Hello Episode Authors!
In surveys, support tickets, and direct feedback from creators, we’ve heard that you’d like more ways for readers to be able to support you and your writing on Episode. To help with that, we’re revamping our Community Author Gem Choices to give creators more control over when and how to offer readers unique, fun experiences or to ask for support. As always, using gem choices in your story is entirely optional, and can only be added by you, the author.
In order to give our authors more control and creative direction with their gem choices, there are two areas previously limited by Episode that we’re expanding: total number of gem choices per branch, and the price of each gem choice.
We’ve increased the limit to 5 gem choices per branch to better support you trying out different types of gem choices. To help your reader have a great experience with your story, more than 5 gem choices per story branch will not be allowed. If more than 5 gem choices exist in any one branch of that chapter, the script will give you a warning message, and prevent you from publishing that chapter.
Authors will also now have the ability to choose the cost of individual gem choices. The prices of gem choices can be set at the following levels: 5, 8, 12, 17, 22, 28 and 35 gems. Previously, the cost was set by Episode and was based on the total number of reads a story had. With these additional controls, authors can now base the price of their gem choices on the content they are providing their reader. For more information on how to use the new gem choice pricing donacode or writing gem choices in general please go here.
Our requirements for unlocking the Writer’s Payment program will stay the same.
However, we’re in the process of re-evaluating the gem bonus payment to better reward the creative choices authors make when writing their stories. As we continue to expand the ways that authors can earn on Episode, we want to ensure that the payments program can effectively support how you choose to write your story. We’ll share more about this in the coming months, but for now, the gem choice bonuses authors in the Writer’s Payment program receive will remain the same.
In the meantime, to unlock writer payments, we still require that authors be 18 years of age or older and their stories need to earn a total 500,000 general chapter reads in the last 60 days, or a total 100,000 gem chapter reads and 300 gem choices selected across all published stories in the last 60 days.
We know that many authors are anxious about losing reads and readers by adding gem choices to their stories and we hear you. As a way to help authors who add gem choices to their stories and to address these concerns, we are in the process of updating the trending leaderboard algorithm. Story ranks will still be determined by the number of reads a story gets, but will now also factor in gems spent in a story. Stories without gem choices will still be able to trend high in the ranks and this will not fundamentally change the way rank is calculated. Over the next few weeks as this change is being slowly rolled out, authors may see a mismatch between ranks in-app and on the Writer’s Portal. This will be the case until the rollout is complete.
Authors can add these gem prices to their stories starting now, and in the near future and over the coming weeks, all iOS readers will see any gem choices in your stories, with rollout to Android readers in the future. Previously, gem choices were visible to only a small percentage of readers.
We hope that with these and future updates, authors on Episode will be able to devote more time and energy to offering readers new, fun and interesting ways to support them and their stories, as well as providing authors with a means to pursue their dreams of becoming full-time writers and creators.
– The Episode Team