Success on Wattpad: Tips for Getting Reads and More

Part 1: The Tip of the Iceberg

I started posting GIVEN to Wattpad in 2017, it won a watty in 2018, and I signed the Wattpad Books contract in 2019. On the surface it looks like it took about two years for my career to take off. But I first joined Wattpad in 2014. My first book, a novella called Wishtester, won a hidden gem watty back then, but to this day it only has 36,000 reads.

Before Wattpad I had been putting work online on a number of different sites. There was a fantasy art and story site called Elfwood that was big in the early 2000's, and when that fell off I posted to Amazon's short-lived WriteON website around 2015-2016. No matter what site I published on, I was always able to get some kind of editor's choice or editor's spotlight with my writing—which is a big part of what kept me going all these years.

Putting stuff online led to valuable feedback, but also validation. Publishing online has always been a core part of my writing journey, but it won't be the way for everyone. There are pros and cons. I was lucky enough that I never had to deal with anyone plagiarizing my work. I'm not sure why, though I do have my theories. You might not be so lucky. It's all about weighing the risks vs. the potential reward.

Anyway I'm telling you all this to highlight that it didn't happen overnight, or anywhere near overnight. Depending how far back you go it took like 20 years to get to this point. That's 20 years of learning about writing, getting feedback, growing as an author and a person. Even the draft of GIVEN that I put up on Wattpad was draft 2.5. I started writing it back in 2014 as well.

But let's get into what you really came for. How, once I discovered Wattpad, I was able to gain readers and followers and achieve my dream of being a published author. On to part 2!

Side note: I have a Q&A on my YouTube channel (link in my profile) where I talk about all this as well.