Two Years & 450,000 Views: My Wattpad Experience

Before I became an author on Wattpad, I was an avid reader. Logging in everyday to read someone else's story while on the side I was spinning my own tales of fantasy and romance. Then I thought; "Why can't I upload?" No answer came to mind so I started to upload!

At first it was just a few angsty poems that are still available on my author profile today: https://www.wattpad.com/story/52719754-collection-of-poetry

Then I mustered enough courage to post my first full novel on Wattpad and was greatly disappointed as it gained maybe a reader or two each day. And then it just stopped gathering a following all together. At 485 views, it remains to be my mark of shame but I leave it on Wattpad anyways. In my mind, this was my first novel and I love it regardless. Some say it's due to the genre not being popular, Sci-Fi Romance, but then I look at Star Wars and say back, "Stop trying to make me feel better."

So my first novel on Wattpad was a flop. Big deal. I brushed myself off and continued doing what I love; Writing. I wrote everyday for weeks and no one in my life could envision me stopping anytime soon. I had homework, chores, friends, and lots of other stuff I avoided just so I could write.

It wasn't long until I took on the task of writing five stories at one time and publishing chapters every week for all five of them. Slowly, each of them began to gain more views. Sometimes I would see one in particular take the lead and I was extremely proud of that novel, I still am to this day. But all of those stories, filled with characters and story-lines that I cherished, paled in comparison to the novel I published next.

The idea came to me one day and I knew I had to write it. Kinky, erotic novels were all the rage due to Fifty Shades of Grey and I had to jump on that train. I had written romance novels before with explicit scenes that would make you blush if you read them in public, but none of them quite as taboo as this one.

It didn't take me long to think of a title and after publishing the first chapter, there was no turning back. Instantly I saw this novel gain followers and those readers would comment on and vote for the chapters religiously. In order to keep up with the demand, I was writing like never before. All of my other novels on Wattpad were practically being neglected!

What made this novel stand out? It was erotic and dirty beyond all else. It was something sinister and considered taboo that my readers fell into a trance. It was... Menage. There's so many names for it and you better believe that my 'tags' on the story include all varieties: threesome, mxfxm, two guys and one girl, menage a trois, polygamy...

In other terms, it's called double dating and that's why I titled the book as such. A more polite way to state what the book entails.

As much as I could, I would engage with readers and reply to comments. Many successful authors on Wattpad will tell you how crucial this is for your book's success. Comments and votes help increase your novel's place in the rankings in that category. There are so many Romance novels, so 'Double Dating' has yet to make it on the top of the list but a few of my other novels have in the Fantasy category with less views than my erotic hit.

Why is that? Like I said, there's so many romance novels to compete with. Another thing I noticed is that when I reply to more comments and publish more chapters, my ranking goes up. Once one of my novels is completed and I'm no longer uploading chapters, my ranking drops significantly. This could be because my completed novels then reach a plateau of views and there are no new chapters to raise my number of views. Therefore, I'm dependent on gaining new views from brand new readers.

As of right now I no longer publish new chapters of my works on Wattpad because of a contract I have with Radish. Much like Wattpad, Radish is an app that allows readers to read their favorite stories from many authors that were first seen on Wattpad. A few things that makes Radish different from Wattpad are:

1) The novels on Radish must first be looked over by a review team to determine if they are of high quality that readers would enjoy. This eliminates the chances of you starting a book that seems interesting only to discover that it's complete garbage due to the way it was written.

2) Not all novels on Radish are available for free, some are but most authors chose for their novels to be Premium, which means that readers pay by chapter. Readers first buy 'Coins' and then use those coins to unlock chapters. Once a chapter is unlocked, you never have to pay for it again so you can reread it as many times as you like. Many readers prefer this over buying a book in the store because you're getting quality novels at less of a price. So you never have to buy a full book only to realize that it's not for you.

3) With Radish, readers are truly supporting the authors they love! They believe that talented authors should be able to write when they want and not have to worry about it interfering with their job. Authors can actually earn a living with Radish and therefore readers will never be left waiting for weekly updates again.

4) Radish has SO MANY coin giveaways all year long. The first three chapters of a book are always free and sometimes Radish will giveaway coins randomly to people who read the first three chapters of a novel. The best way to never miss a coin giveaway is to follow Radish on Twitter and also turn on notifications after downloading the app.

You can view my Radish author profile here: https://radish.app.link/g10WiRox1J

But make sure to download the app so you can read my many stories!

Don't let my love for Radish stray away from the primary topic of this post: Wattpad.

I owe so much to Wattpad. They inspired me to actually post my works instead of letting them gather
imaginary dust on my laptop. Without Wattpad's easy way to upload chapters and engage with readers,
I would not be this successful. Even with Radish, I continue to use Wattpad to grow a fanbase for my
novels. That's why I also want to share what makes Wattpad better than Radish.

1) On Wattpad, authors can actually engage with the readers by replying back to comments and even
following readers that follow them. This feature really sets Wattpad apart, because Radish doesn't (yet)
have a feature that allows authors and readers to engage.

2) The tools available on Wattpad truly are a writer's best friend. All of these tools are easy to use and
easy to access. For example, authors can view the statistics and demographics for each of their novels.
Authors also have access to a fantastic community, complete with clubs, forums, and contests. Not to
mention an amazing Support Team!

3) For writers that are lucky enough, Wattpad does have a feature that allows authors to earn some
money from their works. That program is called Wattpad Futures and more information on it can be

found here: http://futures.wattpad.com/.

The differences between Radish and Wattpad are pretty clear for both authors and readers alike.

Overall, I must say that I would pick Wattpad over Radish any day solely based on the loyalty of
readers I have on there. Even though I've been a Wattpad member since October of 2012, the past
two years have really shown that with dedication and determination, I can fulfull my dreams of
becoming a published author.