Writing and Publishing on Wattpad or Anywhere

Chapter 5 - Getting Reads

Personally, I don't pay a lot of attention to this part. I never even watched votes until a friend asked me about them, and I honestly had no idea. Some of my fics get more reads than others, but personally, there are two things that matter to me: How many followers do you have? How many comments have you gotten?

In my opinion, both reads and votes are misleading stats. One ties into the other. Let's say someone posts a chapter, and their fifty followers read it. Maybe they all vote for it. Awesome! They continue this trend for ten chapters. They now have 500 reads and votes. That's great. However, the question I have to ask is, how long is that chapter? I've seen a lot of works with chapters that are less than a 1,000 words. So, by the time this hypothetical work has posted ten chapters, maybe they're only around 10,000 words. There's nothing wrong with that if you can write a compelling plotline with character development in that manner. However, if literally nothing in a chapter has moved the story along on shown character growth and development, then you haven't written a complete chapter. Okay, the occasional fun chapter is fine. We're all trying to entertain after all, but most of your chapters should have at least one significant point that you couldn't cut out without affecting the readability of the story.

If you're looking at someone's work and wondering how they have so many more reads and votes than you, look at their chapter length. Personally, my shortest chapters run around 4,000 words, and my long ones can be 15,000 or 16,000 words. My average chapter length is probably 10,000 - 11,000 words. I'm not saying that is the 'right' way to write. There isn't a right way, but make sure you're comparing apples to apples when looking at some stats.

I'm more interested in the number of followers I have and how often they comment. If you have 250 followers and write a 10,000-word chapter and every one of your followers reads and votes on it, well, you have five times as many followers as the example above but only half the number of reads and votes for the same word count. That's why I'm more interested in how many followers I have. How many people are actually reading my work versus how quickly I can get people to start and stop reading a work.

Now, to me, comments are the most important piece. Comments are feedback from your readers. Personally, I came to Wattpad in 2017 to learn how to write. I wanted to open myself up to that reader feedback. It's a gift. It's like having dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of beta readers for each piece you post. When someone comments, generally speaking, you should respond. Some readers are eager to engage via comments while others are terrified of the process. If you've posted a work, you know how terrifying a process that is. Your readers may be in the same boat. You can encourage comments by:

1. Let your readers know you want comments, that you want to engage with them. At the beginning of a chapter, post something brief saying you'd love to hear their comments/get their feedback. Let them know they can PM you if you're open for that. Some readers may feel more comfortable speaking to you privately until they get to know you while others jump right in there and post publicly.

2. Then, and here's the really important part, when someone comments you respond. It can be a quick 'thanks for reading and commenting,' but when a reader comments on a particular section, I share my thoughts on that part. What sort of image was I trying to paint there, or why is it important to character development? I'm not saying put in spoilers. Avoid spoilers but engage with your readers. The best part is you'll find you make friends this way. I've met some incredible people on Wattpad who have become friends and family across the way, and they're the best part of this experience. They've taught me so much, and all they ask in return is that you share the stories that are inside you crying to get out. What could be better?

3. The only time I say not to engage with a comment is if it's rude, not negative but rude. Constructive criticism is important. If someone is willing to speaking to you about the things they don't like in your book but do them in a polite fashion, that's fantastic. If someone points out typos, thank them and fix the typos. The main thing here is that everyone should be kind to each other. On Wattpad, that's easy. I honestly don't believe I've ever met someone here who isn't nice even if we don't agree. Readers are grateful for your posts and effort. The closest I've seen to rude is people clamoring for an update. I don't know about everyone here, but for me this is a hobby, and I share my words for free. Yes, please tell me you'd love to see more, but don't just comment with 'update please!' right after I've posted a chapter. If I have a few WIPs and you haven't seen updates to one you like, feel free to drop me a polite note to let me know this work has people waiting for more but be polite. I'll respond in turn. The platinum rule is 'treat people the way they want to be treated', and I try and follow that. If someone is polite, then so am I. If someone is rude, I ignore them. Rude people only want to gripe and make noise, not engage with you. Give them what they want ... your silence.

4. Pick goals for yourself, and send out messages to your followers. Personally, I do it when I get 100 new readers. I send out a message thanking everyone who's been reading and commenting. I say how important their feedback is to me, and how this is a collaborative product. I listen to my readers and incorporate things they want into the story if possible. Usually, they want to see more of a particular character or something minor (someone asked me to show two of the characters swimming together) that does nothing to hurt plot or character development. Unlike most forms of books, Wattpad gives us access to hear what our readers want to see. Listen to them.

5. I've seen where people tell you to thank everyone who votes. For me, that's too much on top of responding to every comment. I just don't have the time to individually message everyone who votes on my chapter, but if you have the time, it's a great idea. It lets you engage with your readers, and that is critical.

6. In what genre/fandom are you writing? If you want more readers, an easy way to do that is to expand your writing to new fandoms or genres. You can check to see which ones are the most popular, but you need to love what you write, so make sure you're picking a topic that you'll enjoy. Currently, I only write about one fandom, but I do have plans to expand that. I've had reader requests for different fandoms, and it's on the list. I just need more hours in the day and to finish my current WIPs.

7. Never, I'll repeat, never hold your chapters hostage for votes. I've seen people say that the next chapter will get posted when they get X number of votes. I close that book immediately. I won't be extorted, and I'll never extort my readers. I post stories because I want to do so, and that's why people read, vote, and comment. You don't show you respect someone by threatening them, and I respect my readers. Respect yours and yourself enough to treat them the right way.

You can always market yourself. I've found marketing is one of the biggesthurdles to any writer. We're here towrite not to create and follow a detailedmarketing plan. However, if no one knowsabout your book or can find it, they won't read it no matter how good itis. Post to your social media when youput out a new story. If there are otherwriters with whom you're friendly, especially if it's in the same genre, askthem if they'll read your story and give you feedback. This really shouldn't be the first commentyou make to that writer. Feedback shouldbe coming in return for feedback. Don'tpost in the comment section of someone else's story that you have a story and want reads. If someone comments in one of your storiesthat they want an update, ask them if they've read your other story "Name." Ifthey like your writing, they might like that one too.