Fragment Thoughts || Rants & Thoughts

Paid Wattpad Stories

Since I've been AWOL from this site for pretty much two years, I've noticed a lot of new things on my return, namely, paid stories.

 These are stories in which the reader gets a sample of around 5-10 chapters for free and then has to pay to unlock the rest of the book. As far as I'm aware, it's only a small number of books that have been selected to be part of this group.

In my opinion, a writer should have every right to monetise their own creative work if they wish to do so. After all, whilst it may be a hobby for some, for others it is their livelihood. Getting published is damn well near impossible so if Wattpad offers the chance for talented individuals to be able to make money off their work then I very much support it. 

Here's my problem.

Some (not all) readers act so entitled about it. I've seen comments in paid stories bashing the writer for not caring about their readers and call them horrible names and it's frankly, not on. There are so many free books on Wattpad, paid stories are marked as that, so for readers to ignore that warning and complain in the same book is just plain ignorance. 

The writer owes readers nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why? Because they are taking time from their lives to produce content. Apart from reads, and sometimes comments what does a reader give back? Hell, I've started my stories and scrapped them countless of times. Do I feel bad for it? Of course, but I'm in a privileged position where the few readers I have are extremely understanding that sometimes, personal lives can get in the way, and for that I'm going to be forever thankful.

Now, back to the topic on hand. Another comment I see in these paid stories are people complaining that the majority of readers on this site are teenagers who don't have the privilege of being able to buy chapters. It's an extremely fair point and maybe I'd be a lot more sympathetic about it if there weren't thousands of other books on Wattpad that are completely free. If you don't want to read a book you have to pay for there are so many others out there from so many talented writers. Also to add onto that note is that whilst the main audience for the site are teens, you do see some older people lurking about - people who have a steady income and are able to afford to buy paid stories. That's why paid stories on Wattpad seem to be possible - because there are people who will pay for them.

Just because writing is a creative field does not mean it should be offered for free. A lot of us on here do because we want to practise or just because it's a hobby, and that choice is completely fine. A lot of writers also want to start getting paid for their hard work and that is completely fine too. What is not fine, however, is readers who start spewing abuse at these same authors. You're not a supporter if you do that. Quite frankly, you're just selfish. 

In conclusion, let writers do what they want to do with their stories without being a dick about it.