I was stuck in a rut. My blogging was sluggish and I’d been working on a novel for two years with no end in sight. I was moaning to my brother over Skype about the slow path my career was taking, when he said: “So write a novel on Wattpad.” He told me his girlfriend was reading a book on the online platform which had racked up millions of hits and the author had just secured a three book deal with a big publisher. According to him, Wattpad was the way forward.

Feeling a little overwhelmed and knowing full well a free online platform would not pay me a penny for a novel, I began my investigation. I found an easy to use site where anyone could upload their writing, posting as many or few chapters of their books whenever they wanted to. The uploaded novels were indexed within a range of genres; this included a ‘Featured’ section of work selected by Wattpad organisers. The featured novels were evidently benefiting hugely from the exposure, with the top ones attracting millions of hits and thousands of votes and comments.

At first I wasn’t sure if Wattpad was the place for me since a lot of the stories appeared to be written by and for teen ‘beleibers’ and ‘directioners’, which I’m definitely not! Writing a novel is hardly a five minute job and I didn’t want to risk it if the audience wasn’t right. Despite my reservations I signed up and added information in my profile about my past publications and social networks. Next I posted a couple of short stories to test the water.

The short stories didn’t get a million hits, they got a couple of hundred. What they did do however is catch the attention of someone who worked at Wattpad who emailed me with a question. ‘Seeing as you’re a published author,’ they said, ‘would you like to put some of your work on Wattpad in exchange for some marketing benefit?’ They attached a tantalising pdf telling me of their 8 million monthly readers and assured me that if I wrote a novel on their site it would be included in their featured section and be actively recommended to their readers.

Once I’d made the decision to do it, the idea for my romantic comedy, Spray Painted Bananas, came quickly. I wanted to write something light hearted. I plotted for a month, and wrote a ten thousand word buffer before I started posting chapters. Initially one a week, then two.

The votes and comments came flooding in immediately. I’d never experienced anything like it on that scale before. Each day I woke to messages of encouragement from impatient readers wanting to know WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! There were times when I didn’t even know the answer to that, but with such a responsive audience I found myself writing faster and harder than I had ever done before. The best bit was realising how much I loved writing in the romantic comedy genre. I knew there was no turning back. I didn’t want to be a tortured writer any more, from now on I wanted to have a laugh with my novels!

Spray Painted Bananas took four months to write. When it had reached half a million hits and with four chapters still left to post, I contacted an agent. They signed me up a few weeks later.

My novel is still online and free to read but I’ve edited it for publishers. It’s been sent out and I’m waiting. Will it a find publisher? I really hope so. But even if it doesn’t and I don’t make a penny from Spay Painted Bananas, I’m so happy I took on the Wattpad challenge.

5 Top Tips for Writers on Wattpad

– Choose a genre –

Wattpad is the ideal platform for writers of YA fiction, trilogies, series and work that will fit comfortably into their genre categories. You don’t have to post a whole series of books on Wattpad, but if readers like the first book you post, they are more likely to buy the second from a paying platform.

– Ask to be featured –

If you have had work published then contact Wattpad and ask if they will feature your novel. If you don’t ask, you don’t get! You will need a good pitch and a professional looking book cover.

– Post regularly –

Make the experience enjoyable for your readers by posting every week. What motivated me is imagining if I had to wait a month in between every chapter of a book. I know I’d have given up reading very quickly!

– Be friendly –

Thank people for their comments and votes. If you are using Wattpad to get constructive feedback on a work-in-progress, then it’s only fair to give some feedback too. But don’t feel under pressure to read every book readers ask you to or you’ll soon feel swamped.

– Link to social media –

Wattpad users tend to stay in Wattpad and rarely migrate to follow you on other social networks. Despite racking up over a million hits on my novel, less than a hundred readers joined my Twitter and Facebook. That said, I really value those eighty who did and I know they are the ones who will be interested in buying my future books. Add your social networks links in your Wattpad profile to facilitate readers finding you on them.

If you’re considering developing your web presence you are probably wondering whether it’s better to build a website, start a blog, or join Twitter, Facebook and the many other social media platforms available today. If you are lucky enough to have the golden trifecta: time, ability and money, then by all means, do it all! But if you’re like most people and have limited resources in at least one or two of those areas, you need to think about the kind of web presence that you can manage on an ongoing basis.

For many writers, social media is an awkward fit. It takes time and tenacity so a low-maintenance website can be a really good way to secure an online presence without the pressure of daily, weekly or even monthly updating. Before we go on, I want to emphasise that this article is not about scaring you off social media. There are counter arguments for everything listed below, and if you can utilise social media then by all means do. But if you can’t use it then – for authors especially – a website remains a very valid alternative. Here’s why:

Maintain your comfort Zone
A website allows you stay within your comfort zone. You decide what goes up there, approve it before it goes live to the public, and then update it as and when you need to. Engagement with social media is much more active and immediate and it can be difficult for a variety of reasons: lack of knowledge or ability, lack of time, or most crucially a general lack of interest. Many of us are not, by nature, sociable creatures so the idea of joining Twitter is akin to being forced to attend every networking event on the publishing calendar, completely alone, and to emerge surrounded by a bunch of new friends. Online activity may be cyber, but it’s still real life and you are perfectly within your rights to maintain the same comfort you would in the physical world. A simple website allows you to be present, while only attending the parties you want to attend.

Control the content
When you use social media you are engaging with a network of other users and this effects your own profile. You can’t always control how other people behave and interact with you on a social media site but you can control the content of a website. And it’s easier than ever to do that. Nowadays websites are much more accessible and affordable. Almost all developers will build your site using a CMS (Content Management System) and this allows you to quickly and easily edit your site yourself, at no cost. If you can use Microsoft Word then you will be able to use a CMS and you will therefore be able to maintain control over the content.

Keep it low maintenance
Not everyone is tech savvy, just like not everyone can cook, or garden, or fix things. Creating a low maintenance website let’s you have a web presence that you can maintain as often or as little as you like. The more you can update your site and be present online, the more search engines will favour you, but this favouritism isn’t always so necessary for authors. Having a website that functions as a simple calling card can be enough.

Consolidation
The most effective way to present a complete picture of yourself is on a website. Unlike social media sites, a website gives people a single portal into your online world, rather than them having to sift through your tweets, posts and mentions to build a picture for themselves. Your homepage should carry all the key information people might need (and a link to where they can buy your books) and also give the reader a sense, within a split second of seeing it, of who you are.

Validation
Anyone can create a Twitter account and invent a persona for themselves, but a website is a bigger investment and it therefore gives validity to yourself and your work. It shows that you have made a commitment to your writing and that you are serious. If you have a well-designed and well-presented website it will also demonstrate to agents, publishers and readers that you know what you’re doing when it comes to your online presence.

Copyright and Intellectual Property
Most social media sites are free but they need to monetize themselves somehow. Often they do this by assuming ownership of the content (data) that you upload to their sites and using any social media site comes with the implicit understanding that this is how things work. When you build a website you retain the copyright of the content (be sure to make sure your web designer agrees this in writing) while your web designer will keep the copyright of the design and code base (assuming they produced both). You can ask for a backup of the data at any time to ensure your content is safe.

Statistics
Finally, with a website you can track your web statistics and see, among other things, the number of visitors to your site, how long they stayed on the site, their geographic location and how they found your website. This can be invaluable data for understanding who your readership is and what you can do to engage them further. For example, if you find that 40% of visitors are coming from Germany it might be time to discuss a German language edition with your publisher!

It’s not nearly as costly or intimidating to get a website as it used to be and it can be a great way to start building your online self. Who knows, maybe you’ll get hooked and will want to join Twitter after all!

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