Maybe you’ve heard of these, but there are these things called web novels. I’ve noticed that many people don’t know the difference between the two.
A novel generally has an average word count of 90,000 – 100,000 words to about 320 – 350 pages while web novels generally don’t have a fixed length of chapters or word count unless defined by the author. Novels are usually in digital and physical format, but a web novel is a story that only exists online. If you want to get technical, web novels are the groundwork or detailed plan of a to be published novel (if they ever will). Not only that, novels also usually go through a whole process before they are published.
They have editors while web novels have variable editing since the only one editing the story is the author (instead of the publisher’s team). Novels also are completed stories that are published while web novels tend to have weekly/monthly releases online. Web novels are also more casual in form, grammar, and tone compared to a novel.
And the most important difference is that web novels are usually from overseas while novels come from the west and overseas. For example, if you go to novel updates and try to look up a web novel, under the translated name will be the original name in Japanese, Chinese, and/or Korean.
Personally, I like web novels because they are like novels with no price tag but a nice physical book is nice once n’ while.
