Wattpad Anyone?

BookCat · 10-18-2014, 08:56 PM

I've been hearing a lot about Wattpad but had to watch a video to work out what the site actually does. Seems to be a Facebook-for-Writers...where aspiring authors upload novels, stories, fan-fic for free and others comment upon it. You can even do the Dickensian thing of 'publishing' a chapter at a time and receive comments from readers which may even change the course of the writing.

You don't receive a penny for your work, just exposure.

I imagine there's a lot of dross on the site and that it's hard to find a good author participating.

Has anyone here used the site? What were your experiences?

Ninjalawyer · 10-22-2014, 09:44 AM

I've signed up, but haven't actually gotten as far as uploading a story yet, or really digging into it.

TCSimpson · 10-22-2014, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

I imagine there's a lot of dross on the site and that it's hard to find a good author participating.

Has anyone here used the site? What were your experiences?

Brandon Sanderson and a few other authors are on there. I'm on there, although I'm a nobody in terms of being an author. Lots of others I know who sell well are on there, BUT, Wattpad doesn't necessarily translate into sales or at least sales that can be tracked. It's more of a thing where more exposure is better than none. A lot of the folks on there are actual readers, although it is my belief that the vast majority stick with free content rather than pay.

As for my experience, my free book has some 320k views or so. Some comments have some insight, others are not. I have had a couple readers ask where they could find the rest of my series.

KenMagee · 10-26-2014, 07:31 AM

I posted the first book of my trilogy. I've had about 450K reads and a number of the readers went on to purchase other books in the series.

I like Wattpad, but it's no shortcut to being discovered.

Nancy Fulda · 11-01-2014, 07:01 PM

I'm trying it out. The site design is slick (although not entirely debugged). I kinda like the idea of a legal, centralized repository for free fiction. And the social aspect ought to help readers find the stuff they want.

As to dross - from my perspective, most of the books in your average bookstore fit that category. (Not because they're badly written, but because they're not what I currently want to read.) That doesn't seem to keep me from walking out with a good book.

Jane Oldaker · 11-07-2014, 04:10 AM

Wattpad is heavily populated by teenagers. There are adults there too, as well as some established writers, but younger people do seem to predominate.

10-18-2014, 08:56 PM	#1
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Wattpad Anyone? I've been hearing a lot about Wattpad but had to watch a video to work out what the site actually does. Seems to be a Facebook-for-Writers...where aspiring authors upload novels, stories, fan-fic for free and others comment upon it. You can even do the Dickensian thing of 'publishing' a chapter at a time and receive comments from readers which may even change the course of the writing. You don't receive a penny for your work, just exposure. I imagine there's a lot of dross on the site and that it's hard to find a good author participating. Has anyone here used the site? What were your experiences?

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10-22-2014, 09:44 AM	#2
Ninjalawyer Guru Posts: 826 Karma: 18573626 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Nexus 7 (2013)	I've signed up, but haven't actually gotten as far as uploading a story yet, or really digging into it.

10-26-2014, 07:31 AM	#4
KenMagee Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 2231728 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Fire	I posted the first book of my trilogy. I've had about 450K reads and a number of the readers went on to purchase other books in the series. I like Wattpad, but it's no shortcut to being discovered.

11-01-2014, 07:01 PM	#5
Nancy Fulda I write stories. Posts: 700 Karma: 16437432 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Germany Device: kindle	I'm trying it out. The site design is slick (although not entirely debugged). I kinda like the idea of a legal, centralized repository for free fiction. And the social aspect ought to help readers find the stuff they want. As to dross - from my perspective, most of the books in your average bookstore fit that category. (Not because they're badly written, but because they're not what I currently want to read.) That doesn't seem to keep me from walking out with a good book.

11-07-2014, 04:10 AM	#6
Jane Oldaker Groupie Posts: 152 Karma: 1018376 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Samsung G3 Tablet, Kobo Vox	Wattpad is heavily populated by teenagers. There are adults there too, as well as some established writers, but younger people do seem to predominate.