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[Display site] Wattpad

Ralph Pines

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I was searching for contest to enter and I stumbled across this site call Wattpad?

So far I haven't seen anything negative about it, so I was wondering if anyone here had an account and would like to share their experience (positive/negative) about it.

Thank you in advance.
 

anne_holly

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I signed up for wattpad, but haven't used it much. So far, I don't have anything worth seeing that I'm not considering submitting some place, and I don't want to give the milk away for free.

But, holy Hannah, there is a ton of copyright infringement on there. One user had about 6 full length HQ novels (not her own) available to read online!

For that reason alone, I would encourage writers to get accounts - only members can alert possible copyright issues.
 

LadyLiterature

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I'm signed up with Wattpad, and let me tell you: it's not worth it. Most of the stories are ridiculous and so poorly edited I could cry. Even the ones "worthy" of the Watty Awards have gaping plot-holes and virtually no editing whatsoever. Save yourself from painfully horrible stories, Trollers, and pieces with such insightful names as "Stuck Dorming with the Only Guy in the School" or "50 Years Without Edward...Do I miss him?"[that's not even the worst of it, trust me]. Seriously, it's not worth the time or energy.
 

Torgo

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Wattpad

Right, who knows anything about Wattpad? Other than what Google can turn up for me, of course. Is anyone using it? Have people had success they can attribute to it? It sort of looks like Yet Another Display Site, except this one seems to have a huge community (I'm seeing reader stats in the 10 million plus range, which I'm somewhat incredulous about.) Any information gratefully received.
 

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Right, who knows anything about Wattpad? Other than what Google can turn up for me, of course. Is anyone using it? Have people had success they can attribute to it? It sort of looks like Yet Another Display Site, except this one seems to have a huge community (I'm seeing reader stats in the 10 million plus range, which I'm somewhat incredulous about.) Any information gratefully received.

Be incredulous; they're counting every time a page is spidered as a reader.

Note that a spider will in many cases make several passes over a page, indexing different kinds of data.
 

oaktree

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wattpad

My novel, Caterpillar, is coming out next month, and I've been doing quite a bit of reading on marketing strategies. It seems to me that there are really 3 different types for self- or small-press-published authors: social media, paid advertisements, or giving away free content.

As an experiment, I've decided to post some of my short stories up on Wattpad, to see if that helps me connect to more readers. Has anyone here had any luck with Wattpad? I'll post back later with my results.
 

oaktree

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(as an aside, any theories as to why my signature isn't showing up?)
(Oh, never mind. There it is.)
 

Jehhillenberg

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I joined wattpad a couple of years ago and it's a cool site. You interact with others and share your stuff; give feedback to receive it. I got some readers for my earlier work who liked it and commented. And you get "fan" :). I think (not sure) I've even heard some success stories from wattpad in terms of getting a pretty good following, which prompted me to join in the first place. My account's pretty much inactive though since I found/joined AW.
 

thothguard51

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Posting on any display site that is not pass word protected is very risky if you ever plan on publishing that work later on. All kinds of reasons...
 

Windvein

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Sigh, I'd blocked wattpad from my memory, but this thread prompted me to go check to see if my stuff had been uploaded again without my permission. It has. Now I have to go remember my login so I can report the entries.
 

Windvein

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Scribd actually supplies a DMCA take-down notice to send to them to get stuff removed. (Had to use it once, unfortunately.)

Wattpad was (is?) partnered with Lulu for some reason. My work is gone from Wattpad. They're responsive at least.
 

SkyDancer

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Are times changing? - Chances of finding an agent for "previously published" work

Hello, I'm trying to get your opinion on something. I have done some research on my own, but the results are somewhat mixed.

I have a story which I never intended to get published. I wrote it just for the fun of it and shared it on an online writing community site (wattpad). This website is for amateur writers and most stories are in fact written by teens. I still do have all the rights/copyright to my story. But according to what I know, this story has to be considered as previously published. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Now, aforementioned story has been rather well-liked. It has attracted quite a number of readers and "fans". Recently, it has developed more and more a life of its own. Loads of people are sharing it with their friends (on wattpad, their blogs, twitter, Facebook etc.), writing reviews/recommendations (one reader even wrote a review for her local newspaper), are beginning to write fan-fics etc. Taking all that into consideration, I think it is fair to say that my story holds a certain appeal to its target audience (teens/young adults). Also, I believe that it is quite marketable. Many readers have asked me if I am going to get it published. And yes, I'm very well aware that it doesn't mean that all of them would really buy the print version of it, but I think this could be some kind of a head start for a new writer.

That's why I have looked into the chances of getting it commercially published. As far as I was able to figure out, only few agents are open to represent previously published works, most consider it to be a big no-no.

That's what I'm wondering about. Are times changing at the moment? I don't know if literary agents know about wattpad and if they do, what they think about it. Is there a chance for this particularly story of mine? Or is its somewhat popularity ruining any chances of having it commercially published?

Yes, I know, I could always go down the self-publishing road, but I'd love to try the traditional way first. Do you think that's wasted time? Or might there be a small chance for my story?

(Please also note: the online version available of my story is a first draft. I know that I can and will have to polish it up for it to become a "real" manuscript. Do you think I should replace my current version with the "final" draft, aka the one I would send out to agents? Only if you guys think I should give it a go, that is.)

All thoughts on this are very welcome! :)
 

heyjude

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Sorry in advance for not answering your question; others with more knowledge will be along to do so.

I just wanted to ask if you're writing something new. Obviously you have talent. If I were you, I'd write something completely new to sub to agents.

However it turns out, much luck. :)
 

Old Hack

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Here's the BR&BC thread on Wattpad. It doesn't look good to me, and I sincerely doubt that any agents you'd want to represent you will be browsing the stories at Wattpad.

If you've put your entire book up there, then some agents might not consider it. Some will, though, as Wattpad isn't exactly widely-known and it won't have allowed you to reach all your potential readers.

I don't see the harm in sending it out on submission, so long as it's revised thoroughly first. If you decide to do this then I would take it down from Wattpad and anywhere else as soon as possible, though, especially as it's a first draft that you've got up there.
 
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NewKidOldKid

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You can always self-published it through Kindle, if nothing else works.
 

SkyDancer

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@heyjude:
Thanks! :)
And yes, I'm writing something new. In fact, the story I mentioned was something I wrote for fun while doing research and planning the story etc. that I do hope to get published. (And no, I won't upload that particular story. Never planned to do so.)

@NewKidOldKid
True. I just wanted to see if there was a tiny chance for that particular story to get commercially published.

@leahzero:
Yes, I know about her and her book "Life's a Witch". But I believe it is different from my situation. First of all, the author had her story prominently featured by the website and was cooperating with it quite a bit (interviews, give-aways etc.). She had a professional book trailer. Also, it was the first book in a series, whereas mine is a stand-alone novel. Last, not least, she did self-publish it first and it was a review in Publishers Weekly which finally got her the agent and book deal.

@Old Hack
Thanks for your reply! I don't understand what you meant with "agents browsing wattpad", though. I do know that no agent would be looking on that or a similar website, hoping to find something good he can publish. Was that what you meant?

Thanks for your input. It sounds plausible to me. Only I've been also advised not to delete the whole story, maybe have the first chapter or two up, simply to have some proof of the feedback I've received. Any thoughts on that? Or in other words: why should I take it down completely?

Btw, the story is only available on wattpad. And your cat freaked me out a bit. ;)

@Taylor: Thanks!

Any more thoughts on this?
 

Solunar

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I would keep the story up, write a new book in the same genre or targeted at the same demographic reading that book. Then when querying agents, give them a link back to the page to show that you already have an audience.

But then, you could totally disregard my advice as well. 50 shades of grey was published as twilight fanfic first but it was still picked up and had commercial success. Hrm.