Should You Post to Wattpad?

It's been two years since I last checked in on Wattpad. Here's my thoughts and suggestions on the new age question "Should You Post to Wattpad?"
What is Wattpad?: • What is Wattpad? | Alw...

[@shreeyagoyal9568]

As a teen writer, I don't have the opportunity to build a writing platform other than wattpad. However, I don't like the platform a lot and only use it to practice and develop my writing skills. Are there any other sites you know of where I can grow a platform and hopefully get noticed (and get critiques)?

[@AlwaysWrite]

That's a really good question! Here's a really long answer! I posted to Wattpad basically all of my content that I didn't plan on getting published (from my teens up into my early 20s). So like my fanfics and fun fantasy that didn't really have a traditional publishing market. I would read published books that were similar to my fantasy works and kind of critique myself. I found that Wattpad was full of cheerleaders and not critique partners. So Wattpad is a good place to post stuff you don't care about if you are a little unsure about your writing. Most of my "growth" as a writer came from taking college classes for writing. The classes would have workshop days where you could look at what your peers were writing and give them honest critiques. They would then turn around and give you critiques when it was your workshop day. I know this option isn't available for everyone, though. As a teenager, your options are pretty limited. I would look more to NaNoWriMo or Reddit (r/writing is the main one but there's plenty of other subreddits). You can make friends with fellow writers on the NaNoWriMo site. It's not a site where you can post your work for critiques, but it has a writing community with potential to meet critique partners. Reddit you can post SOME of your work, but not the full manuscript. If you're wanting to build a writing platform to potentially sell any self published work to, there's other social medias you can look into. If you're trying to build a platform to show off to a literary agent, they'll care more about what you've written; the big platform is more of a "hey, it'll sell at least a little because I have a following." You can also look into the possibility of publishing to writing magazines and such for exposure and practice. I don't have experience with that, but I image there's plenty of KZbin videos going over it and there's usually a post about it on r/Writing. Another option, though not as literary, is newspapers. If your school has a newspaper, you can look to join them. You'll learn a lot about writing through that. There's been a few authors that came from magazine and newspaper/journalistic backgrounds. You'll usually have an editor/teacher/mentor that will critique your work and you'll get better at writing. The best solution, though, is to just keep writing and reading. It won't build you a platform, but it'll elevate your skills.

[@shreeyagoyal9568]

@@AlwaysWrite Wow thanks! This is really helpful!

[@HamzaAli-hv4md]

Have you tried Medium?

[@CharlieeWriter]

I was such a huge fan of wattpad. It solidified my love for writing and have witnessed how wattpad has changed. I still write on the site but I write pieces that I create when I’m in writing burnout (of my WIPS) or need a warm up.

[@AlwaysWrite]

That's what I started doing with Wattpad near the end of my posting life there. I loved it, but I loved how it used to be. Back before they started to really focus on making money and tried to monetize everything.

[@kristinajewell3384]

Me, currently working on a guilty pleasure werewolf story because I never outgrew the phase: o_o

[@AlwaysWrite]

Lol! I have to fight that urge down with a broom sometimes! Enjoy it! Are you going to be posting it to Wattpad?

[@kristinajewell3384]

@@AlwaysWrite when I finish it! Professionally writing or publishing just isn’t for me so this will be a fun creative outlet.

[@addisonrose6401]

OMG I still am I love with vampires since 1sT grade

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@marktwain368]

As a self-published writer I find your analysis quite relevant and useful. Wattpad is molten hot but your sensible advice lets it cool on the dining table a bit. I'm an older guy writing YA and I'm not desperate for either an audience or a pay check as I have a job as a professor. I like your style and wish you all the very best!

[@AlwaysWrite]

Awe, thank you so much! Also, congrats on the self-publishing!

[@linuay9552]

I'm writing my first fan fic on Wp atm & it's great. I think, because I'm new to it, it's easy to just treat it like a fun outlet & keep my expectations low so I can just enjoy the writing & learning process. Promoting a new book as a new writer is also next to impossible because there's just so much material on there! Good, bad & ugly... Unless you're already established, new authors are just drowned out. They also took away the timeline feature which was good promotion avenue! Btw I really want to read your Wattpad books now! 😁

[@AlwaysWrite]

Yay! That's how I wrote my fanfictions on Wattpad. Zero expectations for "making it" or earning any money and I had a blast! For the most part, there's a pretty solid fanfic community that support each other.

[@roseyfalls2812]

Right now I’m making fan fiction on Wattpad as like a comfort zone, I may not get to know if my writing or stories are good, but over the years I can tell what needs to change, soon I’m hoping to step out of my comfort zone and do something like a WIP and create a fun story, it’s not going to be standard writing, but I know it’ll be fun to see what I can achieve. P.S. Thank you for the video, this definitely informed me on how to take on Wattpad and how serious I should take it in different circumstances!

[@AlwaysWrite]

That's exactly what I did with Wattpad! It was a major comfort zone for my fanfictions and my werewolf trash novels. Just be sure to look back on what you posted every year or so and that's when you'll see how much you've grown as a writer.

[@roseyfalls2812]

@@AlwaysWrite I’ll remember to do that, thanks for replying!

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@jeteloriaga]

very helpful suggestions. Thanks.

[@AlwaysWrite]

Glad I could help!

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@lucianaanghel4097]

Hey, im 14 years old and i got a great idea of a fiction book, it is pretty serious, original and captivating. Should i post it on wattpad? I think it may be as interesting as the hunger games, but i m not sure, because im really unexperienced. Nice video btw!!

[@AlwaysWrite]

Yay for a new book idea! There's kind of two ways you can go about your book. First thing you can do is just write it for fun and revisit it when you're older and have more practice writing (aka don't post it on Wattpad but save it on your computer/Google Drive). You're at an age where it'll be very difficult to get published and your writing is still going to be a bit rough (coming from someone that got into writing when I was like 12 and I've revisited some of my earlier writings). The second option is to go ahead and publish it on Wattpad. Just know that Wattpad isn't known for their high literature, but it is a lot of fun! Right now, you should be learning and growing as a writer and a reader. So don't stress yourself out with your book and just enjoy it!

[@yuu_rei]

Hi! Thank you so much for this video, it was very easy to understand all the points because of your explanation! I write fanfiction on Ao3, and am transitioning to fiction slowly. I would one day love to self or trad publish my works. I don't remember how I came across it, but I saw a writing contest on Wattpad that was giving out money prizes for the winners. And very honestly speaking, that was the sole reason I joined that platform. Prior to this, I've never felt the need to post there because my writing just doesn't fit with the type the readers flock onto there. But I got enticed to post a story for the contest, just to test my luck and see if my fiction will ever stand a chance. Perhaps I'm making a mistake, I'm just so conflicted about what the right thing to do is.

[@AlwaysWrite]

I published to it, too, because of the Watty Awards way back in the day. The thing is that the fiction I was posting was trash, Wattpad quality fiction (AKA worked well on the site but not with publishers). So that didn't bother me because it was for fun. If what you posted is really original fiction that you plan on pursuing publishing with, I would suggest removing it. If it's just like my trash werewolf stories that were just for fun, there shouldn't be a problem leaving them up. If you're unsure of what you want to do, I would suggest removing them and backing them up to some cloud platform or a USB or both!

[@yuu_rei]

@@AlwaysWrite Thank you so much for responding! It's something that I would like to take my chances at publishing with one day, so I'll just remove it for safety! I heard there's lots of plagiarism issues with wattpad as well :O Anyhow, thank you so much for the comment and the lovely video! Hope you're having a great time!

[@ChrisDMReloaded]

i have an story , it is almost complete , but i do not want anybody to copy and sell it as their own because it is my creation . this is because nowadays people seem to just copy paste something to make profit with 0 effort .

[@FishyartsZ]

I’m 13 and want to be a author so I have been using watt pad to post my story and my story has been my proudest work so far I can’t wait until it’s finished.

[@AlwaysWrite]

I'm so excited for you! You can do it!

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@totallylegitbusinessperson6803]

We all had those cringey times I was apart of the zombie wave 😭

[@AlwaysWrite]

Yesssssss!

[@ashleybirchall9132]

Ah, yes... Lol

[@vizeath]

I honestly don't want to receive feedbacks from random teenagers. 😂 I just want my book to be read by close friends or adults who seriously want to read my stuff...

[@HumannestHomeschool]

Yeah I now understand. Thx. Since I'm a beginner I will post it in wattpad but I have another plot that I wanna publish it, - not in wattpad. Now my biggest confusion of publishing in wattpad- CLEAR. Really thanks

[@AlwaysWrite]

So glad I could help! Happy writing!

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@shadowwood549]

I post to Wattpad, and not fanfiction, my books. I also post to fanfiction too. Don't get me wrong, I also write over to my stories and fanfiction, because fanfiction is fun. But I do post my original stories to both Wattpad and fictionpress. And yes, one day I would like to be a published author. But one thing, I don't feel like me as a writer is quite there yet, or my books. Lol

[@marioj.jimenez9466]

Whoaaaaaa, thank you! You just saved me from a big mistake. Great video!

[@junkyusfirstsnowball3845]

Here in my country there's a lot of opportunities when you post on wattpad than give a manuscript to a publisher.. And at the same time.. There's a lot of criticism and problem or even authors that could help me to grow more.. You can have fun but at the same time it could be a serious job since almost all of the publisher in my country are searching a lot of authors in wattpad.

[@AlwaysWrite]

That's very interesting. I was looking at Wattpad through the eyes of an American. Thank you for sharing!

[@snigdhakhadka5867]

Which country are you talking about?

[@junkyusfirstsnowball3845]

@@snigdhakhadka5867 Philippines... Almost all teen movies or drama in my country are based either on a novel or wattpad stories... Especially He's into her.. He's into her is from wattpad and now has its own series, They even have a fanbase

[@hope9481]

Who am I? melaningyal7 :)

[@Henbot]

Very useful

[@AlwaysWrite]

Glad you think so!

[@lulu_749]

As I am writing more I really just want to have a space to share my work online as I’m unsure if going the publishing route is for me, but there have been SO many Wattpad horror stories that have made me super apprehensive of clicking that publish button. Writer’s accounts being deleted for an unexplained community violation without ANY way to retrieve their work, stories being plagiarized and winning Wattpad awards for it, maturity ratings being enforced inconsistently. I’ve been looking into Inkitt as an alternative writing platform and so far like it. Do you have any other alternatives to Wattpad you would recommend?

[@AlwaysWrite]

Honestly, I would look into some subReddits out there. I know there's some for beta readers and critique partners. You'd be limiting your "exposure" and risk by going this route. However, you won't get any "public praise" like you would on say Wattpad. Beta readers and critique partners are a great way to learn how to be a better writer and better your writing. If it's a story you're wanting to publish, I always say keep it close to your heart and share it only with people you trust until you pursue publishing (and then share it with professional, certified editors/literary agents depending on which route you want to take).

[@jonathanmanda7851]

What about the last two years...sure is a great platform

[@illwaitforthetimewhenicans9726]

thanks a lot

[@bridgetfern9218]

What about posting only a few chapters of your first draft to get advice then deleting it?

[@AlwaysWrite]

I mean this in the nicest way, but most Wattpad readers won't have great advice (at least not the level of advice that could help you get published/agented/great reviews). If you're looking for feedback, I would suggest a critique partner or a beta reader. There's quite a few videos from other creators that give advice on finding critique partners/beta readers. Plus, even posting just the first few chapters can mess with your chances with a publishing house or literary agent. People have been known to copy and repost decent+ writing and claiming it as their own. Once you post anything to the internet, it will always be on the internet.

[@cutecat407]

I'm just writing a fanfic named "destined love" And it's still in process so i was wondering if it'll be good to post it or not, so what should I do??

[@KcButterfield]

Hey! What about “what to do if you have already posted on Wattpad” and still want to pursue traditional publishing? I’ve only posted one chapter on Wattpad, and I’m wondering if it will be as simple as unpublishing there, deleting my account, and then pursuing traditional publishing.Thoughts?

[@AlwaysWrite]

That's a great question! If that chapter is from a book/novel you're wanting to publish, I would say take it off the internet/Wattpad ASAP. You can leave your account up if you want to still read things on Wattpad. There shouldn't be a problem with you reading stuff on Wattpad. When/If you do get a call with a literary agent about the content you'd posted on Wattpad (like you queried the novel after removing it from Wattpad), I would disclose how long, what content (like what chapters), when, and where you posted it online. Keep in mind that's *during* the call and not in your query letter. Little side note, the question was asked regarding Wattpad, but it also applies to anything you've posted on Reddit to get feedback or suggestions (like chapters or segments you've posted not just the concept or plot).

[@daydream1066]

Oh no.... I already posted and completed my novel on there and was looking to query. My second book is on there too.... should I delete them? Did I just blow my chances for traditional publishing? My one book only has 2k reads but has been on there for years as an earlier draft. I'm so confused and I don't know what to do.

[@AlwaysWrite]

Yes! Go ahead and delete both of them off of Wattpad! Them being earlier drafts will help if an agent asks on the phone call. If it's been changed/decently edited with a different title, it's not the same book that was posted on Wattpad. Your chances shouldn't be ruined since it's an earlier draft. You'll be okay! You got this!

[@daydream1066]

@@AlwaysWrite I went ahead and deleted them both and informed my followers. ^_^ One of my dream agencies had a Q&A event and I asked if I ever had to mention it at all and they said no too. Though I will still post my short stories and poetry to keep readers interested in my work. Thanks for answering back! Wattpad has certainly changed a lot since I started on 2014 and with all this new information about not posting serious works on there had me quiet concerned haha. The novel I want to send in will be changed a bit, but I'm keeping the same title. But I do feel much better now.

[@AlwaysWrite]

@@daydream1066 I'm so glad! It's been crazy to see where Wattpad's ended up. Most of the changes I haven't quite liked. Please let me know how querying goes for you and what the dream literary agency says!

[@melaniedlc3065]

I want to publish my Fan-Fic that I wrote but I'm nervous someone is going to copy it and publish it and get more reads, and take credit for my work. Does anyone have any ideas the copyright rule?

[@AlwaysWrite]

Unfortunately that's just a possible reality with posting your work online. The people that copy and repost stories don't care about the rules. They're just trying to get attention. You can counter it a little by posting on a regular schedule and Wattpad should reward you for your consistency. If you really want to post and share your fan-fiction, go ahead and post it! Don't let fear stop you from writing a book or sharing your fan-fiction. Now if it was original fiction you were worried about, I would definitely say keep it off of the internet if you plan on formally publishing it.

[@zvezdavan]

Do you know anything about WEBTOONS buying wattpad?

[@AlwaysWrite]

I haven't been following it, but it seems interesting. So the parent company of WEBTOON (Naver) purchased Wattpad for $600M in January 2021. We will see what they do next. My guess is they'll adapt some of the Watty Winners to WEBTOON comics. I don't know anything about WEBTOON so I can't guess much more than that.

[@zvezdavan]

@@AlwaysWrite alright thank you so much! I did hear that because WEBTOON is a pg 13 site overall that explicit smut stories are gonna be taken down.

[@MrVlandus]

Tried to set up a post there. Didn't like it

[@AlwaysWrite]

It's changed a lot since I posted on it. I've heard people say it's either an amazing experience or a terrible one.