How I Won A Watty Award With My Debut Novel

My personal journey on Wattpad has been a crazy one for sure. I vividly remember (mostly because it was not that long ago) reading multiple different Wattpad books about how to gain reads and become famous on the platform. Back then, I think I had about one thousand reads in total and no true impact at all. It was quite a hollow feeling to realize that I might never get anywhere doing what I love most.

Then, over time I sort of gave up on getting any Wattpad fame and just started to do my own thing. I told myself to stop caring so much about the numbers, value the few readers I had and continue to work hard. And that's when everything began happening for me. Never in a million years did I dream that I'd be where I am now. Holding a Watty Award, getting paid for my writing and accumulating more than 100k reads on my profile overall. It's been a long journey, but certainly a rewarding one.

If you're an aspiring or new author on Wattpad looking for a quick way to get famous unfortunately, this isn't the post for you. Frankly because I think it's almost impossible. Success is hard work no matter how seamless people make it seem. So, if you're willing to put in that hard work share your stories with more readers and earn more personal connections on the platform, then welcome. This is exactly where you need to be.

In this blog post, I'll be helping you guys to gain that extra traction on Wattpad and bloom into a bigger, greater, more experienced version of yourself. Winning a Watty and gaining reads are two intersecting concepts so this list that I'll be sharing will consist of both elements and can work for either or both of those goals.

Oh I almost forgot! Before we begin be sure to subscribe for more great posts like this and comment what you thought down below! Okay, ready? Alright let's get started! This is: How I Won A Watty Award With My Debut Novel.

1. Perfect Your Craft

Now, by this, I don't literally mean that you should perfect your craft. We grow and evolve as creatives every single day but it's still important to make sure that the work you're publishing online is of the best quality that you can deliver at that time in your career. Because the Wattys, now more than ever, is really geared towards highlighting true talent on the platform. You have to convince them that talent is you. Now Wattpad has a whole list of things on their site that they say they're looking from but from a writer who's been there, here's what I think you need to get done:

a) Plan - Now, I'm not necessarily talking about plot here, although if you need to plan your plot, plan your plot. I'm more talking about developing a solid for you writing. I think as writer's heading into a book we need to figure out our audience, our message and our take away. You can read all about how I tackle the beginnings of my books in this post but, in short, keeping these things in mind will help to ground your book from the get-go so it's easier for it to resonate with your readers. Also, this way it's a lot harder to reach halfway and forget why you're even writing in the first place and lose inspiration. Trust me, that's a thing. I've seen it happen too many times.

b) Read - As a writer it is essential to always read. Essential, I tell you. It's hard to describe but you need to do it to sharpen your own skill. Read inside and outside your genre. Read on Wattpad and traditionally published. Read with the critical eyes of an author and with the rose-tinted glasses of a reader. Just read. So important. Can't stress it enough.

c) Write - Well, duh. Truth is the only way you can become a better writer is if you, well, write. Writing is a skill that needs constant sharpening and it's your duty as a writer to do that. Think of it as a muscle. Without regular exercise and proper training, it will grow weak and rendered useless. Nobody wants to be useless. So, constant writing must always be a priority for you if you are to truly hone your skill. Of course, you can make yourself your own writing schedule but every week you at least need to find yourself sat down (or standing up, I don't judge) jotting something down. I know for me, I always resort to the notes app in my phone to just get things off my chest and build my own little world. I suggest you find something similar.

2. Start Small

Dreaming Black Boy, a Wattpad poetry book by Matthew Dawkins.

Before I published Wicked, Wild, Wonderful I had two other books up (well, three but we won't count the first monstrosity that I never even finished). These were For My Beloved and Dreaming Black Boy, a short story compilation and a poetry book respectively. These books helped me to understand the dynamics of publishing on Wattpad and figure out my audience, my style and my writing schedule. But most importantly, it gave me a foot in the door.

For artists, they usually drop singles before and album to give themselves that presence and turn a few heads. So later when the big album drops, people would have already been interested. See where I'm going?

It's good to start with smaller books whether that be a short story, poetry book or a short prequel to prepare the Wattpad space for your writing. Now, don't get these works confused for trial and error. Remember what I said about writing the best you can at that time in your career? That still holds true. In fact, it's even more critical at this point because you don't want someone's first introduction to your story to be something half-assed.

3. Write What You Love

Honestly, readers, there are way too many cliches on Wattpad already for you to be copying someone else's work or trying to write what you think will get the most reads and blow up. Firstly, those cases are rare. Secondly, we've been there, done that. It's time for something new.

On Wattpad, such a large and overwhelming space with constant content, what makes you truly stand out is your individuality. If you're just like everyone else, chances are people will swipe away. Now more than ever, readers want to read something different and exciting. That's where you come in.

By dodging the cliches and trends, you've already begun to set yourself apart. Then, you offer your readers, your genuine voice and the best way to do that is to write a story you're truly passionate about. You'll never get sick of it and you'll always want to make it perfect. Write what you love, not what you think people will want to read.

P.S. A good piece of writing advice I've heard is to write the story you would want to read.

4. Engage With The Community

This much should go without saying but you can't expect to grow on a platform you're not even a part of. Sounds obvious, huh? But trust me, I get it, you're antisocial and you'd rather just write and have people find you. Oh, how I wish it were so. Readers won't spend hours scrolling just to find one story. Chances are, they'll just head to their library if they think they won't strike gold or exit the app. By engaging in the community, you make yourself more accessible to people because they'll see you more often. By being active, you're doubling and tripling the chances of new readers seeing you for the first time so, it really is your best option.

"But, Matthew! I don't like people. I just want to write!" *breaks down crying*

That's fine, Johnny (I hope your name is Johnny), I understand that. But trust me, the Wattpad community is the nicest set of people you'll come across. Once you start talking, you'll realize it's actually sort of fun and you won't want to shut up. You're BOUND to make new friends on Wattpad, after all, Wattpad is a community for a reason.

Where do you begin, you ask? That's the spirit! I'm glad you asked.

• Read and Vote on Other Books

• Be Active on the Forums

• Join a Book Club

Do those three things consistently and you are well on your way for Wattpad and new readers to find you.

5. The Miscellaneous

Though this is far down on the list, you CANNOT ignore this. This is so important. A lot of times writers want to grow and gain recognition and sure, talent is great and all but it is also so much more than that. Specifically, I'm talking about summaries, covers, hashtags etc. All this comes under not only the marketing of your book but also you as an author. Your writing could be spectacular but if your summary is trash, no one will want to click read. If your cover is trash, readers won't even make it to your summary anyway. And if your hashtags are poor then readers won't even find you, period.

However, the solution is quite simple. For a good summary and proper tag use, you can easily see how other more popular and successful books in your genre do it and try to find your interpretation of that. Then, for the cover if you're not a photo editing genius or if you don't have the time to learn, you can simply ask for one in the forums! There are tonnes of people willing to help!

While these things are fairly easy to solve, they CANNOT be ignored. Especially when you consider that the next book is literally one swipe away. First impressions matter.

6. Incorporate Your Social Media

Now, I have this last because I consider it to be sort of optional. I don't think you need to have a Twitter and Instagram account dedicated to your Wattpad writing but it does double your chances of getting discovered since you're on a whole other platform. The tricky part, however, is that not many readers fuse their socials and Wattpad, because of that, this whole thing is iffy. But, I can guarantee you this, Wattpad is sure to see you and if you plan to take your writing seriously, it's a must in this day and age.

Conclusion

And boom! Oh wait one more thing, patience is key. Overnight success is a myth!

There we have it, readers. If you guys want more Wattpad or writing advice feel free to comment down below some ideas and I just might make a post about it! Also, if you like this post and found it helpful you should totally click that little heart icon in the corner because it lets me know what you guys like (and it makes me feel very special too) and don' forget to subscribe for more helpful posts just like these.

Lastly, don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I occasionally rant, share music and discuss the pains of being a creator. Oh, also, I share sneak peeks of my novel and new blog posts at times too, if you're interested in that. Anyway, that's a wrap, readers! Go break some eggs and I'll see you again next week!