What can and cannot be published
You can publish original works to crom. Being made with AI does not stand in the way of publishing. On the other hand, fan works based on existing manga or anime cannot be published, even with the rights holder's permission. Adult content is also not accepted at this time.
Even when made with AI, a work modelled on an existing title is treated as a fan work. Do not put existing titles or character names in your prompts. Submitting a work for publishing counts as declaring that it is an original work.
- Can be published: works and characters you came up with yourself (including ones drawn with AI)
- Cannot be published: fan works of existing titles (even with permission) and adult content
- If an existing title or character name is detected, a warning is shown (it is only a warning and does not block publishing)
What earns revenue
Revenue comes from readers reading or playing your work on crom. Manga and anime sales, character chat conversations, story progress and ads on free episodes are each shared at the rate set in the terms.
The offer type of each episode (free, free-after-waiting or paid) and its price are set by us. What creators set is the visibility of each episode. The number of tickets for free-after-waiting reading and the time until they recover can be set in the work's settings.
What you need before publishing
Before publishing, complete these three items in Distribution Account. Publishing itself costs nothing.
- Contract: accept the distribution license terms (agree to the core clauses individually and declare that you are an adult)
- Bank account: verify your identity with Stripe and register the account for payouts
- Tax info: enter your residency status, business type and qualified invoice registration number (required to receive payouts; your balance does not expire if you have not registered)
About review
Episodes made purely with AI generation go live straight from the publishing request. Episodes that include pages with uploaded images of your own, or pages whose origin cannot be confirmed, go live after the team checks them. Character chats and stories have no prior review.
Review is there to catch clear violations, not to judge the quality of your work.
Checking sales and getting paid
In "Sales / Analytics" you can see this month's and lifetime sales, breakdowns by work and by revenue type (manga and anime sales, character chat, stories and ads), and monthly trends. "Fan Analytics" shows the number of fans for each work and how fan levels are distributed (no personal reader information is included).
Payouts run automatically every month. The month closes at month end, the revenue share statement is issued by the 15th of the following month, and payment is transferred by the end of that month. Statements can be exported as PDF and CSV, and you can raise a dispute if anything looks wrong. In months where the balance does not reach the minimum payout, it carries over to the next month. If you would rather not wait, you can also request payout of your balance (in that case the transfer fee is paid by the creator).
If you live outside Japan
Revenue share payouts are currently available to residents of Japan and Japanese corporations. Creators living outside Japan can still publish works and their sales are recorded, but payouts are held until support is available.
