# Obsessed with Wattpad: Trying to Figure Its Inner Secrets



## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

This is a continuation with my new to Wattpad thread a few weeks ago. I guess you can say, I'm following up with all that I've learned. WOW! Some tips have really helped to get things going. I'm not getting into the featured area or what's hot yet. But at least I'm getting some reads, got a cover, and starting to figure the best times to post. Most of all, I'm being forced to write and try out some new POV structure. Plus, I'm learning a lot about the new adult romance audience. So this is some of the highlights:

1) Post often, at least every 5 days. Best days to post are Wednesday and Friday.

This keeps you on top of your writing and cranking out your story. Plus, Wattpad's algorithms will give your story higher ranking if it updates within a 5 day period. Wednesday and Friday are good because of the way traffic hits the website. The best day is Friday due to the reranking that goes on and the wave of traffic that hits on the weekend. The worst day and time to post is Saturday morning.

2) Meet and Socialize in Clubs and Forms

Wattpad is VERY social. My favorite club to hang out in has been "The Cafe". People post word games and aspects of what they need for their books. Sometimes they just post whatever just to chat. If you like Facebook or Twitter, it can get that social, but just imagine Goodreads thrown in for good measure. The best thing to do is join a club( like a group) relating to the genre you write. You'll meet readers and writers that share the same interest.

3) Get A Cover Done

This is a must when starting out. The title should also be something that really catches people's attention. Once you've got a post or two up, most of the graphic design threads will except you. They can be found in the Forums Graphic Designers club. They often have rules posted, and work like "I'll scratch my back if you scratch mine." Mostly they ask for a payment of a comment, mention or dedication in your book.

4) Post An Introduction or Greeting At the Beginning Of Your Story

Wattpad is very personable. A lot of the stories start out with the normal copyright info, but some get creative. Many posts almost have the feeling of a social media post in the beginning. Your readers on Wattpad are like your friends. If you think of it that way, it will get you off in the right direction. Go through some stories in your genre, and see what the person has posted at the beginning. It will help you to see how to spruce your intro up.

***And that's it so far. Below are some links that should be helpful. They are great resources for getting started. Feel free to comment or visit at Kboards.com and leave a message on the board there. Hope it helps you get a good start on Wattpad.

If you'd like to see what I've done with my story so far, Saving My Heart, here is the link.

http://www.wattpad.com/story/27844277-saving-my-heart

**Feel free to leave a comment or vote for my story. Better yet, follow me, and we can message. Like I said, Wattpad is a community of readers and writers. Love to hear from you.

Links:

Blog Post on Helping Wattpad Work for You

http://www.lindsayburoker.com/guest-posts/how-to-win-followers-and-influence-readers-on-wattpad/

Cracking the Wattpad Code

http://www.wattpad.com/story/12484419-cracking-the-wattpad-code-insider-secrets-the-pros

Wattpad Links to Get A Cover For Your Story:

http://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/947520/tweet-your-heart-out-::-a-8-graphic-offering-thread/#Item_263


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

Hi fellow wattpad user!

Just wanted to point out some things from your post. To get into the featured category you have to have a completed book and then you can submit it to wattpad and they review it and will accept or not. Sometimes they will contact you to be featured if someone from their office reads and enjoys your book. (I was a featured author, but took that book down for publishing. It got 5,000,000 reads though, so that program works!)

As far as the posting schedule, I can tell you've been reading the wattpad code (which is great) BUT the algorithm has recently changed when they made us switch to only one category. I'm not sure how that affects the five day rule. - Just a heads up.

I find success with posting as I write and just letting my readers know in an authors note at the bottom of each chapter when my next post should be (typically 2-3 days)

Thing with wattpad though is that it's mostly teenagers, so you have to take that into account when you aim for high read rates.

As for the clubs, eh, I stay away since they are a time suck and not really where you find the readers. You want readers you should read other stories and leave witty or thoughtful comments. That gets you seen the most. ---- but do not advertise yourself on those stories. It's a win win though because you get seen and you get to read some great stories.

Good luck and have fun!!

http://www.wattpad.com/AYClaudy

*** Edit to add a note on algorithms: It seems this new one doesn't hold the five day rule since one of my stories that hasn't been updated in months still ranks. Also, you will drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out, I've come to the conclusion it's a bit random. I had two stories going, same number of parts and the one that had less reads and votes continuously ranked higher than the one with more, and I mean A LOT more reads and votes.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

AYClaudy said:


> Hi fellow wattpad user!
> 
> Just wanted to point out some things from your post. To get into the featured category you have to have a completed book and then you can submit it to wattpad and they review it and will accept or not. Sometimes they will contact you to be featured if someone from their office reads and enjoys your book. (I was a featured author, but took that book down for publishing. It got 5,000,000 reads though, so that program works!)
> 
> ...


I was wondering about the 5 day rule. I updated yesterday and got a lot of reads. Well, about 50, which seemed more than before. I've been reading other books and leaving comments. There is quite a bit of interesting prose to read. You could just spend most of your time reading on Wattpad, and not have to buy books. I've also been meeting other Kboarders as well like Hugh Howey and Vivi Anna (as Tawney Stokes). It's good to see that there are some of us on Wattpad. I'd been seeing posts here on this board about Wattpad before I decided to try it.

I noticed the Featured thread mentioned it has to be a completed story. So, I guess I've got to finish my NA novel before it can be featured. But at least, there is this drive to finish since I've got to update at least once a week. Putting together blog posts into a book is an option. It would be nice to gather some of what I've learned and post it. At least it would be an entry into the nonfiction realm. I mean, just what I've learned about romance writing would be amazing, and the fact I'm finally a RWA member. Threads like this really help too. It's good to know people are out there ready to help. Thanks for posting.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

Here's some additional information I had to add. So, I think I'm starting to get the hang of Wattpad. It's a great organizing your writing tool, and really helps motivate for writing projects. So much so, I've decided to go back through my blog posts on my blog and start putting them together into a helpful writing tips book. I've been wanting to do this for awhile. So, I've posted my first two parts to this book. I've got several posts that are just sitting in the archive. I want to share what I've learned, and there seems to be a need for that in the self-publishing community. So, here is the link:

Writing Romance: A Novelist's Tips On Writing Romantic Fiction
http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/31233554-writing-romance-a-novelist%27s-tips-on-how-to-write

By the way, I made my own cover just to see if I can do it. I found a link that is an on-line photo maker with all kinds of fun affects and text fonts. It's super easy. I know how many people on the board like to make their own covers. It makes a simple eye-catching cover, and works great for a work in progress like on Wattpad.

Here is the link for the on-line photo:

iPiccy.com

If anybody finds other great secrets or tips to share, please post. I'm getting all kinds of feedback that this and the past Wattpad thread have really been helping people. Thanks for all the good info!


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm also on there, already added you. I'll note I seem to be having problems with the paragraphical formatting, are you? Mainly the space between paragraphs seems a little wonky this time.

This only happened on chapter nine.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

LWFlouisa said:


> I'm also on there, already added you. I'll note I seem to be having problems with the paragraphical formatting, are you? Mainly the space between paragraphs seems a little wonky this time.
> 
> This only happened on chapter nine.


I've been having trouble with added spaces from my first upload. I'm not sure if it has to do with taking my chapters from my first draft in MSWord or not. It seems to double space the space between paragraphs when I upload. I guess the answer would be to not type a space between paragraphs and see what happens. For now, I've just left it. It doesn't seem too hard to read with the extra space added. I remember when it was supposed to be double spaces between paragraphs. There's also the double space between periods that people sometimes still do. I'm not changing the way I type. It will slow me down when writing. Plus, as long as the grammar and spelling is ok, the extra space doesn't seem to be too bothersome. So, I'm leaving it for now.


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## SB James (May 21, 2014)

I haven't been too worried about the formatting. May be a mistake, but there you are.
Agree about posting regularly. Friday is a good day. 
I want to make even more time for Wattpad than I have been. So far I've been reading some good short Sci Fi stories.
Also, if there are any stories on Wattpad that are also on Goodreads, I put them on my bookshelves there too.
I'm enjoying it so far, and I'm glad you are too!


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I may have mentioned I tend to do a lot of poetry? Perhaps a useful tidbit, I've noticed the formatting doesn't seem to have as many issues with short subject matter like poetry.

I'm not sure how many poets are here, but just thought I'd add that bit.


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## whatdanwrote (Oct 18, 2012)

Here's my two cents, just suggestions for what they're worth.

You might try changing the blurb on your profile to the first person. Wattpad is a social community, and the members tend to want to know something about you, they want to interact with you as a person. Favorite movies, books, junk food, etc.

Sometimes it's good to end the chapter with a personal note like, "So what did you think? Is 'Main Character' in more trouble than ever? Let me know!" Something to get people to engage and comment.

I tend to think that posting on Thursday is better, especially when you get more traction with followers and reads. The rankings update the next day, so you want to get the hits on Thursday so that going into Friday, you have a higher rank. I don't know why, but I think that works better. Then, going into the weekend, you have more visibility.

The readers tend to get more interested in a completed work, but it looks like your book is going in that direction, which is good. Romance is an extremely popular genre on that site, so you're definitely posting the right material.


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

whatdanwrote said:


> I tend to think that posting on Thursday is better, especially when you get more traction with followers and reads. The rankings update the next day, so you want to get the hits on Thursday so that going into Friday, you have a higher rank. I don't know why, but I think that works better. Then, going into the weekend, you have more visibility.
> 
> The readers tend to get more interested in a completed work, but it looks like your book is going in that direction, which is good. Romance is an extremely popular genre on that site, so you're definitely posting the right material.


The thing with posting and ranking is that there is an initial dip in ranking when you post a chapter, then the following day it shows the boost. So posting on Thursday will lead to a dip on friday and then it will go up higher on Saturday (or you may notice higher numbers on friday, but extra high on Saturday) BUT on friday, because there are soo many posting that initial posting dip doesn't happen, so you have the higher rank on Saturday. --- Although this was all before the recent algorithm shift, so who knows if it holds water anymore.

And as for the completed works, there are some that want a completed work to read, but your best opportunity at comments and reads is while your writing. The extra exposure of posting lasts for a couple of days and readers comment more when they can't read on. BUT having a completed work on your page lets people know that they can trust you will complete. So many on wattpad don't.


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## nseneb (Mar 24, 2014)

I'm writing a serialized novel with my critique partner. Does Wattpad allow for co-authoring? We're alternating POVs. Do we have to share an account to post each POV/Chapter? Or can we both post on the same story?


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

nseneb said:


> I'm writing a serialized novel with my critique partner. Does Wattpad allow for co-authoring? We're alternating POVs. Do we have to share an account to post each POV/Chapter? Or can we both post on the same story?


You'd have to share an account. most who do that have their own account for their individual stories and then post the link to their shared story account, and vice versa


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## whatdanwrote (Oct 18, 2012)

AYClaudy said:


> The thing with posting and ranking is that there is an initial dip in ranking when you post a chapter, then the following day it shows the boost. So posting on Thursday will lead to a dip on friday and then it will go up higher on Saturday (or you may notice higher numbers on friday, but extra high on Saturday) BUT on friday, because there are soo many posting that initial posting dip doesn't happen, so you have the higher rank on Saturday. --- Although this was all before the recent algorithm shift, so who knows if it holds water anymore.
> 
> And as for the completed works, there are some that want a completed work to read, but your best opportunity at comments and reads is while your writing. The extra exposure of posting lasts for a couple of days and readers comment more when they can't read on. BUT having a completed work on your page lets people know that they can trust you will complete. So many on wattpad don't.


I've always thought that the rankings were directly related to the hits/comments/votes you got the day before, but that was just an assumption I made. That's really interesting about the initial dip. Wattpad is definitely tricky to figure out.

I guess what I should have said with completed works is, the readers definitely want to see something completed, or to know that your current work is going to be a full-length story. They will shy away from samples. But it is definitely good to post chapters every week or twice a week, to keep the story up in the ranks, and as noted above, will keep people commenting if only to day "update, please."

Wattpad is really fun for the interaction you get with your readers, who are very enthusiastic about, well, reading.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

I've just joined Wattpad

Do they accept images within the formatted text? What different formats can you upload?

I just tried to copy and paste a book description as per instructions, but it didn't work, so I stopped there and deleted the cover.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I just Wattpad a while ago. I have about four books posted there.

One thing I noted previously was that my views increased drastically when I updated one of my books, especially if I updated Fridays. I'm wondering if that's the algorithm people are referring to?

I recently had to re-upload one of the books for editing.

On images, I'm not sure if the image will actually show up, but I've noted if you use an illustration for a scene break, that image will transfer right over to the watt-pad submission page.


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

Decon said:


> I've just joined Wattpad
> 
> Do they accept images within the formatted text? What different formats can you upload?
> 
> I just tried to copy and paste a book description as per instructions, but it didn't work, so I stopped there and deleted the cover.


Not within formatted text. It lets you add images or videos as attachments to your chapter but not within.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Being featured makes a huge difference. Late last year they asked to feature one of my stories, and it was a game changer. The featured story has nearly 40k reads and a lot people have moved onto the following books. I get a lot of comments and people asking me to update more. I've even gotten an Amazon review where the reviewer said they read it on Wattpad.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

So, I've been going through the posts, and a question keeps coming up for me. How do you manage to get a story featured? I'm noticing that they like to feature the completed stories. And I've been noticing the pattern of commenting on other stories, making connections, and hoping you get on the new or undiscovered lists. I notice when I update once a week, I'll get a boost of maybe 10-20 reads.

I mean, one secret seems to be keep writing until you get the book done. I know I can do that. And I even go back and update if I need to on other chapters just like I do on a first draft. There seem to be recent changes on Wattpad to the algorithms, and ranking. I've been reading "Cracking the Wattpad Code" to get a better understanding of the secrets. So, between this thread and that Wattpad book, more is becoming clear. Of course, the bottom line is write more. But I'm always wondering, is there something else I can do to get noticed?

Have to note, there is a rather good thread right now in the forums of a Wattpad employee answering questions. He did point out that the forum gets about 500k readers, and Wattpad gets several million readers a day. So, the way to go is to get your book to get on the main site somehow.

Here's the employee advice thread: http://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/953617/ask-a-wattpad-employee-anything/#Item_200


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

Something else I noted with these sorts of publishers, going by my read count, some tend to cater more toward a specific set of reader over others: say one caters more to middle grade, one to adult fiction, another to YA.

As for the original question, when I was reading the how to book it mentioned one option for being featured is asking. Others are just updating frequently and writing a really good book.

Personally I'd feel funny asking for being featured.:/


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## H. S. St. Ours (Mar 24, 2012)

I love Wattpad. It hasn't been a big boost to sales, and self-promotion is decidedly discouraged, but I've got over 200,000 reads among the 4 books posted so far. I know: there are reads and "reads" on Wattpad. But I love the interaction with my readers. They are in the perfect demographic for my YA sci-fi adventure series (although I have quite a few older readers there, too) and their comments make my day. 

One day, maybe 6 months ago, someone at Wattpad emailed me out of the blue, and told me they liked my stories. They asked to feature Sami if I would post it in its entirety for 6 months. That meant it had to come off KDP Select, but it wasn't doing so well being exclusive to Amazon at that time, so I said sure. Since then, my followers have skyrocketed to nearly 4,000 and more follow every day. I've put all my books up on Wattpad and now on WriteOn as well, and it hasn't hurt sales one bit. In fact, I think it's helped.

If you are interested in helping young readers out, finding out what makes them tick, and have the time and energy to be a regular poster, Wattpad is a great way to reach a young audience. The site has great reader analytics, too, on the book's "Create" page, so you can see which countries your followers hail from.

Good luck!
-Harry


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

Wattpad may just contact you about being featured if one of their workers finds your story, but there's nothing wrong with asking them to look at your story to consider for featuring. It's kind of the norm for them. Think of it as a query letter. Heres the link:

http://support.wattpad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201385944-How-do-I-Get-my-Story-Featured-


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## Z. Rider (Aug 15, 2014)

H. S. St. Ours said:


> I've put all my books up on Wattpad and now on WriteOn as well, and it hasn't hurt sales one bit. In fact, I think it's helped.


My husband and I were talking about this last night when he found out I was putting my stuff on Wattpad. His worry is why would people buy it if they can just read it there? My stance is "Two different audiences. You have to think big picture-I can reach a lot of people who right now don't/can't buy books, but when they're older and start spending money on books, it won't hurt to have a few of them as fans."


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

Z. Rider said:


> My husband and I were talking about this last night when he found out I was putting my stuff on Wattpad. His worry is why would people buy it if they can just read it there? My stance is "Two different audiences. You have to think big picture--I can reach a lot of people who right now don't/can't buy books, but when they're older and start spending money on books, it won't hurt to have a few of them as fans."


I thought of it as the same, two different audiences. BUT I also fear that I may be shooting myself in the foot, because I used to be a book buyer, until I joined wattpad. I went from buying 2-4 books a month to 2-4 books a year. And with the caliber of writing going up on that site that buy rate will probably decrease some more...


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

AYClaudy said:


> I thought of it as the same, two different audiences. BUT I also fear that I may be shooting myself in the foot, because I used to be a book buyer, until I joined wattpad. I went from buying 2-4 books a month to 2-4 books a year. And with the caliber of writing going up on that site that buy rate will probably decrease some more...


I am finding that I'm reading a lot of the stories on Wattpad, but some of the reading I want to do is from authors not on Wattpad. Also, I found one of the Kboarders, Vivi Anna writing as Tawny Stokes, that is an inspiration to me. She doesn't have but her YA pen name and 4 books up. The books she has up are for the Wattpad audience. She's got tons of other books that are not on Wattpad. So, a few up for free would win you some fans that may go buy some of your other books. Or as they get older, they would still remember you and start buying books. No matter what, fans are always a good thing to have.

I think what happens is I've got so much reading I could do on Wattpad, I get bogged down, and have to delete links to some books I'm not reading. It is so much to choose from. Making your book good enough that it keeps readers is hard. But I've been noting, if you finish the book, it's best. People hate books that are half done, and drop by the wayside. So, if you pick to do a project, intend to finish it. That way the people following you won't be disappointed.


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## JennieBee (Feb 3, 2015)

Just to say thanks for the thread, have only just started out on Wattpad and this is great for showing the ropes. Good luck with all your writings
Jen


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

JennieBee said:


> Just to say thanks for the thread, have only just started out on Wattpad and this is great for showing the ropes. Good luck with all your writings
> Jen


Glad to see it's helping. I've been learning so much. I've just wanted to share. 
Got a new thing to add today. We're trying mostly to crack getting that boat load of readers, in the 1,000s. Well, it seems trying to get featured is hard too. But I've tried something new. I've tried writing a short fanfiction story to enter one of the Wattpad contests. Not sure how it will do. The prize is getting listed in a Reading List on Wattpad. There will be 10 winners. So, I know this isn't a fan fiction board. But I'm finding Wattpad inspires me to try things I'd never consider. I found there was a fanfiction story in me somewhere.

Here's my entry if you want to try. Looks like they post a contest monthly.
http://www.wattpad.com/story/32534017-never-say-never-forever-knight-fan-fiction-nick-%26

Here's the link for the contest listings:
http://www.wattpad.com/story/19118731-contests


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Definately a great post. Bookmarking for a bump.

Now might be a great time for me to get on here and start building in the community as I prep my YA Fantasy series.

One question though, the stuff you put up on Wattpad, do you run through a copy editor first, or is it a polished draft?


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## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

Whether or not you want to have your books professionally proofed or edited prior to posting is really up to you. I've seen plenty that aren't and many that are. 

I have three complete novels up on Wattpad and one ongoing. The only one that has been professionally edited is my permafree (that's the first in my YA PNR series). The rest are my "drawer" stories. Stuff that I never intended to publish that were just languishing in my files. They'd been through my betas, and I went through them for typos before posting, but I couldn't justify the expense of paying for them to be edited at this time. It hasn't seemed to make a difference. My book with the most reads at the moment was only read by me and two others before I posted it.

I can't say that I've seen a whole lot of follow through from kids reading on Wattpad to anyone buying anything. But I can say that I've had some really great interactions and it's a very positive and enjoyable experience. Anything that helps add to my readership and gets my name out there can't hurt.  

At first I was concerned about the algos and how often I should be posting, but since I've gained a small readership, I've decided to just go ahead post a chapter a day of my ongoing novel. Making people wait just sucks.


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Good to know, thanks!


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I'd be curious to know if people had more luck with novels or short stories. I seem to get more views for complete novellas, but I'm more naturally suited to writing short stories.


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## Jennifer Lewis (Dec 12, 2013)

I put a short story (11K prequel to my series) up last summer and it chugged away getting a few reads. They chose to feature it in January and it got over 100K reads in less than two weeks! Sadly I've seen very little follow through in sales to the other books but it is fun reading all the enthusiastic comments as people read it.

I have another short story up too, and that's slowly gathering reads.

So my two Wattpad reads are short stories and people seem to like them


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

harker.roland said:


> Definitely a great post. Bookmarking for a bump.
> 
> Now might be a great time for me to get on here and start building in the community as I prep my YA Fantasy series.
> 
> One question though, the stuff you put up on Wattpad, do you run through a copy editor first, or is it a polished draft?


The stories I'm posting tend to be ongoing novels. The short story is the contest, and I proofed it myself. The new adult romance is just a straight, first draft. I proofread it and put it through spell check. I'm keeping a first draft file of it in MS Word. I write it in Word first, and then cut and paste it into Wattpad. That way, I have the whole manuscript together in case I need to check back over different chapters.

I would say that if you want to try out new writing styles and plot ideas, it is the way to go. I'm really working on how to write different points of view. My writing is getting better just from writing "Saving My Heart". Plus, I can see what people really like or not like. It does help to get the immediate feedback. I've got about 10-15 regular followers now that bug me for more chapters. Good to know they are waiting. I just hope someday to get featured. That would be assume. For published items, like my novelette series, I'm using beta readers and an editor. But I don't think you need them for Wattpad. It's pretty understood that it's first draft writing. But a good first draft, read over and combed through for terrible mistakes, should be considered. Readable gets more reads. There is also a lot of readers from the Phillipines and India. So, simple English works better.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

Do you notice a difference in viewership based on covers?

I've also noticed, because Wattpad tells you the amount of views per chapter, you can figure out fairly quickly which chapters are winning hearts and those that sink to the bottom. So I try to analyze what it is about that chapter that works.

Like when I first got 119 views (which I'm starting to wonder if it was a fluke) the middle chapters got the most views. Though when I re-uploaded after edits with a new and improved cover, I only got 47 views but it was evenly distributed through the book. (In other words, less having more people reading one chapter and leaving and instead one or two reading throughout.)

Extremely important if your looking for devoted readers.^^

Interpreting data isn't a strong suit, but trying to get better.


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## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

I haven't tried to change up the covers, so I haven't noticed any changes based on that. 

But I do think it's interesting to see which chapters are losing your readers. I'm not sure how instructive it is, since they're not exactly telling you what it is that made them stop reading. Then again, it's worth looking at and giving serious thought to for sure.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

What I learned (by accident) is readers seem to be more interested when the action starts. (It was one of those books -- an early work -- where I spent more time building up to the portal fantasy, than the fantasy elements themselves.)

So I take it as blessing I already sort of new what was wrong.

You really do learn a lot from serialization I've noticed.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

I joined around 3 weeks ago and I've dripped in 10 chapters so far, but I've only had 50 reads and I reckon 10 of those are mine when I read through for editing. In that time I've read and commented on quite a few others. I've had ziltch comments and ziltch votes, so yeah, it mystifies me too.

Chimera Dawn is part of a planned trilogy and I doubt it will see the light of day on Amazon until all three are complete and that could take a few years as I have other ongoing projects that need completing for publishing this year.

I'm fighting a battle with myself if I should put the whole book on Wattpad. Although the story stands alone to a conclusion (110,000 words), it does leave a big question unanswered for the next book to deal with. Not sure what to do seeing as how I've not had much of a start.

http://www.wattpad.com/user/DeclanConner


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## jackconnerbooks (Nov 18, 2014)

I've given up on Wattpad. I wrote a novella featuring the teen hero of my (not-YA) book "City of Shadows", put the whole thing up on Wattpad in five chapters, got rave reviews, got featured, got tens of thousands of reads, put a link at the end of each chapter to the entire novella on Kindle and to a modified version of "City of Shadows" called "Shadow City" (in which I made it YA-friendly), and sold approximately one copy of each in over six months.

No. More. Wattpad. For me.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I would think they would try to edit the read algorithm in that regard. I'm starting to suspect the first half of the 119 views I had was me doing two read through per chapter for editing.

This is one of the reasons on another crowd-publisher I use, I only count likes not reads.


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## Daizie (Mar 27, 2013)

My Daizie Draper stuff is marked private by Wattpad and is rated R and it gets found. But my teen stuff, which should be popular because Wattpad is loaded with teens, vanishes. It never shows up under new work. It shows up under its title on the third page even though my title is exact to the search words while other books might have one of them. The only views on my work are mine. I don't get this site.


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## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

I don't know if any of you have noticed this, (I've just been blowing by it for who knows how long) but Wattpad has analytics on each of your stories. If you go to Works and then click on the story, and then on the little gray bar graph, presto, a bunch of info on the story. That includes how many people are finishing each part, the age and gender of the readers, and where they are in the world. Very cool. I can't believe I never clicked on it before!


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I think it's been mentioned by someone else (can't remember who), but a theory floating around is that page views don't necessarily translate to sales, a lot of the time because once your book is free people are reluctant to buy it for say 2.99.

Of course I gave up on Wattpad for my YA, because they changed to a weird rating system that makes what is considered mature a tad ambiguous. Like what qualifies as over violence? Or it is any violence?

Even cartoons have violence. Remember bugs bunny and daffy duck?

Something else I've noted, you need at least 500 reads to see demographics. And yet I can easily see what is labelled similar stories. I have no idea what their basis for calling these similar as I can't know (as of yet) what my demographics are.

But I withdrew the work that I've been working on for nine years anyway.


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## Jennifer Lewis (Dec 12, 2013)

amyates said:


> I don't know if any of you have noticed this, (I've just been blowing by it for who knows how long) but Wattpad has analytics on each of your stories. If you go to Works and then click on the story, and then on the little gray bar graph, presto, a bunch of info on the story. That includes how many people are finishing each part, the age and gender of the readers, and where they are in the world. Very cool. I can't believe I never clicked on it before!


Thanks for the heads up on this! I never noticed it before either and the results are fascinating!! I'm really impressed by how spread out over the world the readers are. Definitely Wattpad is a nice way to reach a big international audience, even if it doesn't translate into sales.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

I sounded more conspiracy theorist than I meant to.:/ I just mean I don't get the purpose of saying books are similar that clearly aren't. (What does epic fantasy and space opera have to do with historical fantasy in the early 20th century?)

And with views its way to easy to game the system on those, by editing your work being considered a view. So like now that I don't need to edit my old stories (after several passes), I'm not getting any views at all.

The system really needs to changed to only include separate independent views, so it doesn't suggest something that's clearly not the case.


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

LWFlouisa said:


> I sounded more conspiracy theorist than I meant to.:/ I just mean I don't get the purpose of saying books are similar that clearly aren't. (What does epic fantasy and space opera have to do with historical fantasy in the early 20th century?)
> 
> And with views its way to easy to game the system on those, by editing your work being considered a view. So like now that I don't need to edit my old stories (after several passes), I'm not getting any views at all.
> 
> The system really needs to changed to only include separate independent views, so it doesn't suggest something that's clearly not the case.


There is some flaws with the read count system, for sure. But in the scheme of things that one view doesn't matter soo much. I believe the site only counts one of your views for that day, no matter how many times you get on and off (at least this use to be the case). While I wish they could just do away with self views, I get why they would let one user view count multiple times. It's easy for me to see which chapters people are re reading (aside from the comments telling me they wanted to reread this chapter) since certain chapters have large spikes of reads. This helps me to see which parts of my book stood out and which parts were just so-so. I find this information useful when editing, since I use wattpad for my first drafts.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

I'd have to agree that the reads to double check your story counts only once. I've been reading Wattpad guides, and the algorithms are always changing. From what I found, completed stories don't pop up as much since the updates seem to get things noticed more often. But you can't have a story featured unless it's completed. I'm curious to see what happens with the short story(one shot) I have up for a fan fiction. I want to see what would happen to my reads if it gets in the winners list.

Plus, to add to the community aspect: I just had a Wattpad Book Trailer done. It is so cool! If anything, Wattpad is a great tool to motivate for writing. Just watching the video helps me to imagine and carry on with the story. 
Link for Wattpad Trailer: http://youtu.be/n0j1kmzkrpY

Thread Used to Get Trailer: http://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/958048/closed-for-naow-c:/#Item_53

And I've started getting a few followers asking questions, or wanting me to give them feedback. If anything, it's helpful to have another community of writers, though I do feel a little on the older side there. If you're just there for marketing, it might not work. But for developing a project, it's kind of a cool way to write. Very interactive.


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## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

MarilynVix said:


> Plus, to add to the community aspect: I just had a Wattpad Book Trailer done. It is so cool! If anything, Wattpad is a great tool to motivate for writing. Just watching the video helps me to imagine and carry on with the story.
> Link for Wattpad Trailer: http://youtu.be/n0j1kmzkrpY
> 
> Thread Used to Get Trailer: http://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/958048/closed-for-naow-c:/#Item_53
> ...


Just watched it. Very cool.

And I agree, the reads to double check the story only count once. Otherwise, mine would have triple the reads! (I've been having em dash issues with my latest, so I've been back to check and fix WAY too many times).

Since I posted a sequel to my featured story, I've had a boost in reads on the featured book and it's gotten back onto the Hot List after having dropped off a month or so ago--even though I hadn't updated it for 5 months. I read that updating every 5 days helps, but I believe that was prior to the new algos. I've seen some people who continually post updates on their "completed" books though. One guy posts all this kind of random stuff-- artwork, and "behind the scenes" blog type announcements. It seems he's doing this just to keep updating and hold onto his ranking. And it appears to be working, but I found the constant updates annoying and removed his book from my library. I do wish there was some other way to "update" without posting a whole new part of a story, because it does seem to offer a book some longevity in terms of visibility.

Frankly, at this point, I'm mostly just doing it for the interaction. Having fangirls freaking out every time you post a new chapter is one of the best motivators I've had since I started publishing. I absolutely love reading their comments as they react to the story. As I said though, I'm posting stuff that I had no intention of publishing for money and was otherwise just languishing in my computer files. I can't see how having a few more readers glance at your name once or twice could possibly hurt your brand. One day these young readers will have credit cards of their own, and they might just remember you.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

I know this thread is old but I wonder - is it better to post regularly on Friday or just to post your whole novel on Friday all at once?


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## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

If you want to gain traction with ranking, don't post all at once. 

Long ago, posting twice a week (I believe Tuesday? and Fridays) was recommended. But that was before Wattpad changed up how often they updated the rankings. Perhaps someone else has some more definite information concerning the new algos?

Sidenote:  People with really high ranked books seem to keep posting ad nauseam even after the story itself is completed, adding Q & A's, interviews, short stories, personal updates. It seems to work for them in terms of keeping  their books on the "Hot List", but I often end up unfollowing them, even if liked their books, because I get sick of the updates. But you gotta do what you gotta do.


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## amdonehere (May 1, 2015)

I'm actually a proponent of Wattpad for hobby writers, and always defend it when writers criticizes its teenage demographics and some of the bad writings posted there. But that said, majority of self-pub writers who have tried it have said that Wattpad results never translate into sales. Enough have said that to the point that I believe them. And Wattpad users have said that it takes a lot of socializing on their forums to drive up results. So if you are keen of building a paid audience, that may not be your best place to spend your time and efforts.

I think it's a great place to nurture young writers both in terms of their art and their marketing savviness.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

AlexaKang said:


> I'm actually a proponent of Wattpad for hobby writers, and always defend it when writers criticizes its teenage demographics and some of the bad writings posted there. But that said, majority of self-pub writers who have tried it have said that Wattpad results never translate into sales. Enough have said that to the point that I believe them. And Wattpad users have said that it takes a lot of socializing on their forums to drive up results. So if you are keen of building a paid audience, that may not be your best place to spend your time and efforts.
> 
> I think it's a great place to nurture young writers both in terms of their art and their marketing savviness.


My cents too but worth the try when I am searching for readers and Advance Readers too. It costs me nothing to try and I want to experiment.


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## Darktsar (Jan 16, 2015)

I'm putting up a WIP at two chapters a week. Its early days but I'm enjoying it. The comments have all been well thought out and intelligent. I think Wattpad's readers get a bad press, there are far more than just One Direction fan-ficcers out there (I get more reads from the 45+ age group than any other.)

I don't expect to sell any books, but it's useful for story craft and the demographics are invaluable, you have a graph telling you exactly where people stop reading, something I know a lot of people would love from amazon. If any Kboarders out there want to connect I'm at https://www.wattpad.com/user/JasperDark I would be interested to see what you guys are working on!


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

I just used Wattpad to put the first seven "Lonely Space" first draft chapters in one spot.

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/47015192-lonely-space


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

I decided to give Wattpad a go after I listened to the Rocking SElf-publishing Podcast with guest Linda Poitevin: http://rockingselfpublishing.com/episode-83-leveraging-wattpad-build-following-bolster-sales-linda-poitevin/
I emailed her to ask her how contacting Wattpad really works and she gave me that link: https://support.wattpad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201385944-How-do-I-Get-my-Story-Featured-


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## Anna_ (Jan 18, 2015)

I recently posted something on Wattpad and I love the experience so far. I don't have crazy numbers, but I do have a loyal following. 

I'm posting a few chapters a week and that seems to work well. My work is new adult which seems to be popular over there and everyone is so encouraging.


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