Should you post on Wattpad 2022?

I've been on the platform for well over ten years now. This might not come to you as a shock, given the rising popularity of the platform over the years. It's attracted thousands of writers who still contribute to the site's library and has garnered around 94 million users- 5 mil of which are writers.

If you're not aware of the site, here's a short overview:

Wattpad is an online publishing platform for readers and writers alike. Published stories are original works and users are able to build an audience and community through votes, comments and reads on their work. The major age group Wattpad pulls in is 13-30 year old's.

Wattpad allows readers to access books for free, except for those included in the paid program. These books, selected and promoted by Wattpad, allow writers to finally earn money for their writing.

If you're curious about Wattpad, here are five reasons to post on the site.

1. Strong community + Building an audience.

Posting your work on this site boosts your chances of building an audience. With the extremely high number of users, you are in a better position to make friends and talk to people about your work or similar interests. I'm extremely thankful for my readers and are the reason I've grown confident to be sitting here, writing articles like this one today.

Readers are able to leave comments, suggestions and critique on your stories. If they love it, they'll add the book to their library to continue later.

And a feature called 'Reading Lists' help promote your work on their profiles, thus bringing in more readers and attention.

2. If you want to practice.

If you're looking for a safe place to practice your craft, Wattpad is a great place to do it. I've been on the site for over a decade now and while I didn't always plan for it to be a long-term thing, I ended up practicing a lot more because of the support and motivation I received along the way.

Writing a book for the first time can be extremely daunting. Being able to assess my progress and having fun along the way, really helped me in staying consistent with my passion.

3. Watty Awards & Paid Program.

Almost every writer would like to make some money from their work. There's nothing wrong with that. If you already have a strong idea for a book or have a manuscript typed out, you may want to post it and submit for either: Wattys or the Paid Program.

The Watty Awards are an annual contest on the site. Winners win opportunities like promotion of their book and a publishing deal with Wattpad Books.

It's a cool and fun concept and the results are brilliant books being posted all over the site. It's good fun and encourages new writers and experienced ones, all the same.

4. It's free.

The best thing about Wattpad is that despite their paid program (which aids their hardworking writers btw), is that the rest of the site is free. You can still find so much to read on the site and there's no limit to how many stories you can post.

I find the platform easy to navigate and uploading my work is hassle-free. You also get to post cool covers for your books which can really help your work stand out!

5. They actively try to get rid of copyrighted material.

Can someone steal your work posted online?

If they reallyy want to, they'll steal it from any site you post on. Luckily for you, Wattpad does try to combat this by:

1. Cannot copy published work directly from the site (protected).

2. Filters out copied work from their site.

Online writing will always have a risk attached to it. In fact, posting any kind of 'work' you own online, has the potential to be stolen.

While there are ways to seek sites to remove stolen work, it depends on you if you're okay with the struggle.

Personally, I feel safer on Wattpad with my work than anywhere else. But that's just me speaking.