[CONTEST OVER] JNC Original Light Novel Contest
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The "Your work must consist only of text" bit seems definitive, but it still puts works that would benefit from a map at a disadvantage - think of Bookworm, for example.
However, this is the most problematic condition:
Works that include excessive sexual or cruel descriptions or depictions, infringe or are likely to infringe upon the copyright or other rights or interest (including parodies and imitations), slander specific individuals or groups, are offensive to public morals, violate the application guidelines, or are deemed unsuitable by the judges will be disqualified from the competition.
For one thing, JNC publishes JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World, isn't that excessively sexual? And "offensive to public morals"? That's far too vague, which "public" do I not have to offend? But that pales into insignificance compared to "Works that ... are deemed unsuitable by the judges will be disqualified...". I appreciate that you need a general get-out clause of some sort, but it makes me wonder whether I should spend hundreds of hours writing something only for you to then disqualify it from competition because you find it "unsuitable" for some unspecified reason.
After reading something captivating, book lovers simply need to talk about it with someone.
—Tearmoon Empire -
@Angelus as someone who is writing a story with some romance I would also like to know what constitutes "excessive sexual content". I assume that I can't submit outright porn (not that I was going to) but I would like to know where the line is....
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@Lily-Garden that clause is from "the lawyers" but basically here is the line: "can this be sold on Amazon?"
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@Angelus here is the easiest way to known whether your work crosses that line: "can this work be sold on Amazon?"
Fyi jk haru was, eventually, banned by Amazon (but only the ebook and not the print and it took years)...
So jk haru is like, right on the line.
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@admin said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
"can this work be sold on Amazon?"
Thanks for the reply but I'm not sure that makes it any easier to decide, given some of Amazon's antics in recent years! Anyway, no point in trying to make a long discussion of it, them's the rules so I guess I'll just have to sleep on it and see how I feel.
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@Angelus said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
it makes me wonder whether I should spend hundreds of hours writing something only for you to then disqualify it from competition because you find it "unsuitable" for some unspecified reason.
Just my opinion, but I don't think anyone should put that kind of effort into writing with no plan other than winning this contest.
Most people will not win. Are they going to throw their novel away? Why not have a plan for that, like self-publishing (kindle / kindle unlimited and such) or at least offering it to one of the web novel translation sites that also carries original English LN/WN content.
Especially if you're going to go further than bashing out one LN, with the extra work for decent world building and pre-planning a longer story instead of winging it after volume 1?
Again just my opinion and not trying to single you out, your post happened to make me think this.
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@admin said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
@Angelus here is the easiest way to known whether your work crosses that line: "can this work be sold on Amazon?"
Fyi jk haru was, eventually, banned by Amazon (but only the ebook and not the print and it took years)...
So jk haru is like, right on the line.
To be honest, I don't even know why JK Haru and LNs with some NSFW illustrations (or rather, that just show a little skin) are banned from amazon, but on the other hand, amazon allows TONS of HaremLit novels with NSFW covers and explicit sex scenes. It's just...weird. Maybe they don't like Japanese stuff?
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@HarmlessDave said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
Just my opinion, but I don't think anyone should put that kind of effort into writing with no plan other than winning this contest.
Most people will not win. Are they going to throw their novel away? Why not have a plan for that, like self-publishing (kindle / kindle unlimited and such) or at least offering it to one of the web novel translation sites that also carries original English LN/WN content.
Especially if you're going to go further than bashing out one LN, with the extra work for decent world building and pre-planning a longer story instead of winging it after volume 1?
Again just my opinion and not trying to single you out, your post happened to make me think this.
Indeed..going to whack mine on Royal Road if (when lol) I don't win, and follow it up with a volume a year maybe.
Just try and have fun writing it, and aim for getting the start streamed on the site. That's a win to my mind lol
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@HarmlessDave said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
Just my opinion, but I don't think anyone should put that kind of effort into writing with no plan other than winning this contest.
I wasn't worried about not winning because of course that's pretty much bound to happen, I was worried about not even getting a chance to win. Same difference to some people maybe, but feels like a big difference to me. I guess we all have our own circumstances.
@ShipTeaser, my stuff usually ends up on AFF, writing non-porn is a whole new experience for me 😳
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@Angelus said in [SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!] JNC Original Light Novel Contest:
@ShipTeaser, my stuff usually ends up on AFF, writing non-porn is a whole new experience for me 😳
Well, you can always downgrade to. ecchi I guess!
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@Angelus who knows, maybe one day we start a properly R-18 line and then run a 100% smut contest ;)
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@admin sounds like a great idea to me 😉 😆
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@Angelus if you haven't read the Loner Life LNs, they get by with quite a lot while staying on the safe side of Amazon. You don't need to directly describe the action in order to cover it.
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This is an exciting contest and I look forward to seeing what it ends up inspiring.
What's your definition of a light novel for this light novel content? Does it need to have some connection to Japan or Japanese people? Or would for example a typical Western litRPG or YA fantasy story count as a light novel? Is it basically just anything goes but because it is being judged based on what typical JNC readers are likely to be interested in reading people will want to bear that audience in mind to maximise their chances of being judged highly? Or is the accuracy of cultural depiction a relevant factor and so people might be best sticking to their own culture or a fictional culture to avoid being marked down?
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@Shiny that's a lot of hard questions.
Maybe the way I'd put it is: your work should contain at least some of the same kind of things that make popular japanese light novels liked by our readers at J-Novel Club, whatever that might be. It's incredibly subjective of course.
Light novel isn't a genre, or a medium, but much like shoujo or shounen it's more defined by the publisher label the book is published under.
So I guess that means anything you submit to the contest becomes a light novel automatically! -
For the synopsis, are you looking for something that would be suitable as an actual volume preview like used on this site, or an actual summary of events including endgame spoilers?
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@zwabbit we will leave that decision up to you!
Whatever you think will appeal to the judges more. -
@Rinvelt I mean, there's no point considering where the line is for Amazon when you can find what is clearly and unambiguously porn on there that's still being sold.
It's probably best to think of Amazon bans as a thunderstorm.
How far are they from the center of the storm (how vulgar is the content)?
How tall are they (how popular is the book)?
What outfit are they wearing—do they have on lots of conductive metal (aiming at a younger audience) or are they wearing rubber boots (aiming at an adult audience)?
These are all factors in how likely it is they get struck by lightning (banned from Amazon), but there are no guarantees. With enough data, scientists can create models for deeply chaotic systems like the weather. But in the end, even the best models can only give you probabilistic predictions.Look up. How dark are the clouds above? Is where you're going worth running through the rain for?
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@Leon_97 So... you're saying as long as everyone in the story is wearing a raincoat.........
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@admin and rubber boots, don't forget the rubber boots. Pink scented latex for me, please. (Damn, there goes my AFF background again)
