Tips & Tricks to Writing on Wattpad

5 Tips on Getting More Reads

5 TIPS ON GETTING MORE READS
a lot of people requested this, so...

1) The Basics
These are a) things I've written tips on [check parts after this] or b) things that are kinda obvious.

1.1) The Summary
There is a whole part on this.

1.2) Your Beginning
There is also a whole part on this

1.3) Grammar and Spelling
Make sure your grammar and spelling are, at the very least, decent. Use spell check, please. It'll take, like, five minutes, and make a big difference. If I see a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes in the first chapter, I probably won't read on. Even if the plot is amazing. I just can't stand it, because grammar and spelling mistakes distract me from the story.

1.4) Formatting
See 3 on 'Grammar Mistakes that Drive Me Insane'. Make sure you put in spaces. Giant blocks of text are really scary, and confusing, and hurt the eyes.

1.5) The Plot
Make sure your plot is original, and interesting. It can have cliche elements, but make sure it's not cliche, after cliche, after cliche. Throw in your own twists. There are two parts on this.

1.6) The Title
Your title should be interesting, and not something like a fact or question. 'OMFG The Alpha Rejected Me!' isn't really a good title. Something like 'The Alpha's Reject' is better. It's cliche, yes, but it's a lot cleaner, and idk, professional [?] than the first one. Don't use text talk, or punctuation in your title. I would also suggest not making a question your title. It's best to keep your title decently short (Less than 10 words, definitely) and not too generic. Don't just call your story 'love' or 'war' or something like that.

1.7) The Cover
There is a whole part on this.

2) Be Active

Be active on Wattpad. Not just in writing, but in other things too. Post in Clubs, help people in the 'Improve Your Writing' Club, join rants in 'The Cafe', start a graphic thread in the 'Multimedia Designs' Club if you like doing that kind of stuff. It's not a guaranteed way to get your story reads, but you can interact with other writers and readers. If you can (and please don't talk to people just to do this), you can slip in a note about your story. Not flat out 'Hey, check out my story please!', but if you're talking about cliches, you can say something like 'Oh, in my story, I take this cliche and try to make it original', or whatever.
Or if you can design graphics, you can ask for a comment on one of your stories as a payment. I'm pretty sure that's still allowed.
In the Improve Your Writing Club, you can exchange critiques with people, or if someone needs help with a title, or summary, sometimes they'll offer a look at your story for help.

You should also do your best to reply to your fans. You might not be able to reply to everything, like I usually don't with some comments, because then I'd be saying the same thing to everyone, but I do best to reply to questions, or requests, and the like. I try especially hard to reply to anyone who inboxes me within a week or so.

Also, vote, comment, etc other stories! I'll admit, I usually don't do this, 'cause I don't have Wi-Fi when I'm reading, but if you can, do your best to support your favourite authors. Vote on their stories, leave comments, add to your reading lists. It's not guaranteed, but they might notice and look at your stories, or something. Or if you like making graphics, you can make covers or banner for your favourite stories. You might not get anything but a 'thank you' in return, but seeing them use them is pretty satisfying. It also means more exposure, if they dedicate to you, or mention that you made it.

3) On Promoting

DO NOT EVER COMMENT ON SOMEONE'S STORY WITH 'Please check out my story! {insert link here}', it is extremely rude. Unless they ask for it in their bio or somewhere else, don't message or comment on their message board, asking them to check out your story either. It will get on people's nerves.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, how do you promote your story? With the Share Your Story Club gone, it's kind of hard to. The best way to promote your story is number 2, be active. You can also look for accounts, or people who have 'promoting' books.  Also, agree or volunteer for any interviews or reviews. Enter the Watty's, and other contests. It won't guarantee you reads, but it's more exposure, which means more people seeing your name/story, and they might check you/it out.

If you want reads and comments, for sure, try exchanging critiques with people. But if you do this, hold up your side. Don't give a bad, generic, three line critique if they give you a paragraph. If you're going to exchange a critique with someone, make sure you actually do. You might think it won't make much difference, but it does. Usernames can get around, and if I ever see anyone who didn't go through with their part of the deal, I stay away from their threads.

3.5) On Appearance

Be nice on Wattpad. That might sound obvious, but I'm going to say it anyway. Reply to questions, say thank you and please, etc. A little goes a long way. If you get in fights or insult people often, you'll get a bad reputation, which might make people stay away from you.
Also, make your profile clean. Use spell check on your bio. I know, it's just a bio, but it kind of reflects on you, as a person. Don't use too many exclamation points, or text talk. Include a bit about yourself, but not a whole essay. Have a high quality background and profile picture. Be funny, be nice, don't insult anyone, the obvious stuff. Just imagine if your family or friends found your profile, would you be proud of it?

4) Goals and Rewards

Set goals for your stories. I don't mean 'Give me this many votes and comments, or else I won't update!' because people usually hate that. You can do something more like 'If I get [reasonable goal here], I'll update three days early!'. Or teasers. I used to always put teasers for the next chapter at the end of chapters to drive people insane. I would also put questions to try and make them comment more. Things like 'Why do you think [character] is [something]?'
One thing I always do is give out dedications. If someone leaves a nice comment, BAM, Dedication for you! Or if they make me a graphic, I'll dedicate a chapter to them. So, I would sometime put at the end of chapters 'Nice comments get a dedication!' A dedication isn't much, but [for me at least], seeing that someone dedicated to me makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Give out dedications as a reward can make people comment more.
At the end of chapters [in Summer Rain, at least], I would also put when I would probably update so people would know when to expect it.
Another thing I did was put something like 'Vote/Comment/Fan if, [you like this character, you were surprised, etc]' to try and get people to be more active.

5) We All Say This

There is no way to really get popular on Wattpad.
I'm sorry, but there isn't.
Unless you want to pay people to read your story or something, and even then it's not guaranteed.It's really if you get lucky.
I got lucky when my story got in the Watty's.

But whatever you do, don't stop posting. Post once a week or so. It'll put your story at the top of the 'What's New' list, and might even put you on one of the genre lists. Every time I update this book, it jumps ten spots on the Non-Fiction book.
Don't stop writing. You shouldn't write just for reads and popularity. I know they're things that make you feel great inside, but you shouldn't stop writing just because you're not getting as many reads as you hoped to get. It doesn't mean your writing is bad. There are amazing books with less than a hundred reads and uh, iffy, books with over a million. Wattpad is a weird place, the reads don't always reflect the quality of writing.
So keep writing, and hope for good luck.

Hope this helped, at least a little. Like I said, there isn't really any set way to get reads and get more popular.
Next Tip: Making Clichés Work

~JJ :)

PS. shameless self-advertising [because I'm actually kind of proud of this story]
Pretty please check out my story The Trouble with Love?
Summary:
  
❝The higher you go, the harder you fall.❞
      Elena Evans has always been the observer. No one notices her, but she sees everything. She's a master at reading body language, at noticing what other people are trying so desperately to hide.
      When Elena's approached by the Elite, she figures it's just for the secrets she knows. After all, the Elite are exclusive. They're rich, beautiful, famous- they don't let just anyone in. Then she finds out that she's been chosen to take part in their sick, twisted game.
      She must make Ashton Sinclair fall in love with her in three months- or the secrets they keep might just kill her.

External link or go to my profile ---->

PPS. There's another way to promote your stories. On your other stories. c;