Writing Tips and Techniques (Writing Help)

Posting a New Novel

My most recent novel reminded me that most of the people that read this are new to Wattpad and are looking to start a novel. Here is some advice on posting a new book.

First, (I'm not totally sure if this is true) I read somewhere that if you post on Fridays, you get more views because that's when most other people update it's when a lot of people are reading.

As always, start off with a good description and cover. Details are in previous chapters.  Your book is going to be new and barely have any chapters or views at this point, so the description and cover are critical for getting people to add your story to their library and follow it.

Don't start your novel with one chapter. If it's a new novel, post 3-5 chapters. This is because you want to get your reader to follow the story. It's hard to rope someone in with one or two introductory chapters.

If you're currently working on another story, but have plans for your next one, post a teaser. Fill out the description and have a nice cover still, but only post one scene from the story to intrigue your readers. Even though it isn't being updated, it's sitting there so it starts gathering views (which are worth more that votes when it comes to getting more readers). People who follow your page will notice it and it will breed interest. You're probably not going to get a lot of action (mine was up for probably a year and got 24 views and five votes), but it gives you a little head start and motivates you to actually write it.

Use a lot of tags. The more you tag, the more possibility there is for someone to find you. Try to use as many as they let you. Also, you can tag it with other categories since it only lets you pick one (I think there's a way to have more than one category, but I have no idea how it's done. I googled it and everything).

It's going to take a long time for your story to get noticed, especially if this is your first story, so don't get discouraged. My first story took foreeeeevvver to gain views and votes, and it still doesn't have much when you compare it to those people that have crazy amounts of readership. But people don't really take your story seriously until you have at least a thousand views. They assume that if so many other people read it, it must be good. And even though you're going to want to hurry it up, don't advertise yourself. That is a turn off for just about everyone. It's annoying when someone is posting "read my story" everywhere. You just have to get your name out there. Post something on a bunch of different club discussions so people interested in your genre will click your profile picture and see your story. If your story is fantasy, follow a bunch of other fantasy writers. Overall, be friendly and people will look at your story. Don't worry about votes. You're never going to have as much as you do reads. People just don't do it, which is probably because a lot of the people who are reading your story don't have stories of their own. They don't know the thrill of the vote, so they don't see why they should have to do it.

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps!