①⑤ 🧡 Wattpad Tip: Cover + Title

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On Your Cover

Make it stand out! Don't use tiny words or pictures with too much detail, because no one will notice.

Use contrasting colors to draw attention. Don't use dull colors, especially for your title.

Use font and color scheme to convey genre. They're simple but powerful tools to evoke feeling. If you've got a funny story, for instance, make the cover funny, and use color and font to your advantage.

Make the title clear. Don't make a title that no one can read. That is, don't make it a light font on a light background or a dark font on a dark background. To help yourself out, use the "stroke" tool to give your colored title an outline that sets it apart from the background.

Use a real editing program or find someone who does. Putting Arial font over a random web image isn't a great look. Try to learn how to use Canva, Gimp, or Photopea! I use Photopea myself. If you want, you can also find someone to make a cover for you. Just look up cover shops here on Wattpad!

Be sure your cover is 512x800. This is the best size for a Wattpad book, and it will be clear and un-cropped at this dimension.

On Your Title

To show you what to avoid, there's no better way than to use an old book of mine:

The Temperature of Frost

First of all, frost is wintry. People might not feel like a winter book at all times of the year, and therefore might skip the book for that reason alone. Secondly, "The Temperature of Frost", while literary and cool-sounding, doesn't really mean anything without reading the book. What does it tell you about the book, or make you feel? Not a lot.

But I'll one up that. Let's look at the full name, including the series title:

The Temperature of Frost - Book 1 of Christmas in Bogotá

Who puts CHRISTMAS in the title of his NOT CHRISTMAS book?

Who puts CHRISTMAS in the title of his NOT CHRISTMAS book?

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I don't recommend it for obvious reasons.

Make your title trigger the reader. Not meaning anger them. This means, use words that they might see elsewhere and then relate to your story. Help your reader remember your story by building upon its associations.

In general, steer clear of pigeonholed titles. Unless you only want fantasy readers, for instance, don't call your fantasy story Andilara Gashara il Vek, because very few people will be interested in that title.

And, in general, use titles that evoke what the reader might be in for. The Bad Boy Stole My Bra (a real Wattpad book!) is a great title, because you know EXACTLY what that story is going to be like, and those interested in bad boys... stealing their bra... are going to love it...!

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