Getting Recognized: Reads, Votes, and Followers

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Getting Recognized: Reads, Votes, and Followers
For your first book, it will take quite some time for readers interested in your style of writing to find you. And thus, it will take time to get reads and/or votes.

My first book took over four months to hit a thousand reads, despite updating it every day and having it fully posted by the end of the second month. Don't get discouraged, even the mighty oak tree started off as a tiny nut. Then it took three years to get knee high.

More writers won't get much traction until they complete 3-5 books. As time goes by, several things make your book more easily found:

- word of mouth from those who read it and liked it.

- your book will be in more reading lists and easier to find.

- your book will start appearing more often in recommendation lists.

- any other advertising or marketing or social media efforts will also start paying off.


How can you get more reads?
For an in-progress story, this is hard. Fewer than 10% of books on Wattpad are ever completed, so many readers won't touch a non-completed story.

Post more chapters. If you have 5 readers and 5 chapters, that's 25 reads. But if you have 5 readers and 30 chapters, that's 150 reads if they read each chapter. There's a big difference between 25 and 150.

Updating regularly might convince readers that you have what it takes to finish the story. You can further entice them to return with things like a compelling plot and excellent spelling and grammar.

Readers are also more likely to try an in-progress book if there are more than 20 or 30 chapters.

Otherwise, it's simply a waiting game until your book is completed, which will open up a few more options.


Once your book is completed, more possibilities open up:

- You can enter mini-contests (search 'contests' in the Wattpad search bar). (Check the rules as they vary by contest, and I also suggest looking to see if the people holding them have successfully completed past contests).

- Join a Book Club. (Search 'book club' in the Wattpad search bar - there are also quite a few in the discord groups listed farther down this page) Remember to check if the club is active and also look at the rules since they vary by club.

- Look for a read-for-read book on Wattpad. Ask to make sure it's still active and that the person agrees to the read-for-read before starting your part (some people are inactive and won't see your posts).

- Join a reading list collaboration. This is where people come together and make reading lists with each others books to boost visibility. There's not many around, although Dreamland has one called the Dreamlist Collective.

- Advertise on Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Yeah, I groan when I hear those words too. It's probably been two weeks since I last logged into mine.

Tip: Make a social media account just for your books and author stuff. Not sure what to post? Try putting a weekly reminder on your phone to post a joke, meme, or cute/funny cat/dog picture. Then you can intermittently add author or book stuff, like when you start a new story or complete one. I know some authors who built their entire following off of social media. Just like finding readers on Wattpad, it takes time to be found on Social Media as well. (Also look for Wattpad-focused Facebook groups where people might ask for books, such as 'Wattpaders', 'Wattpad is Life', or even just search 'Wattpad' on Facebook to find others).

- Join a Wattpad or Writer discord channel. There are quite a few out there:

             · Dreamland: A Wattpad book-club-based server with 700 or so members. discord.gg/TekeVs7

             · Wattworld: 1.7K users. The largest Wattpad discord. Lots of Wattpad ambassadors and such here. discord.gg/2RSgecq

              · Literary Lounge:  a lot of non-Wattpad people, but if you're after a broader look at authors, it could be a worthwhile one to check out.  discord.gg/UD7t7pN

- Wacky Writers forum similar to the old Wattpad forums with readers, writers, editors, cover makers, etc. (forum.wackywriters.com)

- In all honesty, the biggest thing you can do is write. The more books you have, the easier you are to find since people will slowly add your books to their reading lists and recommend them to friends. You'll have more chapters and more books, which leads to more reads.

- You can also apply to Wattpad for Story Featuring (make sure you submit your best-edited work for this one!): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScn-UbAXaxC4LcjPDYTz5sjuYjeRegZuXc4Sr6Epl9HWIZlIg/viewform

- There are a few editing books saved in my Odds and Bobs reading list, including a very detailed guide on how to get reads.

- Wattpad provided this resource on how to build your audience (among other things): wattpad.com/writers/resources/build-your-audience/

- I made a chapter in this guide where I allow writers to post their stories. (I go over this more below, but do not advertise your story on anyone else's profile or story unless the author explicitly requests it.)


Votes

Votes are a bit harder to get than reads. Most readers don't realize the value of a vote, so anything above a 10% voting ratio is unusual (and can be a good or bad thing, depending on how long your story has been posted).

You can put a small reminder at the bottom of the chapters (roughly every 3-10 chapters) asking for readers to vote. If you keep it polite, they will be more likely to oblige you.

You can add something as simple as: 'I hope you liked this chapter! If you could support me by clicking the Vote star in the corner, I would greatly appreciate it!'

Some readers are so captivated the story that they forget to vote, so these occasional reminders help them. Don't be offended if they forget. If they are that engrossed in your story, it means they are enjoying it – isn't that why you started writing in the first place?

PS. You cannot 'sell' or 'trade' votes. This is against Wattpad policy, so there is no 'vote for vote' like there is a 'read for read'. It may not be heavily policed, but if you're looking at becoming a big writer, people are bound to notice such a 'cheating method'.

Besides, it wouldn't be a true reflection of your work or your progress. You will be more proud if you succeed the right way.


Readers can only vote once, but they can read the story as many times as they like. Each re-read will make the read count go up, although re-readers are unable to help with the vote count. Which means a vote ratio is not a reliable judge of a story if you have a lot of re-readers.

And, no, an author only gets one read count on each of their own chapters once it is published – no matter how many times he/she reads that chapter. In drafts mode, the reads will go up. Sometimes a glitch will allow the reads to carry over into the published chapter.

(There is another glitch where the vote star will no longer show the vote - but rest assured - the vote is not lost! This glitch actually allows a person to vote a second time.)

So having a low vote ratio isn't really a bad thing - especially if you start seeing comments about people reading it again. They liked it enough to come back! That is a huge accomplishment! Out of the millions of books on Wattpad, they came back to your book!

I will tell you the truth, you don't have to advertise your story for people to find it. Regular updates, good grammar/spelling, and simply being active on Wattpad will eventually bring readers to your story.

Will it take time? Of course! Everything takes time, including good writing.

We just have to be patient, and while waiting, we can polish up our story summary, chapters, and write more books for the readers to enjoy.


Be active on Wattpad
I cannot stress this enough. Be a regular part of the Wattpad Community. Reply to your readers, participate in the clubs, read other people's books, leave compliments or constructive feedback (if the author is open to such things).

Once people start reading, voting, and adding your book to their library/reading lists, it slowly spreads like a fire in dry grass. It may take weeks to even begin to smoke, but once the fire takes off, not much will stop it.

Several of my books hit the top ten in the category ranking system even though I never told anyone about them, never advertised, or did anything other than regularly update my stories and interact with readers who left comments on my stories.

Readers usually love responses. I had one reader tell me that she fell off of her chair when she saw I had replied to her compliment. She was stunned, happy, and it made her day – and it also made mine when she told me about it.


Followers
People tend to follow others for various reasons. Sometimes it's to keep track of an author they like, if they're hoping for books, etc. Some will do a follow for follow. Some follow in exchange for favors, such as shout-outs, dedications, cover making, and other things.

The more people who add your books to their library, or follow you, the more easily others can find you and your books. Followers can be even hard to get than reads, but they slowly accumulate over time.


One big don't: As per Wattpad etiquette, do not, I repeat, do NOT, advertise your story in someone else's story, unless the AUTHOR has asked for recommendations. It is considered extremely rude, although many new writers don't realize this (It's also against the code of conduct you agreed to when joining this site: https://support.wattpad.com/hc/en-us/articles/200774234-Code-of-Conduct).

Many authors I know will instantly mute a person who does this. If that authors happens to be a Wattpad Star or other influential writer, having those mutes on your file will be black mark against your acceptance into any Wattpad programs.

If another reader asks for recommendations on someone else's story, then send them a private message with your suggestions (click on their profile picture, and then click on the Message button).

I have made a chapter further on that allows such advertising, but please only do so in that chapter.

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Author's Note:

Let's try this out... :)

I hope you found something useful in this chapter!

If you could click on the vote button, I would really appreciate such support!

(Fun fact: this chapter has the most votes out of all the chapters in this guide!)




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