Good novels are not popular. How do we fix that?

Funny story: I told a translator that his novel wasn't earning enough revenue ad revenue and he thought I was cheating him. He quit, joined a new website and he made an announcement about not earning enough ad revenue....

A good novel is subjective and that isn't the point of this thread.
The point is that good novels are not popular. I translated Song of the Clouds years back and got zero views.
I translated one loli butt novel and got lots of views.
So how do we make good novels popular so they don't get dropped by translators?
Personally, I would think writing blog articles about them would be effective is drumming up interest.
One of the reasons, I started Wujigege.com

Let's use this novel as an example : My Castle , My Castellan.
How would you make the novel more popular?

I think that at the end of the day. Translators have to choose between translating novels for literary critics or the average reader

 

add loli butts - problem solved

... no need to thank me

 

Kinda the same problem for budding authors.

Do you continue because you enjoy it, or do you continue in order to try and make money?

And if you want to make money, you need to either appeal to readers instead of writing what you want, or make something so amazing that people will want to read it. It is hard.

 

3 ways I would argue.

1. An already known translator group / site, with a good track record
2. The novel if not being somewhat unique, atleast actually sounds like it's partially unique
3. Mentioning it in other places , like if instead of the releases linking directly to the chapter have some translator comments or whatnot, they mention the novels there, or announcements on the sites.

Basically, if it doesn't stand out, people will go 'Oh, another one ?'

 

change the way you do titles, use the japonese mastered techinque of explanation title with a mix of buzzfeed clickbait:

example:

"sex, slaves and the right wing party...... now that i have your attention here is my unique twist to a generic isekai"

 

basically shameless advertisement


it hard being PR member these day you know~

 

Shameless advertisement +1
Not only on a blog post, but here on nuf and even in the release page or foot of another popular novel on your site.
You have to make something to make the topic hot and to let it stay hot by bring it up again and again.
There's also a need for you to let a detailed review here on nu and on your site about the novel, since some people actually don't go just by the synopsis but by the review which might make people delay or even avoid reading afraid of wasting their time reading shit.

Also, where's the link for that old novel?

 

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/song-in-the-clouds/
When I started my website I use to have issues picking popular novels until I learnt something
To guarantee popularity , you need the ultimate trifecta: Loli + harem + ecchi
Although I usually exclude ecchi these days since Google started flagging the novels as porn lol.
I recall how "the town of Hore" in Magi Craft Meister was flagged as adult content. I think the system saw it as Whore

 

As someone who writes for a living, I will take money. My ideals will not like it but my basic necessities have to be fulfilled. Even if I create something out of thin air and it is considered good, it's not a guarantee to sell and appealing to as many people as possible is the foundation of the current marketplace. OS I have to play the game for me to win, even just a little.

 

Simple question but a complex situation. With my meager experience, I'll narrow my opinion down to promotions, advertisements, reviews.

- Let me ramble first, in this current Era, visuals is half the battle. If the story doesn't have a decent cover, it will most likely be glossed over. The same applies with a story's title. If it's not appealing to a reader for a certain genre, or that the title does not match the genre, it will be glossed over. But you shouldn't judge a story by its cover, well tough luck, most of the time people do. I'm basing this off of my trial and errors, visuals attract a reader.

- Next, lets go with promotions & advertisements. There's a reason why most businesses have a Public Relations department and its to grab the attention of the everyday netizen scrolling the web. "Only the loudest voice in the room gets heard" much like how there's campaigns on select titles, its also how the story is presented to a neutral audience.

Paid adverts do help, but depending on the ads design and message, its a 50/50 that it'll work or not. Some of the best ads are usually the most catchiest or ones with slogans. Geico ads are pretty catchy no? "Save 15 minutes......."

- Lastly the most meaningful of the bunch are reviews; personal & paid reviews can boost a stories popularity. Word of mouth or sharing via social media of these titles amongst various circles will actually promote the story more often than ads or promos, especially when more reviews or in-depth articles are made.

There's a lot of ways to mend the issue, these are just a few that came from the top of my head.

 

Aye, true.

But I'm not good enough to make money off my novels anyway so if I write anything, it ends up being for my own enjoyment anyway. So when something I myself enjoy gets posted publicly and then gets downvoted or ignored I feel even worse causing me to stop writing entirely.

Terrible self esteem doesn't help either

 

Literary critics? Even the best of novels here would be beneath their notice. Average readers here? No, most are immature guys looking for wish fullfilment or girls looking for smut.
How do you make a web novel popular? Call it "Emperor God Dominator" or "I went to another world with only a self charging microwave and pastries".

Wait I do have something to contribute, how 'bout going to a bit smarter but still geeky forums?
Like Spacebattles.

 

Hahaha I am talking about in the context of this community lol.
I dont expect a critic for say the BBC to read webnovels

 

Are there any left? Triggerk is long gone.

 

No lie, I would read the shit out of that

 

You honor my comment boss RWX. Though why would you read another web novel that spends half the story showing wow reactions how Earth food is so much better than ancient cultures food, or alien food.

 

hmmm... for one, people have already stated in their comment, Advertising it. Bringing more awareness to the novels I'll say.
Well, I on the other hand, translate whatever interest me, don't really care if its popular or not. I translate cause its my hobby and I find it fun and enjoyful.
It's really hard , cause people have difference interest in what they like to read even if its a GOOD novel, if its a genre they have an interest in, they will enjoy reading it but if its a genre they don't have much interest then they won't enjoy reading it. For example I Love mystery novels more than supernatural, but supernatural more popular than mystery novel. Its something you can't control.

 

Hard to say because even if one promotes a work as much as they can, there is no guarantee that work will become really popular!

 

Good and bad is subjective from person to person tho.. but we got so much shit lying around it takes more than that to stand out of the dumpster..