How to Write Young Adult (with Wattpad's Finest)

Solacing (TFA 2017 Winner)

Some Wattpad Tips

Hey everyone. My pen name is Taylor Hale, also known as @solacing, the author of Street Girl. It was a great surprise (and honour!) to have my book win this award, especially since I was competing with so many other great authors. I also never win anything (literally, not even bingo) so this was a huge step for me and my career as a writer.

I wasn't sure what to talk about here, but I figured that the best thing to do would be to share some advice on how to gain an audience on this site. I've never been featured, nor have I topped the algorithm under any genre, yet I still have a fair amount of readers and traction to my profile. So I'll talk a little bit about my career on Wattpad and how I gained followers.

I'll start off by saying that some Wattpad users just get lucky. You'll see tons of authors top the algorithm and get thousands (or millions) of views without ever having to read another person's work, or have to ask people to read their work. I won't even pretend that I know how the WP algorithm works, but for us peasants who just can't get ranked in Teen Fic/Romance/other popular genres, here are some other ways to get readers. ;P

Note that this is directed at people who want to improve their writing and are willing to work for it, not just for those who want popularity on Wattpad.

1. Improve Your Writing Club

All right, so people aren't going to find your profile if you aren't part of the community. Existing in forums will help other users find you, but that won't necessarily bring you readers. If you're new to Wattpad, or are having trouble making your work known, you're gonna have to ask people to read your work. You can't self-promote on forums (except the share your story thread, which won't bring you much attention), so you need to go into the Improve Your Writing club and find The Help Desk. Under there, you'll find other subforums where other users offer up their services, notably under Critique Classifieds.

I would also recommend looking under the Book Club thread, and finding a club that suits your genre. Book Clubs are very helpful in finding reliable reading partners.

Most people in book clubs aren't looking to genuinely read, and simply want people to read their work. You might be one of those people, but honestly, if you want genuine feedback, you're gonna have to put some work in. If you find yourself in a book club and discover that you like a certain user's work, and are also satisfied with the feedback they're giving you, consider reaching out to that person and asking them if they want to exchange reads outside of the book club. This is how you forge friendships via book clubs, and I've found some great users through that.

Aside from that, book clubs are mostly good for getting views/votes on your story and helping get its name out there. But you can definitely find some good friends in there, just make sure no one is taking advantage of you. There's nothing worse than putting effort into a critique, only to get a "great chapter lol" back.

Also, don't ask for feedback if you can't handle someone's honest opinion. Be prepared for harsh criticism and never be rude to somebody if you don't like their views on your book. It might take some time, but you will find users who want to read your work.

2. Enter Competitions

Since Street Girl hasn't been featured (yet!?), it wouldn't have nearly as many views as it has now if I hadn't entered this competition. Smaller profiles than YAR have competitions all the time, so getting involved in those is a great way to make yourself known and get involved in the community.

3. Review Books

Some people on Wattpad really are just looking to read books, and aren't asking you to read theirs in exchange. Many of these users will post books on their profile, so try searching for review books. Some users ask for payments (follows, reads, etc), but I've found a lot don't and will review your book for free. You just need to find those people. If you go on my profile, under the "help" reading list at the bottom, you will find some review books. They're somewhat old and may no longer be accepting submissions, but at the very least, you'll see what I'm talking about.

4. EDIT YOUR WORK.

I have an incredibly high grammatical standard for my work (I'm a freak lol) and it's paid off. Unless you're doing NaNoWriMo or something, there's no reason why your work should be unedited. You want every user who comes across your page to see the best possible version of your work that's available at that time, so edit your chapters meticulously and LEARN HOW TO WRITE. Learn how to tag dialogue properly, learn how to create compelling plots and characters, learn all that stuff. There're tons of tips on Wattpad on how to write good stories. Don't be lazy about your writing. If you want to be a good writer, you need to work towards that, because it doesn't happen overnight.

But if you just want Wattpad fame and don't care about whether your work is good or not, why are you even reading this?

5. Covers, Graphics, etc.

A little obvious, but you need a compelling cover. If you're not good at graphic art, head over to the Multimedia Designs club, where you can find people offering up their art services, either for free or for small payments. Some users also post graphic books on their profiles, so look out for those.

Having intro pages to your book with a cast or character aesthetics is also something becoming very popular on Wattpad, so I would recommend doing if that's what you're into. I, personally, feel more interested in reading a book when I see it all blinged up in awesome graphics. ;) But ultimately, that's just an extra. I'll still turn away from a book with bad grammar, no matter how pretty its graphics are.

Well, I think that's all I can think of. Thanks for reading, and I hope some of you find this helpful for your Wattpad journey.

And for some shameless self-promo, if you're interested in the Teen Fiction genre, I hope you'll consider checking out my profile and the books I have available on it. They may not be perfect, but I'm still growing, too.<3