Wattpad is the most popular story-sharing platform on the web today with over 90 million registered users. The site is popular because of the possibility of fortune and fame if your story becomes popular on the site. You see for the past several years Wattpad has offered payment to stories that have lots of reads and engagement. However, they also offer book publishing and movie deals to those who become superstars on the site. Wattpad claims 1,500 stories have already been made into books, movies, or television programs. That sounds impressive until you learn there are 400 million stories posted on the site, so the odds of fame and fortune are pretty slim. 

Nonetheless, there are some steps you can take to get your story noticed but it’ll take some planning and patience. Today, I’ll be giving you some ideas on how to become a featured writer on Wattpad and I’ll even tell you how to become an influencer if that floats your boat. So let’s get started…    

Getting Your Story On One Of The Lists

If you haven’t already, go to their list page, and notice the stories that get placed in prime spots. Those writers featured on this list generally get lots of views and it’s rather easy to apply for one of those spots. However, be warned, it’s easy to apply but hard to qualify for because Wattpad has a set of requirements which I’ll post below:

  • Minimum 10,000 words to submit, or must be a completed short story or poetry collection if less than 10,000 words. Make sure you mark your story as Complete in the Story Details section.
  • Compelling stories that appeal to readers, and have their own distinct voice, style, or spin. Something you can’t put down!
  • A degree of care and quality, free of obvious typos or consistent grammar errors that make it difficult to read.
  • The same story cannot be submitted more than once within 3 months. However, you can apply with multiple stories at the same time.
  • If the story is ongoing it must demonstrate a consistent, reasonable update routine.
  • Stories in the Random category may not apply.
  • You can only apply with your own stories and cannot nominate another writer.

As you can see, you’ll have to edit your story, make sure to publish consistently, and write something addictive in one of their popular genres. Nothing to it, right? What they don’t tell you on this page is that you’ll be required to keep your story exclusive to Wattpad for an extended period of time, in 2014 it was six months but today they don’t say. So if you would like to post your story elsewhere and possibly make money with your work, you can’t do that here. This is probably going to be a deal-breaker for most professional writers.       

However, if you think you got what it takes, you have to tag your story #featured and apply here.

They do have another list called: The Hot List and that one is chosen by their algorithm and not by the editors. To get on that list you’ll have to drive traffic to your Wattpad story through social media or advertising. You’ll also have to have lots of engagement as well.     

Free Resources From Wattpad:

For those of you who are interested in how to get the ball rolling on Wattpad, they have several free resources for writers on topics such as:

Hey, Wanna Be An Influencer?

Wattpad has a program for those who are passionate about books. If you’re willing to promote their books on your social media accounts or to blog followers, you can find yourself getting perks like:

  • First look at new Wattpad Books 
  • Review copies
  • Access to exclusive promotional opportunities

Applicants must live in the U.S. or Canada and be over the age of 18. Oh yeah, and you need at least 1,000 followers or more to apply. If you think you got what it takes email them at: booksinfluencers@wattpad.com with the subject: Becoming a Wattpad Books Influencer. Keep in mind this isn’t a paid gig. You just get free books and possibly swag. You can read more here on their website.

In Closing

I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t let you know that most writers on the site don’t make it big, hell, most of them don’t make a penny. But as I said in my last Wattpad post here, there are benefits to getting feedback on your story. And even if you don’t make any waves on Wattpad, you can always self-publish your book or submit it to a publisher. That’s how most professional writers make their money with their work, not on sites like Wattpad.               

Anyway, if you found this post helpful please like and share.

And if you’d like to learn more about Wattpad, check out my post: My Review Of Wattpad.