Chapters Shenanigans!
Maria spills the tea…
The morning of March 20th, when winners of the marathon contest were supposed to be announced, I woke up to an email that was sent at nearly 4am my time (EST). It was from the Chapters content manager, and it said, “Your book is nominated for the Marathon Prize.” She asked to meet via Zoom to discuss.
I was immediately nervous.
Nominated for the marathon prize? I thought judges were just going to choose the winners…
Some background info: I have had a less-than-perfect relationship with Crazy Maple Studio, which owns Chapters, Kiss, MyFiction, and other apps. Since the start, community authors have been treated unfairly by their lack of transparency, and they continue to hide their practices when it comes to payment (the tiny percentage of royalties we earn when people read our books). I nearly agreed to write for MyFiction when it was in the development stages, until someone familiar with contracts cautioned a whole bunch of authors on the dangerous language in the CMS agreement.
I wrote back to the content manager:
I’m thrilled to hear that Just One of the Guys is in consideration for the Marathon Prize, although I’m a little confused by what you mean by “nominated”– aren’t the winners just chosen by the judges?
And the content manager confirmed:
“Yes, nominated means that I need to confirm one more step with you before the story can be considered the winner. That step is signing a contract with Chapters, so the Zoom meeting will be about it. I’ll be able to explain everything to you and answer your questions.”
I freaked out a little. Okay, a lot.
I agreed to the meeting, but wrote back:
Thanks for your response. Signing a contract with Chapters was not written in the rules as a condition to win the contest– one of the reasons I chose to enter, and one of the reasons I did NOT enter the recent tinder text story contest. I would like very much to continue to collaborate with Chapters, but of course I have several questions about what the contract entails.
I immediately turned to my fellow authors for advice, and I got a ton of support as well as a slew of questions that I should be ready to ask during the meeting. I prepared myself for the possibility that I would forfeit the win if I didn’t agree to the contract, or to have the placement determined by whether or not I would sign.
In the end, I declined their offer, which was to buy the license to Just One of the Guys so they could use it on Kiss and any of their other apps that currently exist (or any apps they may develop in the future). Although the agreement said that I would remain the author and still own the intellectual property, they could basically use it however they wanted to, on any app they wanted to, without my knowledge, since they would have owned the license to use it as they pleased.
After I declined the contract, I was told I’d still be given the third place cash prize, but that I would not be featured on the front page of the app, like the others. I felt bad about that for a little bit, but that front-page promotion only lasted ONE day, and my fellow authors (and readers!) assured me that I made the right choice.
In the end, I know it was the right decision for me. It’s more important to me to have full control of all of my work, and not have a random app company using it without my knowledge because I sold the license to it.
And a note of caution to my fellow authors: we may be amateur writers who do this as a hobby, but don’t undervalue your work, and don’t let yourself get exploited by a company who’s assuming you don’t know anything.
Return to Exclusives
(password: thesauce)
Cinnamon Romance 