Oooh. Here's the long/short of it, David. While I won that super cool award over there, I am otherwise performing abysmally on the platform. I only have 80 followers! After a year. And my view numbers are very low by Wattpad standards. Tons of books without awards are completely crushing mine in terms of engagement. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but I think it has a lot to do with my timing and which stories Wattpad chooses to put in front of readers when they jump on the site. I think if I had joined the platform and won that award 10 or 12 years ago, I'd be flourishing over there, but there have been some shifts in the last few year - Wattpad putting most of its promotional clout behind authors they sort of hire to write stories that readers will pay for (I don't know a ton about this program but it doesn't seem to favor the author very much, outside of getting their work on the top of lists, and it does seem to aggravate loyal Wattpad readers who want to read for free like they always have.)
It's a good space for writers to publish their work in that you can literally write anything you want and publish it (and people do that) but you have to do a lot of leg work to get your stories to show up in searches. (My book rates CRAZY low on the keyword search leaderboards.) One way to work your way up is to earn followers and get people to read, vote for, and comment on your stories. But you need A LOT of people to do this for it to make a dent. Most people foster this by soliciting "read for reads" - so basically transactional readership. TBH, I never have the time to dedicate to this piece of the equation, so my numbers have stayed pretty stagnant.
Last thing I'll say is that the platform is DOMINATED by romance stories and young adult books. Some fantasy/Sci-fi stuff too, but the TOP READS are almost always some kind of "so, I married.." reality TV show if a reality TV show was a book. I usually have a good laugh perusing the TOP TEN. One time there was literally a Meme compilation listed there. Like ... just a collection of memes someone found of the internet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I say all this, and it's like, why the heck are you entering the contest again if it sucks so bad? And the answer is simply for the CRED. Wattpad, unlike Substack (for novelists) has been around a LONG time and some people definitely launch big time careers from there, so in theory, an agent or editor might actually think a Watty Award is worth something. It headlines my bio now, so you know, I didn't have that before I went to Wattpad.
If you're super new and just getting your feet wet, I'd recommend searching for books that are similar to yours, giving them a look, and then making a connection or two with anyone whose work speaks to you. At the very least, you can be my 81st follower and I'll follow you back. Win win!
That was a lot, and I hope I sort of answered your question. If not, feel free to DM me on anything worth elaborating on further. 🥂
Loved it, Meg! This conversation reminds me of the “great divide” between men and women. I wish I could “down load” a sensor in my brain to recognize what was coming and advise me of what’s being communicated and what’s the best course of action!😂
Hey Wind, meet my ex-SO, Caution. He's kept me alive for a long time, but otherwise, he's a total dirtbag.
Honestly, the book was already up there, and the entry process took me about 20 minutes. Okay 40, but that's only because I'm incapable of underthinking/doing anything. OBVI.
I liked the incremental style. Every post required a question to understand what is being said. The piece comes full circle at the end. Very satisfying.
Thank you! Honestly, by the end I wasn't sure anymore if the "person" on the other end was a robot or an actual person being obtuse. That's why I polled you guys at the bottom. 😂
I could picture the sender meticulously typing out "...charging..." over and over again. It did not occur to them to cut and paste the bit, thus showing a lack of commitment to it.
My DH didn't know what SO meant either. My biggest beef with acronyms is that they inevitably have more than one meaning. I routinely look them up before using them just in case I'm about to say something stupid. Same goes for emojis. There are secret codes embedded in those that I don't even want to know about. 😬
Oh yeah, don't get me started on emojis. We all had secret languages when we were younger to make sure the old people didn't know what we were up to. Unfortunately, this one works... lol
I do like the term "Significant Other" -- it's all-encompassing and less confusing than "partner" (I've done many interviews with small business people where I need to, awkwardly, confirm if they mean business partner or life partner). Just never saw it acronymized before!
Do you have any advice for a Wattpad newbie (me) on how things really work?
Oooh. Here's the long/short of it, David. While I won that super cool award over there, I am otherwise performing abysmally on the platform. I only have 80 followers! After a year. And my view numbers are very low by Wattpad standards. Tons of books without awards are completely crushing mine in terms of engagement. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but I think it has a lot to do with my timing and which stories Wattpad chooses to put in front of readers when they jump on the site. I think if I had joined the platform and won that award 10 or 12 years ago, I'd be flourishing over there, but there have been some shifts in the last few year - Wattpad putting most of its promotional clout behind authors they sort of hire to write stories that readers will pay for (I don't know a ton about this program but it doesn't seem to favor the author very much, outside of getting their work on the top of lists, and it does seem to aggravate loyal Wattpad readers who want to read for free like they always have.)
It's a good space for writers to publish their work in that you can literally write anything you want and publish it (and people do that) but you have to do a lot of leg work to get your stories to show up in searches. (My book rates CRAZY low on the keyword search leaderboards.) One way to work your way up is to earn followers and get people to read, vote for, and comment on your stories. But you need A LOT of people to do this for it to make a dent. Most people foster this by soliciting "read for reads" - so basically transactional readership. TBH, I never have the time to dedicate to this piece of the equation, so my numbers have stayed pretty stagnant.
Last thing I'll say is that the platform is DOMINATED by romance stories and young adult books. Some fantasy/Sci-fi stuff too, but the TOP READS are almost always some kind of "so, I married.." reality TV show if a reality TV show was a book. I usually have a good laugh perusing the TOP TEN. One time there was literally a Meme compilation listed there. Like ... just a collection of memes someone found of the internet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I say all this, and it's like, why the heck are you entering the contest again if it sucks so bad? And the answer is simply for the CRED. Wattpad, unlike Substack (for novelists) has been around a LONG time and some people definitely launch big time careers from there, so in theory, an agent or editor might actually think a Watty Award is worth something. It headlines my bio now, so you know, I didn't have that before I went to Wattpad.
If you're super new and just getting your feet wet, I'd recommend searching for books that are similar to yours, giving them a look, and then making a connection or two with anyone whose work speaks to you. At the very least, you can be my 81st follower and I'll follow you back. Win win!
That was a lot, and I hope I sort of answered your question. If not, feel free to DM me on anything worth elaborating on further. 🥂
Extremely informative. Thanks for taking the time to write this.
🥂You're welcome!
God!
Like, she's talking to God?
Or Oh God! That story was amazing?!
#1 :)
Fair. 😉
It’s fun to think about why AI/SO/Both might have initiated the DM with the MC. (oops…4 acronyms in one sentence!)
IDK, John. IJDK. 🙂
Heh heh…I mean, LOL
Loved it, Meg! This conversation reminds me of the “great divide” between men and women. I wish I could “down load” a sensor in my brain to recognize what was coming and advise me of what’s being communicated and what’s the best course of action!😂
Ha! With any luck, that technology is already in Beta testing somewhere. Keep your eye on the Holiday Gift Guides this year.
My comment is that it's not necessarily a man-woman thing. The responses to the imbalance may be different, but the door swings both ways. JMHO
TFTCM💜
Good luck on the back-to-back Watty quest!
YEAH!
Hey Wind, meet my ex-SO, Caution. He's kept me alive for a long time, but otherwise, he's a total dirtbag.
Honestly, the book was already up there, and the entry process took me about 20 minutes. Okay 40, but that's only because I'm incapable of underthinking/doing anything. OBVI.
I liked the incremental style. Every post required a question to understand what is being said. The piece comes full circle at the end. Very satisfying.
Thank you! 🥂
Huge “Her” vibes. Always love when you use this form of story!
Thank you! Honestly, by the end I wasn't sure anymore if the "person" on the other end was a robot or an actual person being obtuse. That's why I polled you guys at the bottom. 😂
A spot-on emotionless drone, so that's definitely a flesh and blood partner of at least two years.
Ah. Well spotted.
I could picture the sender meticulously typing out "...charging..." over and over again. It did not occur to them to cut and paste the bit, thus showing a lack of commitment to it.
this was so much fun
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
I have been trying to read more fiction in unusual formats so I appreciated this!
Awesome. Thanks for reading. Here's another fun one from a while back. 😁 https://open.substack.com/pub/stockfiction/p/masterdate?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=tftu6
Thank you!
Brilliant! I need to look up "brilliant" in other languages so I can express my thoughts more clearly. Love this!
🥰🥂
Good luck in the Watty Awards! (Or, as I always say, break a pen!)
I had to look up what "SO" meant -- and it wasn't easy... lol
Going back to re-read, now that I know (though I did like it during the first pass).
Thanks, Graham!
My DH didn't know what SO meant either. My biggest beef with acronyms is that they inevitably have more than one meaning. I routinely look them up before using them just in case I'm about to say something stupid. Same goes for emojis. There are secret codes embedded in those that I don't even want to know about. 😬
Oh yeah, don't get me started on emojis. We all had secret languages when we were younger to make sure the old people didn't know what we were up to. Unfortunately, this one works... lol
I do like the term "Significant Other" -- it's all-encompassing and less confusing than "partner" (I've done many interviews with small business people where I need to, awkwardly, confirm if they mean business partner or life partner). Just never saw it acronymized before!
A Vulcan partner
Ooh. Nice. 🖖🏻
Definitely AI, but I think it would've been HILARE if it had been the SO, but just another form "can't hear you. Static interference." LOL
🥂😉I’m still not convinced it WASN’T the SO.