Write Better: Tips and tricks

Getting readers to flock to you

There are tons of guides out there that talk about drawing more readers into your story. Despite that, I still get asked about this.

It usually goes something like:

You have two featured stories. Tons of followers. A lot of your readers read one thing and then go and read another story. How do you get them to do that? How do you get readers? How are you successful?

ALL READERS ARE LIKE BIRDS. What works to attract one isn't necessarily going to attract the next.

Some like little thistle seeds, others prefer insects, fish, frogs, lizards, mice, other birds, etc. You might think you've got the formula worked out, but then the hummingbird turns his beak up at you and a magpie comes along and pecks you in the eye.

Heck, I get flocks of chirping pretties and yet, every so often a Black-bellied bustard throws his head back to either laugh or scream at my foolish antics. [coincidentally, if you want to feel better, picture that bustard's nasty comments coming from an actual bustard]

If you want to appeal to more readers, you've got to provide some options. Appeal to more than one taste.

ALERT! There are some readers who will always hate you and your writing. Sorry. They're out there, just like there are trolls and snarky people who like to rain on your parade because it's looking a little too sunny over where you're standing. It's not worth trying to feed them, because they'll throw the food back at you no matter how careful you are.

But Kellie, I have a very specific kind of reader in mind. I don't want to appeal to everyone.

In that case, congratulations! You will probably appeal to that reader type and enjoy success with them! That being said, if you want to be successful on wattpad, it's the nature of the beast that you'll have to be able to reach more than one specific type of reader, unless that specific reader is something like "teenage girl who loves dramatic makeout scenes." Niche writing rarely goes over well here because there are only so many of those specific readers out there. So the odds that one will stumble onto your work are pretty slim, and the odds that you will gain enough of them to surpass "I'm in Love with my Best Friend" are just as small.

...But when you do find readers of your niche, you're likely to keep them because birds of a feather and all, yay!

Wattpad tends to attract readers for particular genres/categories in swarms. Some genres just don't feel as much love from those readers, and for that reason, it can be hard to think of yourself as successful when your genre doesn't regularly pull in reads like the tales in the category Werewolf.

This phenomenon happens everywhere.

"I'm not alone! There are dozens of us!"

For example, you may have written a fantastic, award-winning novel on the history of American aviation. Your readers might simply adore it and give you rave reviews, but is it going to fly up the rankings and gain a million reads?