The vast majority of the chapters I've put in this book have always been focused on improving specifically as a writer. In general, I've dedicated a sparingly few chapters to purely Wattpad help, despite this book being called Wattpad 101. There are a few reasons for this. One reason is that Wattpad is always changing. Half of my advice in this very book no longer applies, as it referred to conditions and features that did not exist when I wrote it.
The other reason is that although my start was on Wattpad... I never really got very far with it. I've never moved from that lowkey popularity of 1000 followers to the 5-, 6- or dare I hope 7-digit varieties (1 million fans).
I've tried a hand full of books, and while I know what essentially must be done to get a book popular, I've already built a fanbase elsewhere, and haven't felt like it would be worth the cost/reward ratio that I've had to start factoring in as all of the work I could do piles up.
However, a commenter recently gave their opinion on some of the things someone must do to grow a fanbase on Wattpad, and I realized that while I've written chapters like this in the past, I've never flat-out made a list focusing purely on how to get reads as a starting author.
I believe a LOT of readers who look at my book were looking for this answer, and it's probably a good idea to explore what it takes to start to build a fanbase on Wattpad. I'm going to move this chapter near the front of my book because I think 9/10 Wattpaders want to know this over any writing advice. It's about time this book earns the name Wattpad 101.
So, the question? How do you get your story to grow from 0 readers on up? These are seven points that were suggested by another writer. I've dedicated them in this chapter, as I will be using their points and expanding on them with my own experience. Some of these points I've made before, but I've never put them all together quite like this.
1) Make a Good Cover and a good summary.
I have a chapter on illustrators and book covers that you're welcome to read, but one of the main points I tried to get across is that a good cover matters. I've had to argue with some people on this point, as they will insist that as long as the story is good, covers don't matter. After all, take fanfiction.net, which doesn't have any covers, yet some works can still get thousands of views.
First off, fanfiction.net writes fanfiction. By very nature, that is copyrighted material. That's why they avoid covers. Furthermore, the people attracted to those writings are almost certainly being called by the IP (intellectual property) the story is based on, which likely do have tons of covers.
A good book cover will go a long way toward selling your book. I've always strongly felt that my support of covers and willingness to spend money to make them is part of what has elevated me from a generic web novel writer to the "popularity" I currently have.
I will also add a second point, the summary matters too. This is something I fail in a lot. I will often just depend on my story to be good to attract people, and I'm pretty sure this causes a lot of people to miss the stories I write. Personally, when I look through stories, I will often pass stories that don't have a complete summary or whose summary is vague and generic. Why would I assume anyone else does anything different?
The first thing anyone sees about your book, and the only thing that will get them to click on that first chapter, is the book cover and the summary. This is your shot to get them to click on yours out of a long list of stories they are glancing through. The better and more eye-catching it is, the more people you'll catch.
As to how to make a book cover that looks great, or how to write a summary... I've had some chapters on this, and I also think your best bet is to use the community here and ask. Do surveys comparing 3-4 summaries and have people pick the one that they like the most. Try out different summaries and see if your readership picks up. I'm going to say more about this later, but this is going to take time. Nothing will give you instantaneous success.
2) Have a constant and steady release schedule
I can not tell you enough how much having a reliable release schedule makes a difference. Indeed, 9/10 readers will never notice that you release exactly on Sundays... but anyone who becomes a fan will start to notice and rely on your once-a-week release. Naturally, the faster you release, the more chances you have to catch people's eyes. Every time you release, you end up being moved to recent releases, giving yourself another shot at catching a reader. Release daily, and your work is going to go across a lot more eyes than if you release monthly.
It's important to be reliable. You want to turn your readers into fans... and the best way to turn them into fans is by forcing them into a habit. Xian Xia and Wuxia's are a type of Chinese web novel which often has 1000+ chapters. Many of them will be released (or at least translated) one chapter a day. Many people will start the story, read in 300 chapters, and then join what is lovely called the "chapter-a-day club". A part of their lives becomes set around waiting until the next chapter comes out so they can read a bit farther in the story. It's their routine, and entire cultures build around it just like a tailgate party.
This is a thing that doesn't exist for novelists, but when it comes to web novel writers... this group of loyalists is exactly what you'd like to achieve. You want people eagerly waiting for your next chapter... and you want to be able to deliver that chapter on time.
Once you start missing those deadlines... and releasing unreliably, you'll break people's drive to read your story... and your fanbase will quickly scatter.
Books have DIED because of this mistake. Not just books, movies can die too. You might have a story that is super hyped... but that hype can only last for so long. The longer you delay the movie, the more the hype will die. That's why a movie that came out ten years after the last one isn't going to be as popular as a sequel that came out within a year or two. In terms of Web novels, that hype is even shorter.
For example... there was a time where I was writing Vampire's Kiss... and it exploded in popularity. It was extremely popular and is a lot of the reason I even reached the 1k+ club. Had I been able to keep writing that story at the time... I have no doubt I'd have 10k to 20k followers right now. However, at the time, I wasn't the writing guru I am now, and I couldn't make it a schedule. The result? Vampire Kiss who? Even if I put all of the chapters out today and then released the next chapter... I would never get HALF the views I would have gotten when the story was in its prime.
The answer isn't to strike when the iron is hot... it's to keep striking steadily and never give up. You're never going to know when that iron will "get hot", but as long as your striking away at a constant rate, you're going to make it.
3) Remind People to Vote
I also have an entire chapter on this concept. In the end, I think my conclusion was that if you wanted to remind people, it doesn't hurt, and it's up to you which you want to do. However, recently, I think my opinion on this might be changing a bit. This comes mostly from my view of youtube channels.
Subscribe and smash that button! It does help the channel!
If you watch youtube, you've probably heard these kinds of words. According to these channels and their analytics... asking does help overall. People just don't think to do it normally, and will just keep going on and on.
The trick is not to ask in an invasive or annoying way. Don't hold back chapters or threaten readers. Your release schedule should not depend on how many stars you get. However, a line at the end of every chapter, done reliably as if by rote... really will help.
"Please vote and comment if you like this story. It will help it get seen and I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!"
Something like that at the end of EVERY chapter, with either a line or bold text so it isn't confused with the story... would be all you need. Will it work? 99-100 times, no. People will just come to ignore it. It will just be background noise. However, 1/100 times... you'll get that one more vote. When your chapter is at 1000 reads, that's an extra 10 votes... which then helps it get seen by more people, read by more people, and voted by more people. In the end, it really does help.
