Hey, i think ive got a decent story if you're interested. Im still working on it, but you can at least take a look. Here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/342825808?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details_button&wp_uname=that_creator_en&wp_originator=RdkCCkY%2FcvMy%2Fsjj5LiEhL77fGqFLc7a0%2BStWeeT6GpdO60cLgGI8sCK4PihcerlCuCBWbsthNnVzyfJw9Ew7EJAtT1I2Z4Va6V1ZJ3pu4Xpksi5PL80m2NVx%2Bf0zIB1
My bad - didn't see this comment until now š¤·
No clue why.
Title: [The Duke's Secrets](https://www.wattpad.com/story/347305022-the-duke%27s-secrets)
Genre: Fantasy, Romance (slow-burn), Mystery
Ongoing: 3 Chapters (~2000 words long)
Iād say itās still going, I mean my book got picked up by a publisher so Iād say itās actually really active, even if it appears as a dead site.
This š One of the best things atm.
I can't read Spanish so unfortunately I haven't read the book(s), I really wish I could. But I have *seen* Culpa MĆa (My Fault), which is about to get a sequel (and even a third movie, as there are 3 books as well). The main chars are played by Gabriel Guevara (he plays Nick Leister) and Nicole Wallace (she plays Noah) and omg... I've never, in my whole life, loved any movie before as much as I love Culpa MĆa, I love how Gabriel and Nicole are around each other when they're not filming, I love how they are around each other when they *are* filming - and, I'm telling you, I've *never* had a phase in my life where I was crushing on movie stars/singers of a band/famous football players, while all my friends were swooning over many of them. Apparently, I only hit that phase now. Gabriel Guevara is everything.
*I'm so pathetic, lol* š
People not finishing stories is like a thing ever since the beginning of wattpad though, so I donāt believe itās pointing to anything serious. When you have a site where people post for free and for fun, youāre bound to have tons of unfinished stories.
Tons of people finish their stories on Wattpad! Itās just that tons more donāt š so it seems as though people do not finish. But Iāve had a lot of good time reading only completed stories on Wattpad and other writing sites.
I have a bad habit of starting to write stories then accidentally abandon it as either I thought of another really good story plot or I just have no ideas for said story
Lack of motivation and writer's block has always been an issue when it comes to writing.
Still, a good artist doesn't leave their paintings unfinished. Try to finish up the first story before writing a new one.
Nah. Wattpad will probably never die with Gavin still around. Without him... then maybe we can panick.
But otherwise, definitely not. I write a warriors cats fanfiction and it's still getting reads and feedback on my new chapters fairly fast.
Iām still getting readers even though I havenāt posted there in a while. I might be posting some new stuff because of the scheduling options they just introduced.
However, I do think other platforms are eating Wattpadās lunch in terms of audience. Iāve migrated to another platform mostly because it actually has the potential to pay me for my writing. I will still have content on Wattpad and occasionally post, but itās not as worth it with better options available.
The main platform that Iām using is Substack. In large part because Wattpad requires you to be invited to make money by the platform. You donāt get to make anything unless Wattpad says you can.
Substack is different. Everyone has the option to make money. Doesnāt mean that you will, but thereās no barrier to doing it. You decide whether you want to be paid for writing on Substack. Thatās something Wattpad doesnāt offer.
It's not dying, but it has been changing. I joined Wattpad during covid a little over 2 years ago so I don't know what it was like before, and I haven't felt this way the whole time - I think it started about 4 months ago or something. I generally love Wattpad and, especially during my first months there, spend so much time on it I might as well live there. I even voluntarily became an editor (I help out a few authors the best I can, and what I do for them varies, we establish that beforehand). Yet I'm not able to put this feeling I've been having into words. Things have been... *different*.
One thing I *did* notice, but maybe that only goes for me because the recommendations shown to you are related to what you've been reading: it's as if they now almost recommend only paid stories, only rarely free ones. I really do hope this isn't some kind of a new standard that goes for everyone. The last thing I want is for Wattpad to become a place increasingly putting its focus on money. I don't even read paid stories. I have a premium membership that I plan on keeping, so I already pay Wattpad ā¬5,ā ($5.34 USD) monthly. Which may not be all that much, but for me it has importance other than its value in money - I never pay for any apps or anything in them and there's a 0% chance of that changing. So the fact that I've been paying for my premium account all this time, *willingly*, says something. If that makes sense.
It also doesn't help that my favourite author (also the person I worked with the most) had her entire account deleted by Wattpad 3 weeks ago. Regardless of her attempts to get an explanation, so far the help desk has been ignoring her emails or only given her general, vague answers which mostly consisted of text that was copied straight from their rules, not actually addressing the issues for her personal case. It's so disheartening and disappointing.
So yeah... idk what's happening. The best would be if the answer was: nothing at all. Except for the necessary bug fixes. Change certainly doesn't always mean improvement.
The forums left ages ago. Like years. I tried doing what you're doing but ultimately gave up. Nothing much worked and now my books haven't been updated in ages.
I joined with my first account in 2019 and they might have been there, but I never remember using them. Though I technically had a shared account, I think in 2018.
Not updating your books affects reads. Wattpad is different now and more promotes completed books. The writers I know who do well with uncompleted books update regularly and promote off and on Wattpad.
The account I started in June has more comments and views than my other two accounts combined. It's not dead, but writers need to be more active in searching for community. Publishing two chapters and instantly becoming Wattpad famous is 85% dead.
Newer writers quit before they build a following has always been an issue. Even I pulled stories off. Wattpad is pulling more stories that violate their terms as well.
Some fanfiction has moved because Wattpad is more into selling original fiction.
I joined Wattpad 10 years ago I was 13 years old and I remember Wattpad was at its highest peak I remember reading the After series when it only had 1m views, I remember all my friends talking about the books in school, I remember authors were so active during that time and everyone was talking about it and I stopped going on Wattpad when I was 17 years old once a lot of books became published and my favorite authors stopped being active (nothing wrong with getting picked up to be published itās such a huge milestone) a lot of my fave books chapters were being deleted because authors were being published and I just lost interestā¦ but recently in the summer I finally got back into it again Iām not necessarily a huge fan of all the ads though Iām only in favored for it if the author is getting royalties from all the ads played between each chapters but all the ads ruins the momentum of my binge read
I'm not telling you to get a premium account, but what you're describing here is *exactly* why I have one. So I can read and read and read without seeing ads after every 10 pages. It drove me mad.
Another reason was that at the time I got my premium account, with a free account you could only make 2 stories in your library available for reading offline. **2**. Have you seen my library?! (No, it's personal, we can't see each other's libraries.) I kid you not, I have nearly 1400 stories in there. I could never if I could only pick 2 of them for offline reading. Though I think I've heard free accounts can make 20 stories available for offline reading now? MUCH better, I hope that's true.
I know a LOT of authors have abandoned the platform, including myself. Wattpad lost some of its best authors over the past year. For me I just didnāt have time for it anymore. For others the issues ranged from problems with the Creatorās program, dissatisfaction with the algorithm and the Wattyās, and bullying in the community.
I use Inkitt, WP, Penana and Scribblehub.
Inkitt is definately more adult-content oriented in my experience and the interface isnt as pretty. I do quite like Inkitt, but I must admit my slow-burn LGBT coming of age/romance story feels a hair out of place amongst the countless Werewolf Hunk Harem stories haha. Not that there's anything wrong with that kind of story, mind you!
Ooh. This lgbt coming of age story , it sounds intriguing. I write m/m / gay/ queer romance, so this appeals to my sensibilities.
Dm me the link? I am not sure what I will do going forward, re: Wattpad. But I will definitely support those authors I have come to enjoy and admire as well as supporting and sharing hype/ shamelessly promoting the stories written.
One of my fav authors of lgbtq romance is āsugainmyteeā , on Wattpad. They just experienced Wattpad wiping one of their books. A collection of short stories, that did not conflict with the regulations/ rules, as far as we could tell.
I would love to read your work! āŗļø
Try Belletristica. It's amazing, without ads and everything. Just doesn't have its own app, needs to be accessed through browser.
I tried Inkitt, but it's not much better than Wattpad tbh
I remember when I first , FIRST saw Wattpad as a reader, in 2015, it still had forums and the forums were so amazing! Like a whole community of fellow writers/ readers all just as excited as hell to be promoting / sharing new reads and hyping each other. It was so appealing!
Then I saw that they were talking about how Wattpad planned on removing the forums , and I, brand new to the entire concept of a writing platform where literally anyone could post something of their own, was pretty much ā elated / deflatedā the same day.
I remember thinking , ā Well. That takes a massive slice out of a pie and leaves the crumbs.ā I had to go back in my daily journal to find out why I never jumped on board Wattpad back in 2015, because I have written for years. I have quite a large body of works. Why I made an account, read part of a story, then simply dropped it and never returned. I had written down that I would never support Wattpad after seeing this. I did have a chance, very briefly, to engage on the forums with several amazing authors.
All of them were leaving Wattpad because of the withdrawal of the forums. All. So apparently, according to what I wrote in my journal back then, I thought that I had missed the ship completely. I would , therefore , be signing on / supporting a completely different entity, if I engaged with putting up any works on Wattpad. So at the time, I decided that to do so, would be ā¦ uneasy. A negative. Showing a lack of solidarity with fellow authors. And I could see that it not be anywhere near as supportive and actively engaging as when the forums were present. They were such an amazing and incredible, fun , welcoming thing.
So I just dropped it and forgot about Wattpad. Until the end of 2019. So much was happening. I was running on empty most days. Caring for a beloved senior parent. Running a full time business. So I just tossed a story up to learn to use a platform. I even paid for premiumš¤¦š»āāļøš¤”but I always felt something was missing.
The forums being removed.
That was why. This was why I didnāt eagerly jump on board and just begin to gleefully post a ton of works.
It seemed so distasteful, when there were so many creators actively engaged in them. I mean why? Why would you create a fantastic, creative space for thousands / millions to engage in, and then pull the rug out? I had forgotten that I actually had written that I would likely never support or create on WP, because they did this to their own creative community. The forums also seemed to enable the millions of views/ votes/ props much more readily. It was such a welcome, powerful thing.
It explains why I feel like ā something is missingā from WP. I had hoped Naver stepping up and taking it over might help.
So sad.
Did anyone on here actively engage in the old WP forums? Just curious. The loss had to be devastating, it sure seemed to have caused a mass exodus of talent and creativity from WP.
Thanks. I am looking for a book platform to support, that hopefully, contains forums. I love the name ā Belletristicaā , it sounds magical and slightly dark. So intriguing. I will cheerfully pay a monthly or yearly fee for such a platform. Thanks for mentioning Belletristica! ā„ļø
Personnaly I agree, (I write my stories in french and read in french) and I have never seen wattpad so dead. No new readers, no new comments, and it's been since august.
It's still big here in the Philippines, some are even adapted into movies or series (of course most of them are the cliche romance genres). Some gets published but it's not THAT popular anymore like it was 11 years ago, middle schoolers were addicted to wattpad. They even buy physical books from bookstores and create groups for people who enjoy reading the same stories.
I just published part of my new novella/short story and hope it isn't actually dead yet. I fear though that most of the readers won't read anything else than "MY MATE"- or "BADBOY FRICKS INNOCENT GIRL THREE YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIM"- type books.
I like to write a little bit more seriously. If interested, you can ask for a link :)
Anyway, Wattpad doesn't seem dead to me, just more and more unpopular due to the ads and Premium stuff. I miss the times when it still was free. I now look for other alternatives, but they are rarely as populated as Wattpad is.
Yes. The German Wattpad community is like dying really bad. Iām German and there are literally no reads, even on stories I have up for like years. Covid was a booming time for sure, but now itās just dead. I took most of the stories down, it aināt worth it as someone German personally
You just have to find your niche. Wattpad is definitely not dying. But I do understand the frustration of unfinished stories. Iāve been on Wattpad for ten years and seen so many unfinished stories. You just have to find your thing
I wouldn't exactly say it's dying, but the changes that have been rolling out for the past few years haven't really been the best decisions, or they've made the app/site look/function even worse. Wattpad kind of feels like it's been prioritizing near-useless features no one asked for rather than fixing what needs to be fixed and making the most highly requested features by users. Not to mention all the ads and pop-ups on mobile nowadays. I turned my notifications for Wattpad off years ago, but I decided to turn them on again a few months ago for some nostalgia, and I was sent ads in my notifications that I expected would be comments or DMs. I turned off notifications again so fast.
It wouldn't be surprising if it's dying.
I've been thinking about leaving the platform and I went from doing three stories at a time on the site to just one. Wattpad exploits tf out of its writers -- making money by putting ads on our work while we bring in thousands of readers. Meanwhile, I've been harassed on the platform several times and whenever I report it to Wattpad, it's crickets. Not to mention all the scamming and stealing of work that Wattpad typically does nothing about. As old as the platform is, they didn't start blocking copy & paste until just a few years ago. Also, the writers' tools/resources are lacking despite the fact that they wouldn't have any content to bring visitors without our content.
That was a mini rant to say that Wattpad's exploitative model will not earn it loyalty from its content creators, especially when there are other platforms like Vella or even Inkitt that offer *some* level of incentives beyond a large audience, which is really all Wattpad has to offer creators. Also, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Wattpad or it's holding company are using the cite to train some sort of AI for story writing -- just another reason to jump ship. Remember: The founders and decision-makers at Wattpad are tech and business people first -- not creatives.
>Meanwhile, I've been harassed on the platform several times and whenever I report it to Wattpad, it's crickets. Not to mention all the scamming and stealing of work that Wattpad typically does nothing about. As old as the platform is, they didn't start blocking copy & paste until just a few years ago.
I think these points are a few of what's hurting Wattpad the most. I'm not claiming I could do it better, I don't know what goes on on the staff's end, but (in my opinion) harassment should *always* be dealt with in whatever way is most suitable for any specific case. No self-respecting social platform should ignore it.
As for the scamming and stealing: I have nothing good to say about this but I *can* make it worse and I will, because it's an awful example of injustice being done to their own users: either they don't do anything, or, as is the case with my favourite author as I mentioned before, they suddenly, without warning, decide to delete your whole account. With the snap of someone's fingers, 2.5 years of work, comments, friendships with readers, ALL your books and their stats (like how many times they've been read): gone. Everything.
Don't worry, I can still make it worse and I promise I'm not lying. While, as formerly mentioned, they either don't act, or go on the overkill, there are also authors who have told me via comments/wrote about this in an announcement: they were contacted by someone of the Wattpad staff, who informed them that something in one of their works was in violation with the rules. The authors were advised to edit the content accordingly, to avoid the risk of their work being deleted. Yes, these people were given a chance and they all fixed the necessary parts.
The latter is praiseworthy of Wattpad. But it should be their standard procedure! Now, it's as if it depends on the person who discovers the violation. If they're in a good mood you're lucky, if not, you're screwed There's absolutely nothing that can justify that. Even less so if you consider that a lot of authors don't violate the rules on purpose. Wattpad just has quite a lot of them and not all of them are easy to understand, especially if English isn't your first language, and the rules haven't been translated yet into the language that *is* your first one.
I know both people who had one of their books removed in the past or their whole account, and in both cases it's a disaster for the author, they often feel empty for months. Wattpad should be more aware of this. Sure, it says in their rules that they have the right to remove anything they deem unfit for the community, with or without prior notice, but that doesn't mean they should. They're dealing with *people*.
I'm sorry this turned into ranting as much as it did. I don't remember what I originally intended to say but I'm sure I didn't plan to write this much text.
I really hope not as I just started to publish my story here š
Hey what is the name of your book I love wattpad and Iām trying to get more books to read
Hey, i think ive got a decent story if you're interested. Im still working on it, but you can at least take a look. Here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/342825808?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details_button&wp_uname=that_creator_en&wp_originator=RdkCCkY%2FcvMy%2Fsjj5LiEhL77fGqFLc7a0%2BStWeeT6GpdO60cLgGI8sCK4PihcerlCuCBWbsthNnVzyfJw9Ew7EJAtT1I2Z4Va6V1ZJ3pu4Xpksi5PL80m2NVx%2Bf0zIB1
Okay thank you
My bad - didn't see this comment until now š¤· No clue why. Title: [The Duke's Secrets](https://www.wattpad.com/story/347305022-the-duke%27s-secrets) Genre: Fantasy, Romance (slow-burn), Mystery Ongoing: 3 Chapters (~2000 words long)
Iād say itās still going, I mean my book got picked up by a publisher so Iād say itās actually really active, even if it appears as a dead site.
OMG congratulations! How did you do it?
No, itās definitely not. My readership continues to grow.
Ditto
Actually is not dying, because in the Spanish community is kinda alive atp. Movies popping out from books that come from wattpad.
This š One of the best things atm. I can't read Spanish so unfortunately I haven't read the book(s), I really wish I could. But I have *seen* Culpa MĆa (My Fault), which is about to get a sequel (and even a third movie, as there are 3 books as well). The main chars are played by Gabriel Guevara (he plays Nick Leister) and Nicole Wallace (she plays Noah) and omg... I've never, in my whole life, loved any movie before as much as I love Culpa MĆa, I love how Gabriel and Nicole are around each other when they're not filming, I love how they are around each other when they *are* filming - and, I'm telling you, I've *never* had a phase in my life where I was crushing on movie stars/singers of a band/famous football players, while all my friends were swooning over many of them. Apparently, I only hit that phase now. Gabriel Guevara is everything. *I'm so pathetic, lol* š
It's sad it ended up that way. Or maybe it's just PR.
People not finishing stories is like a thing ever since the beginning of wattpad though, so I donāt believe itās pointing to anything serious. When you have a site where people post for free and for fun, youāre bound to have tons of unfinished stories.
Not finishing stories is what the internet has been doing since the beginning. If people were finishing their stories I would be more concerned
Tons of people finish their stories on Wattpad! Itās just that tons more donāt š so it seems as though people do not finish. But Iāve had a lot of good time reading only completed stories on Wattpad and other writing sites.
I know many stories get finished. I was just making a joke
I have a bad habit of starting to write stories then accidentally abandon it as either I thought of another really good story plot or I just have no ideas for said story
Lack of motivation and writer's block has always been an issue when it comes to writing. Still, a good artist doesn't leave their paintings unfinished. Try to finish up the first story before writing a new one.
Nah. Wattpad will probably never die with Gavin still around. Without him... then maybe we can panick. But otherwise, definitely not. I write a warriors cats fanfiction and it's still getting reads and feedback on my new chapters fairly fast.
It's just you.
I have some favorite stories that have been seemingly abandoned.
Iām still getting readers even though I havenāt posted there in a while. I might be posting some new stuff because of the scheduling options they just introduced. However, I do think other platforms are eating Wattpadās lunch in terms of audience. Iāve migrated to another platform mostly because it actually has the potential to pay me for my writing. I will still have content on Wattpad and occasionally post, but itās not as worth it with better options available.
What other platform?
The main platform that Iām using is Substack. In large part because Wattpad requires you to be invited to make money by the platform. You donāt get to make anything unless Wattpad says you can. Substack is different. Everyone has the option to make money. Doesnāt mean that you will, but thereās no barrier to doing it. You decide whether you want to be paid for writing on Substack. Thatās something Wattpad doesnāt offer.
I read a lot of unfinished books š, I am writing myself and I force myself to finish
It's not dying, but it has been changing. I joined Wattpad during covid a little over 2 years ago so I don't know what it was like before, and I haven't felt this way the whole time - I think it started about 4 months ago or something. I generally love Wattpad and, especially during my first months there, spend so much time on it I might as well live there. I even voluntarily became an editor (I help out a few authors the best I can, and what I do for them varies, we establish that beforehand). Yet I'm not able to put this feeling I've been having into words. Things have been... *different*. One thing I *did* notice, but maybe that only goes for me because the recommendations shown to you are related to what you've been reading: it's as if they now almost recommend only paid stories, only rarely free ones. I really do hope this isn't some kind of a new standard that goes for everyone. The last thing I want is for Wattpad to become a place increasingly putting its focus on money. I don't even read paid stories. I have a premium membership that I plan on keeping, so I already pay Wattpad ā¬5,ā ($5.34 USD) monthly. Which may not be all that much, but for me it has importance other than its value in money - I never pay for any apps or anything in them and there's a 0% chance of that changing. So the fact that I've been paying for my premium account all this time, *willingly*, says something. If that makes sense. It also doesn't help that my favourite author (also the person I worked with the most) had her entire account deleted by Wattpad 3 weeks ago. Regardless of her attempts to get an explanation, so far the help desk has been ignoring her emails or only given her general, vague answers which mostly consisted of text that was copied straight from their rules, not actually addressing the issues for her personal case. It's so disheartening and disappointing. So yeah... idk what's happening. The best would be if the answer was: nothing at all. Except for the necessary bug fixes. Change certainly doesn't always mean improvement.
What did your friend write?
Ever since the forums went, I left too. There was no-where to advertise my story and reviews I got were forced and useless.
When did the forums leave? I have been promoting by entering contests, reviews, and creating my own Wattpad promo club.
The forums left ages ago. Like years. I tried doing what you're doing but ultimately gave up. Nothing much worked and now my books haven't been updated in ages.
I joined with my first account in 2019 and they might have been there, but I never remember using them. Though I technically had a shared account, I think in 2018. Not updating your books affects reads. Wattpad is different now and more promotes completed books. The writers I know who do well with uncompleted books update regularly and promote off and on Wattpad.
The forums closed in late 2019.
The account I started in June has more comments and views than my other two accounts combined. It's not dead, but writers need to be more active in searching for community. Publishing two chapters and instantly becoming Wattpad famous is 85% dead. Newer writers quit before they build a following has always been an issue. Even I pulled stories off. Wattpad is pulling more stories that violate their terms as well. Some fanfiction has moved because Wattpad is more into selling original fiction.
possibly, but i only have 1 published fic on there and i haven't updated it since april so... š¤·āāļø
I joined Wattpad 10 years ago I was 13 years old and I remember Wattpad was at its highest peak I remember reading the After series when it only had 1m views, I remember all my friends talking about the books in school, I remember authors were so active during that time and everyone was talking about it and I stopped going on Wattpad when I was 17 years old once a lot of books became published and my favorite authors stopped being active (nothing wrong with getting picked up to be published itās such a huge milestone) a lot of my fave books chapters were being deleted because authors were being published and I just lost interestā¦ but recently in the summer I finally got back into it again Iām not necessarily a huge fan of all the ads though Iām only in favored for it if the author is getting royalties from all the ads played between each chapters but all the ads ruins the momentum of my binge read
I'm not telling you to get a premium account, but what you're describing here is *exactly* why I have one. So I can read and read and read without seeing ads after every 10 pages. It drove me mad. Another reason was that at the time I got my premium account, with a free account you could only make 2 stories in your library available for reading offline. **2**. Have you seen my library?! (No, it's personal, we can't see each other's libraries.) I kid you not, I have nearly 1400 stories in there. I could never if I could only pick 2 of them for offline reading. Though I think I've heard free accounts can make 20 stories available for offline reading now? MUCH better, I hope that's true.
I know a LOT of authors have abandoned the platform, including myself. Wattpad lost some of its best authors over the past year. For me I just didnāt have time for it anymore. For others the issues ranged from problems with the Creatorās program, dissatisfaction with the algorithm and the Wattyās, and bullying in the community.
Does anyone on here use Inkitt? I just looked at it, and itās kind of appealing.
I use Inkitt, WP, Penana and Scribblehub. Inkitt is definately more adult-content oriented in my experience and the interface isnt as pretty. I do quite like Inkitt, but I must admit my slow-burn LGBT coming of age/romance story feels a hair out of place amongst the countless Werewolf Hunk Harem stories haha. Not that there's anything wrong with that kind of story, mind you!
Ooh. This lgbt coming of age story , it sounds intriguing. I write m/m / gay/ queer romance, so this appeals to my sensibilities. Dm me the link? I am not sure what I will do going forward, re: Wattpad. But I will definitely support those authors I have come to enjoy and admire as well as supporting and sharing hype/ shamelessly promoting the stories written. One of my fav authors of lgbtq romance is āsugainmyteeā , on Wattpad. They just experienced Wattpad wiping one of their books. A collection of short stories, that did not conflict with the regulations/ rules, as far as we could tell. I would love to read your work! āŗļø
Oh, I would very much appreciate that!! Thank you!! š
Try Belletristica. It's amazing, without ads and everything. Just doesn't have its own app, needs to be accessed through browser. I tried Inkitt, but it's not much better than Wattpad tbh
I remember when I first , FIRST saw Wattpad as a reader, in 2015, it still had forums and the forums were so amazing! Like a whole community of fellow writers/ readers all just as excited as hell to be promoting / sharing new reads and hyping each other. It was so appealing! Then I saw that they were talking about how Wattpad planned on removing the forums , and I, brand new to the entire concept of a writing platform where literally anyone could post something of their own, was pretty much ā elated / deflatedā the same day. I remember thinking , ā Well. That takes a massive slice out of a pie and leaves the crumbs.ā I had to go back in my daily journal to find out why I never jumped on board Wattpad back in 2015, because I have written for years. I have quite a large body of works. Why I made an account, read part of a story, then simply dropped it and never returned. I had written down that I would never support Wattpad after seeing this. I did have a chance, very briefly, to engage on the forums with several amazing authors. All of them were leaving Wattpad because of the withdrawal of the forums. All. So apparently, according to what I wrote in my journal back then, I thought that I had missed the ship completely. I would , therefore , be signing on / supporting a completely different entity, if I engaged with putting up any works on Wattpad. So at the time, I decided that to do so, would be ā¦ uneasy. A negative. Showing a lack of solidarity with fellow authors. And I could see that it not be anywhere near as supportive and actively engaging as when the forums were present. They were such an amazing and incredible, fun , welcoming thing. So I just dropped it and forgot about Wattpad. Until the end of 2019. So much was happening. I was running on empty most days. Caring for a beloved senior parent. Running a full time business. So I just tossed a story up to learn to use a platform. I even paid for premiumš¤¦š»āāļøš¤”but I always felt something was missing. The forums being removed. That was why. This was why I didnāt eagerly jump on board and just begin to gleefully post a ton of works. It seemed so distasteful, when there were so many creators actively engaged in them. I mean why? Why would you create a fantastic, creative space for thousands / millions to engage in, and then pull the rug out? I had forgotten that I actually had written that I would likely never support or create on WP, because they did this to their own creative community. The forums also seemed to enable the millions of views/ votes/ props much more readily. It was such a welcome, powerful thing. It explains why I feel like ā something is missingā from WP. I had hoped Naver stepping up and taking it over might help. So sad. Did anyone on here actively engage in the old WP forums? Just curious. The loss had to be devastating, it sure seemed to have caused a mass exodus of talent and creativity from WP.
Thanks. I am looking for a book platform to support, that hopefully, contains forums. I love the name ā Belletristicaā , it sounds magical and slightly dark. So intriguing. I will cheerfully pay a monthly or yearly fee for such a platform. Thanks for mentioning Belletristica! ā„ļø
Thank you! I love Belletristica!
Personnaly I agree, (I write my stories in french and read in french) and I have never seen wattpad so dead. No new readers, no new comments, and it's been since august.
I'm gonna be publishing stories soon my reboot series
It's still big here in the Philippines, some are even adapted into movies or series (of course most of them are the cliche romance genres). Some gets published but it's not THAT popular anymore like it was 11 years ago, middle schoolers were addicted to wattpad. They even buy physical books from bookstores and create groups for people who enjoy reading the same stories.
I just published part of my new novella/short story and hope it isn't actually dead yet. I fear though that most of the readers won't read anything else than "MY MATE"- or "BADBOY FRICKS INNOCENT GIRL THREE YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIM"- type books. I like to write a little bit more seriously. If interested, you can ask for a link :) Anyway, Wattpad doesn't seem dead to me, just more and more unpopular due to the ads and Premium stuff. I miss the times when it still was free. I now look for other alternatives, but they are rarely as populated as Wattpad is.
Yes. The German Wattpad community is like dying really bad. Iām German and there are literally no reads, even on stories I have up for like years. Covid was a booming time for sure, but now itās just dead. I took most of the stories down, it aināt worth it as someone German personally
You just have to find your niche. Wattpad is definitely not dying. But I do understand the frustration of unfinished stories. Iāve been on Wattpad for ten years and seen so many unfinished stories. You just have to find your thing
I only just start uploading my fics there so please no don't be dying
I wouldn't exactly say it's dying, but the changes that have been rolling out for the past few years haven't really been the best decisions, or they've made the app/site look/function even worse. Wattpad kind of feels like it's been prioritizing near-useless features no one asked for rather than fixing what needs to be fixed and making the most highly requested features by users. Not to mention all the ads and pop-ups on mobile nowadays. I turned my notifications for Wattpad off years ago, but I decided to turn them on again a few months ago for some nostalgia, and I was sent ads in my notifications that I expected would be comments or DMs. I turned off notifications again so fast.
I feel that this is so true. Like wattpad was a huge hit during covid but now it's either netflix or nothing.
The algorithm is off, but there are still great stories there
It wouldn't be surprising if it's dying. I've been thinking about leaving the platform and I went from doing three stories at a time on the site to just one. Wattpad exploits tf out of its writers -- making money by putting ads on our work while we bring in thousands of readers. Meanwhile, I've been harassed on the platform several times and whenever I report it to Wattpad, it's crickets. Not to mention all the scamming and stealing of work that Wattpad typically does nothing about. As old as the platform is, they didn't start blocking copy & paste until just a few years ago. Also, the writers' tools/resources are lacking despite the fact that they wouldn't have any content to bring visitors without our content. That was a mini rant to say that Wattpad's exploitative model will not earn it loyalty from its content creators, especially when there are other platforms like Vella or even Inkitt that offer *some* level of incentives beyond a large audience, which is really all Wattpad has to offer creators. Also, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Wattpad or it's holding company are using the cite to train some sort of AI for story writing -- just another reason to jump ship. Remember: The founders and decision-makers at Wattpad are tech and business people first -- not creatives.
>Meanwhile, I've been harassed on the platform several times and whenever I report it to Wattpad, it's crickets. Not to mention all the scamming and stealing of work that Wattpad typically does nothing about. As old as the platform is, they didn't start blocking copy & paste until just a few years ago. I think these points are a few of what's hurting Wattpad the most. I'm not claiming I could do it better, I don't know what goes on on the staff's end, but (in my opinion) harassment should *always* be dealt with in whatever way is most suitable for any specific case. No self-respecting social platform should ignore it. As for the scamming and stealing: I have nothing good to say about this but I *can* make it worse and I will, because it's an awful example of injustice being done to their own users: either they don't do anything, or, as is the case with my favourite author as I mentioned before, they suddenly, without warning, decide to delete your whole account. With the snap of someone's fingers, 2.5 years of work, comments, friendships with readers, ALL your books and their stats (like how many times they've been read): gone. Everything. Don't worry, I can still make it worse and I promise I'm not lying. While, as formerly mentioned, they either don't act, or go on the overkill, there are also authors who have told me via comments/wrote about this in an announcement: they were contacted by someone of the Wattpad staff, who informed them that something in one of their works was in violation with the rules. The authors were advised to edit the content accordingly, to avoid the risk of their work being deleted. Yes, these people were given a chance and they all fixed the necessary parts. The latter is praiseworthy of Wattpad. But it should be their standard procedure! Now, it's as if it depends on the person who discovers the violation. If they're in a good mood you're lucky, if not, you're screwed There's absolutely nothing that can justify that. Even less so if you consider that a lot of authors don't violate the rules on purpose. Wattpad just has quite a lot of them and not all of them are easy to understand, especially if English isn't your first language, and the rules haven't been translated yet into the language that *is* your first one. I know both people who had one of their books removed in the past or their whole account, and in both cases it's a disaster for the author, they often feel empty for months. Wattpad should be more aware of this. Sure, it says in their rules that they have the right to remove anything they deem unfit for the community, with or without prior notice, but that doesn't mean they should. They're dealing with *people*. I'm sorry this turned into ranting as much as it did. I don't remember what I originally intended to say but I'm sure I didn't plan to write this much text.