Tips For Writing On Wattpad

Getting Recognized: Reads, Votes, and Followers

Getting Recognized: Reads, Votes, and Followers
For your first book, it will take quite some time for readers interested in your style of writing to find you. And thus, it will take time to get reads and/or votes.

My first book took over four months to hit a thousand reads, despite updating it every day and having it fully posted by the end of the second month. Don't get discouraged, even the mighty oak tree started off as a tiny nut. Then it took three years to get knee high.

More writers won't get much traction until they complete 3-5 books. As time goes by, several things make your book more easily found:

- word of mouth from those who read it and liked it.

- your book will be in more reading lists and easier to find.

- your book will start appearing more often in recommendation lists.

- any other advertising or marketing or social media efforts will also start paying off.

How can you get more reads?
For an in-progress story, this is hard. Fewer than 10% of books on Wattpad are ever completed, so many readers won't touch a non-completed story.

Post more chapters. If you have 5 readers and 5 chapters, that's 25 reads. But if you have 5 readers and 30 chapters, that's 150 reads if they read each chapter. There's a big difference between 25 and 150.

Updating regularly might convince readers that you have what it takes to finish the story. You can further entice them to return with things like a compelling plot and excellent spelling and grammar.

Readers are also more likely to try an in-progress book if there are more than 20 or 30 chapters.

Otherwise, it's simply a waiting game until your book is completed, which will open up a few more options.

Once your book is completed, more possibilities open up:

- You can enter mini-contests (search 'contests' in the Wattpad search bar). (Check the rules as they vary by contest, and I also suggest looking to see if the people holding them have successfully completed past contests).

- Join a Book Club. (Search 'book club' in the Wattpad search bar - there are also quite a few in the discord groups listed farther down this page) Remember to check if the club is active and also look at the rules since they vary by club.

- Look for a read-for-read book on Wattpad. Ask to make sure it's still active and that the person agrees to the read-for-read before starting your part (some people are inactive and won't see your posts).

- Join a reading list collaboration. This is where people come together and make reading lists with each others books to boost visibility. There's not many around, although Dreamland has one called the Dreamlist Collective.

- Advertise on Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Yeah, I groan when I hear those words too. It's probably been two weeks since I last logged into mine.

Tip: Make a social media account just for your books and author stuff. Not sure what to post? Try putting a weekly reminder on your phone to post a joke, meme, or cute/funny cat/dog picture. Then you can intermittently add author or book stuff, like when you start a new story or complete one. I know some authors who built their entire following off of social media. Just like finding readers on Wattpad, it takes time to be found on Social Media as well. (Also look for Wattpad-focused Facebook groups where people might ask for books, such as 'Wattpaders', 'Wattpad is Life', or even just search 'Wattpad' on Facebook to find others).