This Company Will Pay Writers Up To $10,000 To License Their Romance Novel — Should You?
I’m writing a novel, which I intend to self-publish. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform is easily the most popular self-publishing option, but I’m not sure if it’s right for me. The marketing and promotional efforts would fall entirely on my shoulders and I’m terrible at marketing.
Plus, my income would be based on the number of books I sell.
Now, you might say, “Well, duh. That’s how it goes when you self-publish (or even publish traditionally).” And while that may be true, there are ways to self-publish your book and get paid a flat fee, without having to sell a single copy. At least, that’s what READICT is claiming.
The company, based out of San Jose, California, is currently seeking writers to contribute full-manuscripts for publishing consideration. Each accepted titled will warrant a payment of *up to $10,000. But before you start drooling — as I did — let’s dig into what Readict is and just exactly what they’re asking for.
What Is Readict?
Readict is a web fiction app (available for Android & Apple devices) that hosts novel length works, sourced from writers and literary agents. Free for readers to access, the app has a strong Wattpad-esque feel to it.
What Kind Of Stories Do They Publish?
According to Readict’s website, they boast 120,000 available stories and 1.2 million readers, who’ve spent 76 million minutes reading.
Their most popular genres are romance, fantasy, mystery, adventure, and werewolf. They seem to also publish more taboo topics like adultery, workplace affairs, and extramarital children.
How Does Readict Acquire Content?
Readict’s team commissions original stories from authors, independent or otherwise, publishers and content aggregators.
Submission Guidelines
Writers who want to be considered should submit complete manuscripts (between 30,000 & 100,000 thousand words), via their web form. Readict prioritizes complete works, but there is also an option to “create a new work” on the website. It is unclear if writers who publish works in installments are subject to the same compensation plan. After submission, the hiring team will privately distribute your story to a select group of readers and use various benchmarks to determine whether they accept it.
Who Owns Your Work?
Readict offers two different licensing options for writers.
- A non-exclusive license grants Readict the right to host your content, but allows you to also publish and profit from it elsewhere. (From a writers perspective, that’s a great option to have.)
- An exclusive license grants Readict exclusive rights to host your content for the duratioin of the contract. During that time, only Readict can host your work. Per the website, Readict pays more for exclusive licensees.
Compensation
All writers who sign with Readict get a $100 signing bonus and *up to $10,000. Successfully contracted writers can also receive *up to $500 for every writer they refer to the program.
The fee will be negotiated, pending acceptance into the program. Note that they do no pay royalties; this is a one-time fee.
Should You Sign Up?
Ultimately, that decision is your own.
On paper, Readict sounds like a promising opportunity for writers, but there are a few red flags I noticed.
A simple Google search brings up very little available information about the company. Readict does have an official Twitter account, which promotes current stories and sometimes even retweets authors in the program, but actual outside reviews appear to be scarce.
There’s also no press about them, and I feel that a company that can afford to pay writers up to $10,000 per story can afford a PR team.
There should outside content written about them. Book reviewers, literature magazines, book blogs — but I couldn’t find anything.
Lastly, they’re asking for a full manuscripts of published stories to license. That is a steep workload, especially for a company that isn’t guaranteed to pay or publish you. Unless you already have a story that length ready to submit, you might find yourself writing for nothing — at least where this platform is concerned.(Nothing is ever truly wasted.)
It’s always a safer bet to work with companies with a large online presence, outside of the product they’re presenting. Perhaps it’s just too new. If you decide to try them out, make sure you do your due diligence and don’t sign a contract until you read over it thoroughly.
With that said, I’m NOT saying that Readict is a scam or something you shouldn’t pursue. There are limited avenues for fiction writers to make money online, outside of traditional publishing, so it’s worth a shot. $10,000 could sure come in handy — especially during this pandemic.
