Evil God Average

Evil God Average Paywall

88 Comments

How would you guys feel if I put the light novel parts behind a paywall?

That is, you show me proof of purchase of any of the light novels, and I’ll give you the password to the light-novel-only portions.

What happened is that the third volume was originally supposed to be all physical, but the editors at Takarajimasha(the publisher), told Yuzuki Kihiro-sensei that it would be fine to upload the second part of the novel online.

Kihiro Sensei: “Eh-? It’s okay to put up some of the new stuff on the internet?”

Sensei’s Agent: “Yes. It’s true that it would sell better to have more new content for the novel, but…”

Kihiro Sensei: “Right? I was sure that the publishers would want more exclusive content for the light novel.”

Sensei’s Agent: “Yes, but we think what’s most important of all is that the publication makes the web novel fans happy.”

Kihiro Sensei: (A-, A halo!?)

So I was hoping that maybe I could help increase the sales just a little bit. The free portions are already quite sizable, and are a complete section of their own.

I’m sure that pirating and stuff can’t be helped, but unlike with Baka-Tsuki’s light novel translations, we’re already getting a huge amount of free content.

That’s why I’m hoping that I can get even one or two extra sales by doing things this way instead.

Of course, if people agree and cooperate, I’ll try and translate the light novel faster as well.

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You can find links for purchase below:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1855809

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1916184

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1949898

I hear that you can also get it for cheaper shipping on Amazon if you live in the United States, but I don’t so I’m not sure how that works.

88 thoughts on “Evil God Average Paywall”

  1. I’d be disappointed as it is difficult to get the light novel in my country and every time the president opens his mouth our currency takes a nose dive, but I’d understand and would look for an opportunity to get the light novel.

    Now hopefully I can post this comment and don’t have to retype all of this.

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    2. That site does ship to RSA… but wow, ZAR has really dropped (by half) since I was there last.

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  4. It’d make me sad (as I probably wouldn’t buy any…) but go for whatever you think helps the community the most.

    <3

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  5. i live in australia everything is already double the price compared to everywhere else in the world :( hm…25 bucks incl shipping thats not too bad i guess, how often you plan on releasing chapters if you go this route?

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  6. I would probably not buy it. And therefore not read the sequel. Although your translations are awesome, I figure if I’m going to fork $11 for a book, it better be a damn awesome book. And while Jashin Average isn’t bad, it isn’t damn awesome either. As it stands, I’ll just have a Japanese book, that I cannot read or resell to anyone and it’ll just end up gathering dust or in the bin.

    I tend to read on kindle all the time, and the price for kindle books is typically below $7 with many of them being free for kindle unlimied subscribers. Now, if you were to collaborate with Sensei and get an English version of the light novel out on kindle and sell it at an average price for kindle books – that I would gladly pay for.

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      1. seconded that. i prefer store it digitally too as long its cheaper heehe (i-its not like im not following anri sama! but..but my food expense-chan is definely not at fault here T_T)

        jokes aside i found funny character named “anri” and she was evil god too in case you dont know :)

        http://bato.to/reader#506dc8b3da1ae4ff_3

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  7. not really against it, but i think it would be better if you open the wall after some delay, so those who have no way to buy the book (maybe underaged and have no income/CC) can still enjoy your translation albeit 2 months late after you finished translating the whole volume… or something

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      1. parent : what are you buying?
        kid : this awesome book about evil god
        parent : OH NO! MY KID IS POSSESSED BY DEVIL!!

        jk
        well, just do what you think is best
        i’ll follow whatever you decided :3
        if that mean i have to cancel my plan to buy overlord vol 2, then so be it :D

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  8. Do what you want, you’re the translator ;o).
    If you think it’s more respectfull for the author to translate the half of the novel available online, I’m okay with it.

    The only light novel in japanese I ever bought was Slayers (but I did it because I was in Japan for holidays, my sister who can read japanese was still at home, and there was talks about me working on the Slayers’s GURPS french version (the project has never been completed, still did a few adventures and game mecanics that I did ended in a leaflet that was distributed in a few conventions as a freebie))…
    And right now they are collecting dust in my bookshelf because, apart from the illustrations, I can’t understand anything in it :o( , I’m lucky that somebody took over the translation after tokyopop dropped it, or I would never had read the end of it, even if I have all the books at home.

    I don’t regret it, but I have a little hard time buying light novel in japanese after that (still, I’m lucky that Ofelbe is translating and publishing quite a lot of LN right now in France, even if it’s a small publishing house :o).
    Until I can remember at least all those hiragana and katakana (something my brain doesnt seems wired for) I don’t think I’ll import any light novel any time soon, I might do it again if I go to Japan once more but I would need quite a lot of money for this…

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  9. While I wouldn’t actually buy a physical copy of EGA (like eugene2k I like it well enough, but it doesn’t rock my world), I think it’s a great idea and a good way of actually supporting the author.

    Now, Second Life on the other hand is definitely something I’ll be buying. Would you have any plans for translating the extra chapters from that?

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  12. you’re just talking about the 3rd book right? I’d say I’m willing to fork over the $15 it would cost to buy one volume right now. However I’d rather buy the series in order in case I ever feel the burning need to learn Japanese and actually read it.

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  13. I’ve never actually read this novel translation (or most of yours) vecause I can’t get into female protagonists.
    However, is this really worth reading? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I might be missing something great because I didn’t want to.
    From 1 to 10, how much would you give this novel?

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      1. Not that way :,v (I’m sorry if I looked racist, male chauvinist or something like that)
        It’s just that I’ve never really read a story with a female lead besides The Girl Who Ate Death (and Altina the Sword Princess which is like 20% female lead) and it was a bit difficult to read…
        (And even tho I’m Mexican, I can’t read most of Mexico’s novels because I feel way too familiar with Asian/Fiction-like names that it feels weird to read Spanish names in a story.)
        I swear that if I read “Maria” or a Spanish-like name, it suddenly becomes hard for me to read it. (Has happened and I know it’s both bad and weird)

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        1. Nah, as in, more like… idunno. There’s not really a huge difference? Generally, the bigger differentiating factors between protagonists are their values and beliefs, and like, what setting they were born into.
          So I just don’t really get the whole ‘I can’t read male protagonists’ ‘I can’t read female protagonists’ thing.

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  14. Cant buy average evil god , there is no digital version and importation taxes are a bitch.
    Is it fine if i give proof of a bunch of stuff i bought on bookwalker?
    Got bakarina , a wild last boss, mushoku tensei , healer in labyrinth city and 生従者の悪政改革録 vol 1 , 2

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  15. I can agree to pay a bit for the digital content regardless of language if that make the author happy but unless it’s English I won’t be buying a physical book. Sorry

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  16. I can’t find evil god average on amazon maybe hey havenot translated it yet? I rely want to buy it but I think I’ll wait until the English version is out
    Btw Anti clothes looks like a bathrobe or swimsuit considering it covers almost nothing xD
    Though ten a and lily is really cute ^^ how I want to cuddle them(no evil intents loli are preciou they are dimensional treasure though anti is really cute as well but I don’t want to abandon my current cult what should I do >.<)

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      2. Also just wonderg but is the on easy to read? I know the ln is actually the one with less and easier kanji than win normally but I’m quite bad with slang and I don’t know many words(I can fix that withe Google…hopefully ) so just wondering if it will be easy to read

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  17. That sounds fair, but I have to say I would feel a little weird buying a book I can’t read. What if it forces me to copy down everything it says or it’ll inflict minor injury on me? I’d at least want to know what I’m writing.

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  19. Can’t we just pay you? so after we pay we can get the password and see more content? because I’m sure you would use the money to support the author. (I personally don’t need a copy of a book that I can’t read) >.>;; and i’m down to pay you to support the author

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    1. I agree with this.

      As maybe people have stated, buying a physical book that you can’t read feels kind of meaningless and not too many of us know someone that reads Japanese we can give it to. I’m also not sure how much of the money would even go to the author and nice editors after we factor out shipping costs.

      If it’s going to be like that, I’d rather pool the money in one place and use that to support the author directly.

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        1. A fair point. I’m just sharing my immediate thoughts/response to the idea.
          I don’t know if that would skew novel sales statistics or anything and if that would be important. It would be a messy thing to look into, probably.

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        2. Well if you start collecting the “support author fund” you can either keep ordering the same book over and over again or contact the author and have a back and forth conversation on what she prefers instead? also I think people would likely pay you then order a book they can’t read. I think we see the zeal in how much you want to support the author and we trust you, also i want to thank you as much if not more then the author since i would not have the opportunity to read EGA if it wasn’t for your hard work. ( this series and the others like Tilea and Reika)

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      2. ^_^;; We live in a world where we can print that picture with equal quality if we truly wanted to… and the collection part… I personally think a book I can’t read sitting next to me is a dagger in my heart. (always reminding me that I’m just a lazy asshole who won’t take the time to learn another language and better myself augh!)

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  20. I’d respect your decision and integrity, but probably won’t buy any of the books. (Which is to say, I’d be fine with a paywall, but will stick to the free stuff.)

    As it stands, I would pay more for shipping than I would for a single book, and that’s a bit silly to me. I would like to support the author, but I’d like to do so by buying it as an eBook. (And sadly, it doesn’t seem like one is available.)

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      1. Right you are!

        More Anri is always a good thing, but I’ve gotten plenty of enjoyment out of what’s out there already. It’s not like I’m entitled to any of it. (Rather, I didn’t expect we’d get more at all.)

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        1. Let us support Sheep rabbit who brought us many smiles! MAKE THE PAY WALL and We’ll bring it down with donations!!

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      1. It’s going to make Anri Nation great again.

        Alternatively, how about an online petition for Yen Press or some other publishers to license these books? You can collect proof of signing to let people read, so just the traffic from this site would boost it quite a bit. In fact, leave a link to it here and even non-followers of Anri-sama can pitch in.

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  22. Go for it! I wouldn’t have bought my copies without your translations and encouragement, so hey.

    Now it would be great if I could read wild last boss though….maybe could I get the password for the chapters you did translate? Couldn’t understand your “hint” at all.

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  24. If there was a option to directly donate to you i would buy the tl chapters easily, but buying a imported book while living in brazil is not going to happen, 1 dolar = 3.5 reais, i dont even want to think about the shipping cost. It’s not the case that i can’t pay, i work to spend with stuff i like and i support authors/game company that i like IF there is a digital copy, i dont want to spend an absurd amount on a book i won’t be able to read and the shipping would cost many times more then the book itself. To me that would be the best solution to ppl that live in far away countries and want to read/support the author

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  25. Legit question: why don’t you just open up donations? No, hear me out here.

    Pull the same shit that a lot (most?) other TLers pull, ie sponsored extra chapters; with the money that comes in, buy physical copies yourself.

    Points for consideration:
    1) it works. Desperate leechers are idiots who regularly shell out 60-70$+ for dogshit tier MTL garbage as well as falling for “buy me a coffee XD XD” or “omg my laptop just broke, help me get a new one so I can TL faster T_T” bullshit.

    2) as unfortunate as it may be, your readers are going to appreciate your efforts more than the actual authors. For an English speaking audience, the author is nothing more than a faceless figure; they’ll be far more willing to drop a few bucks for the translator’s efforts, especially since they can communicate with you here

    2.5) your proposal relies on people liking a project enough to shell out a copy that they ultimately cannot read themselves; and it’s kind of an all or nothing deal; (which means a whole lot of nothing and maybe a handful of buyers) whereas you collecting donations allows for money to get pooled. I don’t particularly like or dislike any of your projects besides ILMSL but I’d drop you a fiver once in a while out of appreciation for your efforts, but I kinda doubt I’ll shell out 30$+ for a series I am indifferent to.

    3) can pretty much guarantee more books will get bought this way than would get bought through your proposal; just look at EGA last time (and the dismal number if people who actually bought physical copies) as well as some of the generally reasonable arguments for not being interested enough to buy a copy here

    4) a good proportion of your readership are children who won’t even have read your post; that doesn’t matter as long as you hook a handful of the addicts with disposable income; these are the people who drop 20-30$ without hesitation for a MTL guesslation, but will balk at a physical copy they can’t read; it’s not about the author so much as it’s about /them/ getting their fix

    TL;DR as cynical as it may seem, you’ll boost sales more by leaning on the selfishness (and cheapness) of your readers, than their philanthropy; more books will get sold if you ransom your chapters and buy multiple books yourself

    You set up a schedule of x chapters translated/week, with every ~50$ (or w/e) as an extra chapter, given your speed you could easily ransom extra chapters. Three bonus chapters a week is five books bought right there. (Which is probably about as many people will take you up on your current offer)

    Plus with all your extra copies, you can, idk, give them to friends or have them as prizes for the community or w/e

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  26. fuck, I forgot that comments have to be approved so I can’t even reply my own comment

    pre-emptive rebuttal to counterarguments:
    1) it’s unethical and pretty unscrupulous for you to profit from someone else’s IP
    >yeah but you’re spending the money on the author’s books; it may be taking the slightly longer way around, but you’re doing more good in the end

    2) it opens you up to lawsuits and DMCAs
    >maybe, but probably not, especially given that the vast majority of other translators that do this get away with just pocketing the money for (very poorly done) guesslations

    3) it’s generally against the spirit of “I do this because I’m passionate about this and want to spread these feelings to others who aren’t capable of reading moonrunes” if you monetize the process
    >author probably appreciates the extra sales from you buying extra copies far more than yourw noble, moral spirit

    4) you don’t want to be one of those fuckos who’s entitled and “needs money for server costs and providing a service”
    >you aren’t, and you actually do decent translations

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      1. it’s your blog, you make the rules broseph. There’re any number of ways you could do it, tbqh. Off the top of my head:

        1) general donation pool. Any and all donations count towards bonus chapters. Donation target gets hit, you release a chapter publically. Money goes toward whatever you books you choose. (try to restrain yourself, clearly this unlimited power can corrupt your morals)

        2) targeted donor pools. Donors can donate for whatever project they want, whatever project gets donated to, you release a bonus chapter for it. Money goes toward buying work from that author.

        3) Early access type rewards
        >you have a schedule, those who donate can access bonus chapters ahead of schedule.

        ie normal schedule is x3 chapters a week. You translate extra shit on the side but don’t release it to the public; it’s meant for public release next week. Donors (and donors only) get the password and can see it a week early. Non-donors have to wait extra to access it.

        You could theoretically just make extra shit inaccessible to non payers, but you’re likely to end up with lots of buttmad children if you do that.

        There’s no real need to restrict donations to EGA only; if anything, not doing so will allow the popularity of a series to dictate the rate of things getting translated. If there’s any series you just don’t feel like translating, you can just stop accepting donations for it.

        obv this is just random brainstorming, if you do this, you might want to run some ideas by other people who take payment for what they do and iron out any kinks first

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      2. lel actually if you’ve got some real entrepreneurial spirit and the balls for it you could probably get in contact with unpublished authors of works you like and set up some kind of agreement/monetary system like…a patreon or something.

        You translate their work for the English speaking community; author gets a chunk, you take a cut for translation/distribution of unofficial English language versions.

        They get more than they’d get for publishing syosetsu, desperately trying to attract attention from a publisher; it also gives them some degree of legitimacy (“I’m published and have a following overseas!!”)

        and nobody gets dicked over by publishing companies, English or Japanese.

        It’s pretty viable/something to think about, especially if you follow the sort of monetization system that was done with web serials like The Martian, etc.

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  27. The only way I can see a paywall working is if there was an e-version of the LNs that people could purchase in order to minimize the cost for many people.

    It is a bit of a pity that Syosetsu doesn’t seem to have a system that would allow writers to make some money off their WNs aside from physical publishing.

    Some suggestions (that don’t involve donations):
    – Allowing people to “club together” (e.g X no of people purchase it, each chipping in the price of the book in Japan. End product gets donated to a Japanese library/Multi-cultural collection.). This method is convoluted though.
    – Discuss with the author ways that Japanese illiterate fans could still support them financially (e.g direct donation, purchasing their other works, clicking like crazy on their Syosetsu to increase their page view count)
    – Encouraging people to encourage their libraries to purchase a copy. This would only works if their library contains a foreign language collection.

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  29. Ouch…! Well, it does sound like a nice way to support the author. I guess I can just wait a few more years….

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  30. I’d have to pay more for the import than the book itself, so I can’t really justify buying a paperweight made of paper with my income.

    Sadness intensifies. qwq

    At least I’ll see a chunk of it either way.

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  31. I asked Vertical in a poll to pick up the license, so I was planning on waiting for them to announce who they picked up, but then I was 300 yen short of a “big” bonus on cdjapan this weekend, so I just added the first novel to the order because I could.

    I’m kind of “meh” right now, but you should remember that some people refuse to buy anything physical they can’t actually read. (I was one of them, but bonus points > refusing to buy something I can’t read)

    There are also other reasons to not buy books like this, or demand others to buy books (plenty are probably mentioned in the comments here already), but there will probably also be another website to get your translation for free eventually.
    I’m guessing most people already reading here can’t find it though, or are too lazy to try.

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  33. I would prefer to donate directly to the author, but since that’s not going to happen, I can get down with ordering a book. :) Once we buy a book, then what? (You mentioned Amazon as a viable alternative too?)

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  34. Will you be announcing it once you’ve finished translating the light novel? I’d most definitely buy the book after all’s said and done. ‘Cause you know, it would be awkward to have a book of moon-runes that I couldn’t enjoy/binge it immediately, huj?

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