Post on Wattpad or not?
I’m still considering posting more of my original fiction on Wattpad. The two main drawbacks are getting cover images for all the stories and the fact that I’m having trouble getting my new account to work. I still can’t figure out how a story could go from having six readers to just one without ‘unpublishing’ in between. Oh, well. The mysteries of the internet. I’m sure there’s a ‘secret’ to how you get people to read your stories on Wattpad (apart from the advice the support page gives you). Surely it can’t just be that the people who get many readers have many friends?
My sister tells me that she’s posted her stories on G+ many times, but no one even reads them. When someone else among her circles (?) says he’s maybe going to write a story some time everyone starts commenting that they would love to read it and buy it when it becomes available (or rather if it becomes available). I don’t really get that. When I decide to read something it’s because I think I’ll enjoy reading it, not because I want to stay on the good side of someone I know. Or am I the weird one here? I mean, sure, if a very good friend asked me to beta read something she/he had written, I’d love to help out, but I think that’s different.
Actually, I’m also wondering if I will get any more readers of these stories just because I post them on Wattpad as well as on my own site. Most people who come to my fan fiction (which is also my more ‘adult’) site, seem to be interested in fan fiction, not original fiction. They don’t give any feedback there though. The only feedback I’ve had over the years have been on fan fiction archives like AO3. It’s possible to leave comments on my wordpress homepage so I don’t see why people don’t. I’ve had that site for many more years than I’ve had my account on AO3. Nowadays, people can also ‘like’ posts and pages on my homepage. It’s just that people don’t seem to consider that option at all. Not that they have to. I’m just wondering.
AO3 working properly again
I just wanted to let you guys know that it seems AO3 is working properly again. Today I got kudos on one (older) story and the message was just like before.
But I still think I’ll be leaving Wattpad. I don’t know how to make that work.
Getting tired of Wattpad
I’m getting a little tired of Wattpad not working properly. When I started out using it a year or more ago, with my first account, I felt that even though I mainly posted Swedish stories and also a collection of extremely short fics (which really isn’t my thing, normally), I did get a few hits now and then. Sure, I also use Wattpad to find and read the occasional high quality book. And I did have a tiny little bit of interaction with the other users.
Then when I started writing another type of story and wanted somewhere to post it, I got a new account and so far it hasn’t worked at all. The few people I know, who have expressed an interest in reading my stories know me and can easily visit my personal home page to read them. Which makes me wonder what the point is. Maybe Wattpad has changed or – contrary to my expectations – people might actually dislike my new stories, and to some extent they like my old stories. In any case, I don’t really feel that Wattpad is working out for me anymore.
If I want my closest friends and family to read my stories I don’t need Wattpad for that. They can read them any way they like (on my homepage, in an email etc).
Adding a cast to my story
That was fun. I’ve been playing with the option of adding a Cast to my story on Wattpad. Hopefully, it will help any potential readers visualize the characters. At least these are my choices. Maybe others will see the characters differently.
In case you’re curious, these are the ones I picked:
Alexander Skarsgård
Aidan Turner
Francois Arnaut
George Rainsford
Jessica Brown Findlay
A new story and issues with Wattpad
I have written a new story in English and I have posted it on my fan fiction site and will also post it on my new Wattpad account. Unfortunately, Wattpad is having issues related to posting drafts, so that will have to wait.
This is an original story, but inspired by a movie.
Wattpad can be a really great site, but the fact that you have to have a cover image makes it so much more difficult. On my own websites, I post stories all the time, as soon as I’ve finished writing and editing/proofreading them. For me, who isn’t very good with graphics and photos, it’s really something that delays publication. That means I have to ask for help, and that depends on someone else having the time and inspiration to make a cover image for me.
Copyright: Am I Protected?
Publishing your work is exciting! Watching those first reads come in, getting initial comments, and building a fanbase can be a lot of fun. But there’s always something lurking at the back of every writer’s mind: am I safe?
Here are a few things to keep in mind on the internet when using Wattpad to publish your works so that you can understand copyright without being a lawyer. These are just the basics and there are certainly more complex avenues but this should cover most common situations.
Read more here.
Booklikes, Libib, Leafmarks and more…
Booklikes
I was doing a little squeeing about LIbib a while back. I might as well have squeed (?) a bit about Booklikes as well, because that’s such a wonderful book community too. Everyone on my friend list probably knows about how I came to be looking for alternatives to Amazon-owned Goodreads (and likewise Amazon-owned Shelfari, and LibraryThing which isn’t owned by Amazon, as far as I know). I found several book communities but only these two feel like they’re really worth it.
Leafmarks
Actually, I’m also getting more and more fond of Leafmarks too, but it’s basically an ordinary book community, only a bit nicer than most.
Booklikes
Booklikes includes, apart from the usual, a Tumblr-like blog. At the time I signed up for Booklikes I was still on Tumblr (and on Livejournal) but shortly afterwards I was forced to leave. It was sad, because I’d been there for so many years, but I won’t compromise with my conscience so there was no question about leaving, I just had to do it.
So now at least I have my Booklikes blog (and of course Dreamwidth and WordPress, but people on my friends list must know that by now). Only a few days ago, there was a bit of uproar on the Booklikes site, because the people running the site had had to start putting ads on it. Most people were upset and were asking about adblocker (?) settings. I was just worried about the blog. After all, I can stand ads on the dashboard, but not on my own personal blog. Fortunately, I was reassured by one of the nice people who work there. They consider our blogs our personal area, and won’t use that for advertising. Naturally, they would have been well within their rights if they had, but I’m so very pleased they’ve promised they won’t put anything as ugly as an ad there.
Another thing that is nice about Booklikes is that you feel so close to the admins. If you have a problem or a suggestion, you can either chat with them, or send an offline message to them and they’ll reply to you very soon.
Libib
Libib is a bit different. You can write short comments on your books and post short messages, but my Libib account doesn’t include a blog. I don’t need another one anyway. The other day I sent in my suggestions for improvement on Libib (not that the site isn’t really great already). To my surprise only the day after, I received a polite and friendly email from one of the people behind Libib. The guy said that most of my suggestions were already on their way and that the only one that isn’t, is still being decided on and if it is approved, it will happen next year. I really hadn’t expected such a prompt reply, and it certainly doesn’t make me love Libib any less.
I must admit I love seeing my bookshelves on both sites. On my BL blog, there’s also a little shelf with my latest additions. It’s childish, I know, but I think it’s really cool.
Wattpad is another new acquaintance. Apparently, that’s where everything writing-related is happening these days. You can post both original fiction and fan fiction and you can also read lots of free books. Most people tend to publish novel-length stories, in chapters, but you can also publish shorter work. One thing that’s been stressing me out is that you need a cover for your books. Even the short stories and fan fics. It’s also a very nice feature. My stories look great with their new covers. I have decided to only post work I haven’t published anywhere else, except on my websites, so I have never needed covers for them before. So far I haven’t had any reviews or votes, but it’s fun just to know that my stories are on this site, which is visited by so many people.
It reminds me of AO3, where at least I’m getting kudos regularly, if not actual reviews.
One big advantage of all these sites except for Leafmarks (and even that, to some extent) is that you can add books in other languages than English, and post stories in other languages than English, if you should want to.
