Wattpad 101: Your guide to the world of Wattpad

You're Worth It

This is a tough problem for people, and it's one I'm addressing because it's one you often don't think about. Everything in this world has value. Everything you create in this world has some intrinsic value. Its value might be quite low, as in some rant blog that is only read by three people. Some things that you create might become incredibly valuable, like After, a fan fiction that exploded into a Wattpad phenomenon.

There is another part of that value, and that's understanding what that value is worth to you. I'm not particularly good at doing this, which is exactly why I'm writing a chapter talking about my experiences with it. Understanding your worth, and the value of what you produce, is a very difficult concept to grasp. 

What am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about selling yourself. I'm talking about not just putting your work out there, but putting your work out there with a value attached to it. I'm talking about expectation. I'm talking about rewards. I'm talking about what you're trying to accomplish by creating content. 

For any content creator, this starts to become important almost as soon as you put your work out there. It only becomes more important the longer you go. You can only go so long convincing yourself your doing something just for the thrill of it. Eventually, you'll actually want to consider making a life out of creating content, and at that point it becomes an absolute necessity. What you make has value, and at some point the time and effort you put into making it should have some kind of payoff.

On Wattpad, the payoff usually comes in gold stars, follows, and comments. For most teenagers and young writers, this is sufficient to keep them writing and distributing their works. I've honestly been a bit surprised when I've faced pushback from this idea. Some readers seem to think authors as some emotionless automaton there just to pump out work for their enjoyment. I've met resentment and open anger at the idea that consumers owe their content creators anything, that if a content creator wanted to create content badly enough, he should just be happy with the drip-fed appreciation he is generously given, and shouldn't expect or deserve more.

Nobody does any action for absolutely no gain or benefit. This is simply human nature. Content creators are not absolved from this rule. Content Creators create content because they want to share their ideas. Yes, they do it because they like it, but what they like are seeing people respond. What they like are knowing their words had an impact on someone else's day. Whether through comments, read clicks, stars, or long-lasting friendships, it's silly to suggest that content creators don't want or expect something out of the time and energy they spent creating their work.

And don't let the negative nancies bring you down, your work DOES deserve something. You put time, effort, and brainpower into it, and if someone consumes it, you deserve something. If you do it good enough and long enough, sometimes... that something even becomes money.

I've advertised it a few times in the past that I had opened up a Patreon account. Patreon is a website that allows consumers to reward and support content creators by donating money to them. My account actually got some support, and for the longest time I brought maybe $30 a month in as long as I kept producing content.

The first I'd like to mention is that after I had been receiving this money for a bit, I decided to start taking that money and putting it back into my fanbase. I went to fiverr, a website where you can hire artists on cheap jobs, and I began to pay for images. I got professionally drawn covers for some of my novels. I created illustrations. I started taking some of my books and turning them into nicely organized pdfs. Basically, I started investing in my writing career.

My account started increasing in Patreon money. I wrote more content. I made new pdfs. I set goals. I broke $100 a month. Then $200 a month. Recently, that account exploded and now I'm making a shocking amount of money. I won't say I striked rich, but lets just say I'm making a good sum for what essentially is a side hobby.

But here's the thing... even now, I don't think I deserve it. I almost feel like I'm extorting the fanbase. It's like "Haha.... Don't these guys know I suck? What suckers for giving me so much money!" When I tell people I'm distributing a book, they always seem to list off a number far higher than my own. I would have sold my pdfs at $1 each... yet some people seem to think they're worth $8-$15!

Even now, I feel like I need to pump that money back into my writing. I feel like people are going to realize how much of a fraud I am, and realize they wasted their $5 donation on me. It's a feeling I have as 32 yo man, so it's a feeling I imagine is even worse in an insecure teenager.

Now, I'm not writing this chapter to advertise or brag about my success. I'm also not including the link to my patreon page. Wattpad readers have never been big donators from the get go, and to be honest, I detached most of my writing from Wattpad a while ago. I still write, but a lot of what I write is very niche and not the kind of stuff I'd post on here even if I wanted to.

No, the reason I'm writing this chapter is to put that feeling in perspective. It's a feeling I'm guessing everyone has, and it's a feeling I have myself. There are people in this world who overcome that feeling with ease. These "sellers" are capable of selling even the smallest most insubstantial thing and making themselves sound like a total boss. Let's face it, there are people with crappier books than yours who have already made a career.

The difference between you and them isn't that their book was good (it wasn't), it's that they had the confidence to sell it and demand value for it. They sold it with confidence in their work (some might say shamelessly and underserved), which they used to push their books out the door, to advertise them on facebook feeds, to push them until their name was known enough.

This chapter regrettably can't tell you when you're ready to publish, nor can it tell you when you're ready to start asking for money. I had completely finished 3 books and half-finished a dozen manuscripts before I had the guts to ask for money myself. Meanwhile, I've seen others immediately ask for money after dropping the first chapter. I've seen people get that money too!

I just want you to understand one thing. You set your own value. The only difference between a designer purse and Walmart purse is the designer put confidence and value into their work, and when you buy it, you're buying they're confidence that their purse holds up. If it does hold up, then that consumer will never feel guilty for consuming your content. If it fell apart, they're going to feel a bit angry.

So... as you become a better writer, build up your confidence and consider the value of your work. Your work is worth something. It's up to you decide how much it's worth, and perhaps more importantly, understand your worth so you can take that value and sell it with confidence. And if you take nothing else from this, just understand one thing. You're worth it. 

Good Luck, and Happy Writing!