This is just a short book explaining a little bit about Wattpad. From my experiences to advice for readers and writers. Let's make this a little easier on all of us.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A nice profile will help tremendously. Not just visually, but having a complete profile is very important. It should be filled with useful information.
Bio
A reader may connect with you better if you are open about yourself. Tell the readers what inspires you, a little about your life, and anything you think the reader may enjoy knowing. If they can relate to you they very well may follow you.
Graphics
Look at your profile as your brand. Branding yourself is the very first step to promotion or marketing of any kind. I change my background during every season and my profile picture is simply my name. The reason I use my name is because I want readers to see my name everywhere, just like any other brand. I don't use my face because readers can't look up my profile just from remembering my face. I mainly did this because of the forums and for social media outside Wattpad where someone may not just be able to click on my profile right away. If your profile is attractive, it'll make your brand more attractive.
Book Covers
This would be another one of my weaknesses. Not all of us can afford to purchase stock photos and we are stuck with royalty-free photos through Unsplash, Pixabay, etc. We also can't afford fancy graphics software. It's rough because many people do judge a book by its cover. It is possible to make some nice covered without spending lots of money.
I use Canva's free version and whatever photos I can find that are royalty-free. If you know of more programs that are useful please add them to the comments. The best sites I have found for royalty-free photos are Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels.
Reading Lists
I like to direct my readers to my reading lists so they have something to read while waiting for updates. I reserve this for my friends and people that have helped me out along the way. Especially those who have supported me and allowed me to vent when frustrated. If you've not read the books just let your readers know, but it's very helpful to help other writers. It can also make your profile a go-to if the reader is tired of looking through unfinished books out in the search on Wattpad.
Completed Stories
I can't express how important it is to have completed stories on your profile. To be honest, I wouldn't even worry about promotion if you haven't finished one. Your story is already buried under unfinished works. Readers are beyond tired of reading a book and realizing it was abandoned. You will want a reputation that proves you can finish a story. Most readers won't even care if it's a rough draft and not edited. They just want to binge read a good story. I never leave more than three ongoing stories on my profile at one time. If I get writer's block for more than a few months I take down the story until I find my motivation again. This was a hard lesson learned.
Promoting inside your own stories
All stories will have more reads on the first chapter and that's inevitable. There is a great way to balance this out and it is valuable, very valuable.
After the epilogue of every story, I open an additional chapter and promote one of my other books. The way I try to even out that high number on the first chapter is to copy that first chapter and let the reader get hooked so they move on to the next story. They already read the first chapter so they're more likely to move on to the next story. I add an additional warning chapter for mature content at the beginning of each story. They can use the drop-down and skip the first chapter since they already read it. It's a great motivator to stay on your profile.
Warning Chapter
I'm a great believer that we are a bit too sensitive these days. With that being said, I also believe some readers do deserve a warning there are things in the story that may be harmful to certain readers. If your story mentions rape or sexual abuse, you should warn your readers. The mature rating should tell the reader there will be content that could be harmful to certain readers and also to give very young readers a chance to back out before reading. I do suggest adding one and also adding a copyright statement.
Following
You should not follow more people than what is following you. At 5k followers, I only followed about 150 users but made the mistake of following back until I hit almost 1k then learned I couldn't follow anyone else. Don't make that mistake, flow readers you're friends with and writers that tend to be helpful. Also, don't ask a writer for help if you're not even following them.
Spammers
Ugh! If you've been writing on Wattpad long you probably have received spam in your direct message boxes. These scammers promise to help you make money off your stories. I cannot stress this enough, do your research. All writers receive these messages and not all of them can be trusted. Actually, I believe Wattpad likes us to report them but they just create new profiles and strike again. Just be careful, if something seems too good to be true then it probably is and you don't want to lose the rights to your stories.
