Beasthood

Acknowledgements and Advice for Wattpadders

Every author should write this page. Some people read it, most don't. But, it's usually the people who are true, dedicated fans that take the time to read what the author has to say. So, to those of you who have stopped by, thank you.

I want to thank my friends who have become like family: Krystal, Ell, Knight and Nancy in particular. They're my best online buds, and I hope one day to meet them all in person. I want to thank Ivan again, as my editor, who taught me so much, and since then, I've learnt so much more. 

I have to thank my family for their patience, whenever I get lost on my computer from writing, or spend hours reading instead of having quality time with them. I hope I organise my time better for their sake. 

I'd like to thank all my Wattpad friends and acquaintances for their support and kindness. I know some of you who have gone on to publish and have become very successful. Demelza Carlton, Ivan Amberlake (yes, the same editor Ivan) and Alys Arden to name a few. Alys has become a bestseller on Amazon several times. And I absolutely love her novel The Casquette Girls. You must read it. Even Anne Rice bigged it up. I know. Amazing. It's people like these that I aspire to be like. You should never be jealous of their success, because if you work hard enough, and have a perfect balance of hard work, talent, know-how, contacts and the ability to be indifferent to negativity or lack of success at the time, you can get there. You can. I will not deny that other people's success makes me wish I was there faster, but what would be the fun in that? It's the experience that's the fun part, not the destination. 

Well done to all of you who have reached your goals and have made new ones. Respect.

Thank you to my readers, those who comment and make me smile, who can relate to Jaz and the other characters I've created. To those who vote and put me on a pedestal that I do not deserve. I won't forget you. Peace and love.

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And here's my experience of Wattpad so far. And my advice on how to rock the Wattpad world...

I came to Wattpad in the hopes that my novel/s would get lots of reads and an agent would snap me up, hold me in their special bosom place and make me a bestseller *rolls eyes* Sure, it happens, but I got so much more out of this place than an easy dream.

I put up Beasthood as soon as I joined. A first chapter, then one after the other. The reads came in, slowly but surely. I uploaded about half of the book and stopped, because I didn't want to post the whole thing for free, knowing I planned to publish it on Amazon. I managed to get about 5k reads or so but it didn't pick up from that. 

Whilst browsing clubs, I came across a book club called The Bloody Circle, which was run by a lady that had the habit of disappearing. Krystal from the group had to step in, as second in command, to full on book club manager when the creator didn't come back. Then we created our own club called Bump in the Night Book Club. We had lots of fun and I learned a lot.

Book clubs on Wattpad are great because, if they're anything like the ones I've been in, they choose a member's book to read each week and at the end of the week, they review it. It really helps to get a better understanding of where you're going wrong, what your strengths are, and your weaknesses. No matter what you're doing in life, you need constructive criticism to help you grow and learn. You can't write without having been given any criticism of any kind, or advice—without having read much either—and expect your work to be perfection. To be up there with Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, J.K. Rowling. The big guys. The experienced guys. I'm not talking about those who've sold millions of copies; I'm talking about those who can truly write.