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Let's paint a picture of where you're at. You've read this book (and others), have polished your story accordingly, and have been hanging on for months. MONTHS. And yet, you're not getting lots of readers.
Well, first of all, let's correct that. You're not getting a lot of organic readers. It's not hard to get a R4R on this platform. Heck, it's not hard to get it on this profile if you head over to my Sangha Club.
What you lack is a reads/votes ratio like 1200 reads, 215 votes in a chapter, or even better 15000 reads, 1400 votes. What you lack is organic readers otherwise known as silent readers. At least, mostly silent. You'll get a loud fan now and then.
So, where are these organic readers? Let me stress one word to you, and we'll go from there...
ORGANIC readers.
After a certain point, there's only so much you can do for your story. If people aren't seeking out your story based on its smut factor or fan fiction factor (I hate to be this blunt but it's true), the only way to get readers is to be patient. And I don't mean months. I mean years.
What exactly is it that you are waiting for, though? Truthfully, you're waiting for a break.
To get big on Wattpad, you need Wattpad to notice you. You'll need to get featured, become a Star, win an award, and probably all of these things and more. If your story is original and a bit unusual, you'll need these things even more so.
And let me be clear: Wattpad does at least try to feature non-standard stories. Their latest marketing has targeted readers-at-large, not only teen girls. Which makes sense, because they already have teen girls, and if they want to compete with the giants like Amazon, they need to be more than an app for BTS-smitten teens. They need to be a general reader app.
The bottom line is this: believe it or not, Wattpad is looking for interesting stories all the time. Can they always make room for them? No, but that's why we come back again to time, and organic readership.
The only way to have organic readers is to get them organically. There's no other way to do it, or it wouldn't be organic. Your product, simply put, is like produce. It needs time to grow.
But surely, Mysty, there is something I can do?
Yes you're right. There is. And that's pretty much all the other things I've gone over in this book. Get better. Tinker with your marketing. Tinker with your cover, title, and blurb. Keep reading great stories and editing your own. Keep doing R4Rs. Keep networking. None of these things will lead to instant success, but they make you sharper day by day.
And keep your chin up. Even if the destination seems impossible to reach, it is not.
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This is of course my advice for those who are dead-set on writing, who are happy writers, and who are sure of what they want. If you're young, don't worry about this right now. Try to get better of course, but this long haul isn't for everyone. And there's no shame in that. Success isn't happiness in a jar, and there are many, many ways to find happiness. Indeed, success itself rarely leads to happiness.
So don't chase success. Chase your happiness. And if you're not sure writing is in the cards when it comes to your happiness, stop worrying so much about how your story does. Enjoy it as a hobby, as a way to make friends, as a way to escape. We are all too conditioned into believing that fame and fortune measures a human. It does not.
