Discussion: Unfair Treatment

I’ve talked to a lot of authors in the Episode community on Instagram, and they all say the same thing. Episode is unfair towards smaller authors. This is just like celebrities in society today. The world favors celebrities/famous people more than regular, ordinary, day-to-day people. That’s how Episode is. Am I the only one who feels that Episode is unfair towards smaller authors? Please share your thoughts.

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I definitely don’t think you’re the only one who feels this way. I don’t think it’s intentially this way though, but I know a lot of people feel the struggle. It is pretty hard to stand out on episode when there’s millions of stories on the app and only, what, 7 genres? And of course it’s hard to work up the ladder of any of these genre’s without a lot of promoting and loyal readers.

But maybe supporting some feature requests can help improve the app and make it easier for new authors to get noticed? For example…

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Honestly, I think Episode does their best.
If you look at the weekly shelves, there’s usually a couple of stories that have very few reads. (There was even one on the Pride shelf which had <60 reads when it was featured!) Episode also hosts regular contests to feature authors and quite a lot of “unknown” authors have won.

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Okay. So basically these threads are for smaller authors getting noticed or acknowledged?

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I mean they do try their best, but it’s not enough to a certain extent. Episode isn’t the ‘perfect’ platform for story writing. However, it gives advantages for writers like you and I to share their stories. This is a very controversial topic because other people will say that Episode isn’t unfair while others will say that Episode is unfair. A lot of top authors or ‘famous’ authors in the Episode community will say otherwise. They’ve already gotten their acknowledgement, but what about smaller authors? It’s a loosing situation. I don’t understand why top authors don’t help smaller authors get to their level. That’s basically my issue.

I’ve seen quite a lot of “big” authors shout out smaller authors stories :slight_smile: Is that what you mean? Or you feel like they could do more? (And if so, what were you thinking?)

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Well on Instagram, I’ve tried to reach out to top authors such as Natasha Hills, Alexa Light and S.Langdon, and they haven’t gotten back to me. I would love to get tips from them because I want the help.

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Authors like that probably get a LOT of DMs. It could be that they just haven’t seen your message yet :woman_shrugging:
Also, what are you asking for? Because honestly, if someone DMs me and just says “Hi. Read my story.” or “Hi. Can you shout my story out?” I won’t answer. If someone DMs me with actual questions, then I will respond.

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I don’t ask them those questions. I simply tell them that I enjoy reading their stories, and I ask them if they have any tips or ideas that could me get to their level of writing.

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In that case, they probably just haven’t seen your messages :woman_shrugging:. I saw one author post that she had 99+ DM requests and she just couldn’t get through them all.

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I don’t believe Episode itself is purposely trying to keep small authors down but I see what you mean.

It’s a lot easier to get many readers when you already have popular stories.

I feel that more blame should be placed on the Episode Community.
Big authors often start out with cliche stories & work their way to improving and creating original ideas. The community usually likes these cliche stories and gain a loyalty to the authors.

Of course that isn’t true for every author.

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A new authors shelf would probably help this issue.
And another shelf with new authors tht rotates weekly where ppl can vote for their favorite “amateur/inexperinced”(its not a nice way to say it but new is getting repetive).

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I understand that.

With feature requests, if they get enough support from the community, Episode tries to incorporate it and make it happen. So the ones I linked here are ones I think would help the unfairness you might be feeling if they were to ever happen

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Oooh, I like the sound of that second idea

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I agree with you 100%. The only problem that I have with cliche stories is that too many write about the same topics such as bad boys, popular girls, mafias/gangs, etc. I’m tired seeing stories like that on the app. I like original stories that are not seen on the app that much.

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Some of these people have their own websites for tips and whatnot. I know Langdon does. And the episode knitters do too. I find their tips really helpful

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Yeah I like that idea.

Really? I know Langdon does

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Maybe they could add mini contests like u have an objective and restrictions
Plus itll let ppl have other stuff to read while waiting for (those episode shelves like the pride 1 and other ones) to come out and exposure too
Contest: fairy tales
Obligatory: add a nymph and a serial killer and an enchanted bag of candy
Restriction: no romance between any characters
It would help authors(writing prompts) and kinda be fun idk…

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