing readers on how to buy her light novel on Bookwalker. I think this kind of thing depends on the author themselves. Suggesting to give them a part of the money IS a good way to help support them, though in the end, that's only if the author agrees. I'll keep what you said in mind, thanks!

I personally don't care if I get any money from this, hence why I took down my Patreon, but if for some reason, I can pay my editor for all the work she's done so far and give the rest to the author (though idk how that would go), that would be great.

 

The most important thing you can do is to create jobs. Do not let ignorant fools let you believe money is some evil thing.
It is far worse to exploit someone's labor and not pay them for it like Syosetu is doing
At least Qidian offers a guaranteed way to earn
For Syosetu, no matter how popular your work, if you do not get picked up by a publisher you are simply slaving away and giving Syosetu money

 

That's very true, I definitely agree with being able to help create jobs for others. If I can help people with more jobs, that would be great, though I do think it's a delicate balance between not screwing over the author/infringing on their intellectual work (recompensing them with enough money since it IS their work) and being able to help others through revenue/donations.

I've heard of QI, but I'm not super knowledgeable about them. I have heard that they pay their writers? So I assume Syosetu is kind of like fictionpress where it just hosts stories for free?

 

Yes it is like fictionpress but unlike Fictionpress it is a juggernaut
A better comparison is wattpad and wattpad pays authors

 

Gotcha. I'll definitely think about it. Though I think for now, before I even consider adding money into the equation, I should probably ask for permission first, and if they agree, to just redirect everybody to buy the light novel. Thanks for the help!

 

Permission to translate or permission to host the translated work. I think normally author would say yes to translate but no to host. But I don't know if it is true.

 

Well, as for the question I’m asking, just to translate. The thing though is that it’s already been published as an LN, though there are tons of differences between the WN and LN (left out a few paragraphs cause 20 chapters had to be condensed into 1 volume). So that’s one other thing I have to worry about.

 

Isn't this a little dramatic? Syosetu is a place where anyone can, for free, post their personal written works. It's like diviantart for art or youtube for videos. They are not a publisher, they are a creative platform for nonprofessionals to get their stories read. It's not like they are stealing your work and exploiting you for money. Neither hosting nor maintaining a website is free, they have every right to have adds on their site to support themselves. You retain your rights to your work even when you post on Syosetu, if an author later want's to go professional they have every right to take their work and find a publisher.

 

Why does Qidian pay authors?
Qidian is not exactly a publisher.
Take their work and go to a publisher?
What a stupid statement.
Anyone with the basic knowledge of publishing knows that it doesn't work that way.
No publisher will accept your work. You need agents.
Syosetu is simply a content farm.
Publishers sponsor it because it is cheaper than grooming authors themselves.
You mentioned YouTube. It is much more expensive to run YouTube and creators get paid.
Why can't Syosetu pay creators too?
It is exploitation

 

Qidian makes contractual agreements with their authors that layout ownership and terms of payment. They are not a textbook publisher, but in practice it's not all that different. Comparing Qidian and Syosetu isn't really fair, they are different types of services. Again, Syosetu is simply a creative platform to post personal works of fiction.

Yes you can get payed on YouTube through a partnership program which might have made it a poor example. But if you simply sign up and post a video you most certainly do not get paid. Perhaps my second mention, Deviantart, is a better comparison. It's a creative content platform, a place to put up your personal artwork to get it out to the rest of the world. In fact even a platform like tumblr works as an example. Many people post their own written fiction on tumblr. They do not get payed for it, like my other examples it's just a free platform to release your works so other people can see them.

Any author is free to pay for the development and hosting of their own website, in which they can have full revenue from the adds that are shown on their site. It's even pretty easy to set up with options like wordpress and google adsense. Syosetu is simply offering a cost free, easy to set up environment for you to present your works to the rest of the world. And yes, they will show adds on their site to pay for their hosting, web development/maintenance, and their employees. That is simply something you agree to when you sign up for that kind of site.

As for your statement on publishing I'm not sure I agree. There are numerous independent publishers that an author can get in contact with if they choose to go that direction. But ultimately my earlier statement was not meant to be about the publishing process, I was simply trying to state that using syosetu does not have any impact on your ability to monetize your novels in any way you choose, weather it's through publication, crowd funding, or an online market.

 

Kadokawa is not an independent publisher
Stop making apple to oranges comparison.
Syosetu is nothing but a content farm that exploits authors
Why spend money on advertising and grooming authors
when you can just have them fight it out on Syosetu like a colloseum.
Instead of grooming authors like a traditional publisher
they use a content farm that is Syosetu
Also, I hate to break it to you, Syosetu is sponsored by publishers
It is cheaper to run Syosetu than to invest in authors
I prefer the munpia and Qidian model
Both are the same as Syosetu, you publish your work for free on there but the following that you gather is monetize to benefit you instead of just the website.
I hate to break it to you but Syosetu is not some saint
Authors are paying to use the platform that is Syosetu
It is no different from how companies like coca cola pay to use shelf space on Walmart
The only different is that the authors are paying with their blood.

You are underestimating the size and power of Syosetu
It is not Scribblehub.
Even Wattpad pays some of its authors
It is common sense
I hate it when exploitation is normalized

EDIT: I cant believe that I forgot the elephant in the room: Huffington Post
Any excuse that you can make for Syosetu has been used by Huff Post and has been discredited. Read up on Huff Post history and if you think that Syosetu is not exploiting authors well then I rest my case. I wont continue this

Peace!

 

So I guess the issue is I'm having a hard time finding a line of logic. You've made many statements as if they are inherently and conspicuously true. You've stated that Syosetu IS exploitative in many different words but I'm having a difficult time finding supporting statements about how that's the case. I'm not saying that discredits your opinion, I'm sure there is reasoning, I'm just saying it's not coming out in your posts and therefore I'm having a hard time understanding where your statements are coming from. I'm not trying to say they are a "saint" or altruistic by any means, they are a company, a business who's end goal is to meet the bottom line financially. But that does not make them inherently exploitative or evil. Additionally I don't understand how their size or power plays a part. YouTube is owned by Google and is one of the most powerful companies there is. Tumblr is one of the most popular content sharing sites in the world.

I feel I have provided a reasonable line of reasoning why simply offering a sharing service for free with no strings attached (like giving up rights to your work or being locked into an unfavorable contract) is not an exploitative practice. There is no reason to force someone to post their work on Syosetu and they have full control over it even once it's uploaded. It's simply a place where you can go to get people to read your novel as an amateur novelist, and as a side benefit public interest in your writing can help convince a publisher if you ever would like to go professional. I don't see how this is a bad thing. In the same way that a fine arts student must create a profile of past works when trying to find employment, Syosetu is just one place to post your past writings, as are many other websites.

There are many many sites (some of which I have mentioned) that have the same or a similar model as Syosetu both in writing and other media, and I've never heard content creators complain about them being exploitative. They are all just empty canvass for people to willingly put their own work, for free, completely at their own discretion. In fact many of them come with comparatively more strings attached. If you want to monetize your novels there are many sites for that too, syosetu (or tumblr, etc...) are just not where you should be looking for that.

I would love to hear the reasoning behind why Syosetu is exploitative rather than just that it is. Though you may be right, it sounds like this might have become somewhat personal and that is usually a good sign that a conversation has stopped progressing and should be ended.

On a side note, I tried to look into Huffington Post but I couldn't find anything with regard to exploitation of novelists or publishing. Unless you are talking about the one article on Huffington post talking about the lack of guaranteed integrity for self published works but if I'm understanding you correctly you are commenting on Huffington post itself being exploitative? I have a hard time seeing how an unrelated news website and blog could invalidate all discussion about an unaffiliated novel content sharing site but since I couldn't find much about it I can't say that with absolute certainty. If you had a link on hand to an article or some info about it I'd be interested in reading it, though if it's not something that's readily available don't worry about it.

Peace!

 

@Dyschology
I didn't bother to read your post. You are right and I am wrong. Let's leave it at that.
You are also on my ignore list, so I won't get any alerts or see your posts in the future.
I think I deserve that at least.
I have read one too many.
I am going to wash my eyes out with bleach lol