First off, the authors who get money for writing don’t actually make a living from it (unless it’s people who work for Episode and that’s their actual work and not something they got to from a lot of story views) and I have talked to big authors, I know they’re not all rude and horrible and fame definitely doesn’t mean anything to me, at all, not only on Episode, literally, nothing… But sometimes people overuse their “fame” and I saw some cases that big authors actually used their fans to send hate to people who disagree with them, like that’s not okay… I would get pissed off too when people ask the same question over and over again, I don’t even ask about stories, ever. It’s just annoying…
And back to Episode paying money to authors (in their writer program) they can’t base their life on it, if those people are adults and need to support themselves they probably have jobs or a another source of money…
Actually, some of the authors in the payments programme do make their living from it and are open about that as I’ve read their comments and posts on the topic Not all authors in the payments programme are paid the same, some make a little bit of money and some of them make much more, it all depends.
That’s an awful thing for anyone to do, but you’re stretching it a little by grouping all the successful writers in the same bunch, don’t you think?
Some writers are idolised in the same was real celebrities are. People relate to their stories the same as people relate to their films. You’re watching the character’s life play out and you feel apart of that, which leads to appreciation for the person who created them. The work that goes into creating such pieces takes so much time, and that itself is under appreciated as people expect an episode every 2 days which is impossible for quality!
Rudeness is never ok, and bullying people is definitely wrong on every level.
This whole thing just seems a little more personal based as appose to an actual discussion, in my opinion.
Well, I’ll admit that I have seen some authors reply to fanmail with what I perceive as an attitude. But I’ve also seen some fanmail where the fans are kind of rude too.
So I think in a sense, it can go both ways… But in saying that, I sorta feel like the authors, no matter how “famous”, have a responsibility to just… respond politely?
Most mean comments I’ve seen seem like the come from twelvies, who don’t know how much effort it takes to make a story on episode. So when they message to complain about love interests or not being able to customise or asking to be a character in a story, it’s not exactly hard for authors to say “thanks for reading” and “sorry, no”.
And if even saying that is too hard, they can just choose not to respond at all.
This isn’t in any way personal, how would it be? I’m not saying everybody is the same, but going after those people like they’re some major idols seems pretty stupid, okay? Everybody is super rude, bunch of readers are being rude too but these. Are. Not. Celebrities. And celebrities aren’t gods either, this getting completely off that topic, don’t start criticising me because I think this is pretty messed up.
And think for a moment about the fact that those people have to be over 18, they’re usually actually way more and Episode released the writer program around 2 years ago and most got in it waaay later, do you think they just left whatever or whoever that was financially supporting them? Unlikely… It’s often something people say when they get their stories uploaded in other platforms, several people did that already, but said they had an actual job or something else (I know about that chain reaction author or something that posted that and later said her husband supports her financially but a few people did that already)
If anything, I find the way you’re talking to me to be pretty rude I haven’t judged or criticised you as a person at all, I’m simply replying with my opinions and experiences, so I have no idea how you came to feel that.
You can be accepted into the payments programme before turning 18, Episode have said they will hold all your earning until your 18th birthday and back date the payment.
I’m going to stop replying now as this conversation has taken an unnecessary turn. Discussions usually mean not everyone has to agree but I’m not in this for a debate as it was my opinion.
I agree with everyone who said it all depends on the personality. Smaller authors may seem nicer because they don’t get asked the same question a million times and they have enough time to deal with fanmails. I, for example, gladly reply to fanmails because I rarely get any, but I’m sure I would find it annoying and exhausting if I received hundreds every day and most of them would be “can we CUSTOMIZE PLS???”, when I already said at the first episode, you can’t.
Obviously I don’t cry into my pillow every night about how hard a big author’s life could be, but we really shouldn’t generalize because some of them are actually very nice while certain small authors are very rude.
Once I read the fanmails of a writer with a few thousands reads and she was unnecessarily rude in every single reply. Even when she was complimented like “When do you update? I’m addicted to your story”, she replied something like “Whenever I want. Get a life”.
As others mentioned, we may have this feeling more often with famous authors, because the truth is, we barely read any stories from unknown authors.
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You’re so right! And those rude kind of big authors (not the nice ones) often present themselves as a “victim” because having so many fans distract them or something… But if it’s a real problem, I guess it’s somehow okay, but I saw bunch of times people just said it in a way that made me want to slap them if I’d ever meet them irl, like they’re haveing such a hard time but they’ll continue writing for the fans. they try to do it in a way that will make them look like they’re having an actual hard time… Or at least that’s what they unsuccessfully try to do because it does not seem like that.
And yeah, not like there’s a section for unknown writers, there are top community and featured sections (there’s that new user stories but it’s not exactly that…)
Maybe I didn’t explain it well, but my example was actually about an author who is not famous, yet she was very rude. But yeah, authors should respect their readers, regardless how famous they are. And the same goes for readers: if they ask a question in a polite way, it is more likely they will get a polite reply.
@S.Dsana Awww thanks I wouldn’t consider myself to be “famous” lol but I’m glad I come across as nice
I think with “bigger” authors, a lot of them do tend to get tired of being asked the same thing over and over. The more reads you have, the more fanmail you’re probably going to get. Recently I had a story where I was constantly getting fanmail asking for updates. That was fine, but then it started to take me a bit longer to publish episodes (branching… ) and some of the fanmail I was getting felt a bit demanding. As a result, I started getting a bit snappy and had to turn my fanmail off before I started coming across as rude lol.
So I get it. Customisation is another one. At first you might reply nicely, but it does get tiring answering the same thing over and over. I think most people would naturally start to get a bit snappy, even if they didn’t mean to be rude.
I get so uncomfortable if I reply to a DM and someone goes “OMG I can’t believe you replied” . Why wouldn’t I reply? Lol. I reply to everyone (Unless it’s “Hi! I just published my new story xxx. If you’re an author too, maybe we can do a read for read?” lol). Of course, some authors have a lot more fanmail to get through and that’s why they may not reply straight away, but I think most people will always reply eventually?
Actually, I think some have quit their day jobs or were former students and now use this as their main source of income. There are definitely some authors who can live off their payments comfortably, but not very many.
I’m not sure about this I remember reading somewhere Miss MJ receives thousands(!) of fanmails every single day. I can’t imagine to have time and energy to deal with something like this…
Haha yeah good point. I remember another author showing that she had 99+ Instagram DM requests and she was like “I keep replying but the number never seems to go down” lol.
Okay, to anyone, I’m not trying to be rude, this just seem ridiculous to me, most of these are 13 years old that don’t understand it. Besides, it’s not the end of the world if someone “famous” doesn’t reply or replies rudely, this is all a game and social media in total. A really big part of this are 12-15 years old girls that are stuck in social media. When I was 13, I was starving myself and torturing myself while getting bullied by people that honestly sounds pretty damn similar to some of those, I just happen to have a different point of view about how dumb this is all is… Just get out of that Episode bubble and see how this is nothing…? It is just so fucking annoying to see how all these people treat this like it’s important and when everybody are being rude to everybody, it’s not exactly a way to run away from reality…
It seriously seems like no one thinks like this, Episode is these people’s lives so keep living in your bubble thinking this actually matters while it doesn’t, I’m out.
On the topic of when I reply to someone on DM on my Insta - they low key flip out. Like . . . thanks? I low key reply to everyone . . . I’m flattered, nevertheless.
I find the “fame and recognition” on this app to be confusing. If you can make money off of this, cool. Great. Easy money, honestly. It’s not anything to get a bloated ego over. It’s literally a joke app; it advertises itself as a joke. Personally, I don’t want my writing to be on here. I do understand easy money being interesting, and writing itself is always a fun outlet and enjoyable hobby. I also understand what it feels like to find a safe space, and I think a lot of people view this app and its community as a safe space with friends they enjoy. I won’t condemn that. I don’t think people should.
As for responses, you get too many to respond to. There comes a point where you kind of have to pick and choose. Most of them are always, “Love your writing!” or something along those lines, and you kind of pay attention to the thoughtful ones instead. I’ve met some writers that do try to respond to everyone, and that’s their call. It’s just honestly a lot of work and gets to be tiring.
Oh now I am not going to be considerate nor good anymore
I am 14 dude and I literally have a life…I am not on social media that often… sometimes I don’t even open it…You can’t just go off saying that all these 12-15 years old are stuck on social media…
And let me tell you I am DEFINITELY NOT a person that anybody scratch it ANY person would want to mess with…
I won’t take insults and all these people that bullies me whether that is supposed to be a great author writer or any body…When I am good with you then I AM HELPFUL but when you aren’t good terms with me then hell to this dude I won’t care about that person any way until this continues…
I mean what are you even saying about these authors may be rude or are rude but they have there problems to deal with as they are humans and humans have their own problems so let me tell you you just can’t go off saying that they are under their own Episode bubble and if they are they have earned it so why are you getting so fired up about it??
Maybe you pointed something we are agreeing and disagreeing so what we can think and tell whatever we want it has nothing and by nothing I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it…And calm yourself and then say something more…
Now whoever wants to criticize me or say something please do I have to say this I have said it…
So now please come and do what you want to do…I am out of here…
I 100% am one of those people who get excited when huge authors dm me back or respond. And let me say I’ve had nothing but positive encounters with many famous authors. I understand what you’re saying but I think it’s unfair to call all authors that are huge or popular, rude because I’ve never seen anything rude out of many authors that are popular.
Also I’ve actually had more encounters with smaller authors that personally are rude. And let’s be honest, many episode users aren’t exactly saints and say rude comments to huge authors as well but if a huge author was to reply back, they’d get faulted?
I respectfully disagree with you and I get excited over major authors because they’re inspirations to me and I love them. I don’t think anyone should judge me for getting excited over that
I have had conversations with many big authors and none of them have come across as rude. I think when they are interpreted as rude, perhaps it is the question or comment that is being directed towards them? Constant questions asking about updates or customization or whatever can be mentally exhausting when you answer the same thing over again or feel pressured to perform. Yes, some big authors do get paid, probably not much unless they have several million reads. There are other bigger authors that don’t get paid at all.
I’ve seen a number of rude comments from readers/followers directed at authors and I can understand if you experience this daily, you can get snappy. I’ve even seen people complain because an author posted that she wouldn’t update for two weeks because she was going on vacation with her family. She was told that she was selfish and abandoning her fans to run off to stupid vacation. It almost seems like the more authors try, the more they are criticized.
Not all authors in the payments programme are paid the same, some make a little bit of money and some of them make much more, it all depends.
they try to do it in a way that will make them look like they’re having an actual hard time… Or at least that’s what they unsuccessfully try to do because it does not seem like that.
I wouldn’t consider myself to be “famous” lol but I’m glad I come across as nice 
) and some of the fanmail I was getting felt a bit demanding. As a result, I started getting a bit snappy and had to turn my fanmail off before I started coming across as rude lol.
. Why wouldn’t I reply? Lol. I reply to everyone (Unless it’s “Hi! I just published my new story xxx. If you’re an author too, maybe we can do a read for read?” lol). Of course, some authors have a lot more fanmail to get through and that’s why they may not reply straight away, but I think most people will always reply eventually?
I remember reading somewhere Miss MJ receives thousands(!) of fanmails every single day. I can’t imagine to have time and energy to deal with something like this…
