Interviews on the Literary Fiction Network

Round 1: Ben Sobieck

We're happy to speak with Ben Sobieck this week who is a published author of titles such as The Writer's Guide to Weapons, a Wattpad Star best known for Glass Eye and When the Black-Eyed Children Knock and an industry insider, working with a publishing and media company that releases books, magazines, television shows and digital content. His gritty, metaphysical and psychological crime thriller, Cleansing Eden: Kill Your Idols is featured on our reading lists. 

Thank you for your time Ben. You're one of the Wattpad Stars on our Literary Fiction Network; congratulations on your successes. How has the experience been so far? How has the Stars program helped you as an author?

First, it showed me what the future of writing could look like. The Wattpad model is so different, so disrupting, that on the surface it sounds nuts. Why would any self-respecting writer participate in this site? How could a site like Wattpad keep the lights on and pay its own employees?

The answers I received via my experiences with sponsorships and features and ad shares proved there are ways to do all of that. That put me on a new road in my writing career. I look at opportunities in other areas differently. I think about whether a deal on the table will still be viable when this new paradigm Wattpad is championing takes over in the coming years. To be frank, I've turned down other opportunities because I don't see them fitting into this new future. Make no mistake. What Wattpad is doing now is brilliant. It's like poking your head into 2018 or 2019 or 2020.

On a more practical level, being a Wattpad Star meant taking advantage of the new Wattpad Futures program, which will turn reads on my stories into money. I'm not going to dress that word up - money - in some other way, or dismiss it as being last on my priorities as a writer. It's not. I want to pay my mortgage with my writing. I bet a lot of other writers do, too. And you know what? Wattpad is going to help writers get there with these ads. That's why Wattpad will succeed.

Indeed, the future of writing is very much changing. From your understanding of the industry as an insider, especially pertaining to Wattpad's model and your own experience, what advice would you give to an online writer looking to move into the publishing/published stage of their career?

If you're on Wattpad, you're already ahead of the curve. I wrote a piece for Writer's Digest that just went live where I explain this wider industry trend, but reading it isn't necessary if you're already reading this.

If a Wattpad writer wants to transition into being a traditionally published writer, I'd encourage that person to think like a publisher or agent. What do they need? They want great stories, yes, but what do they need more than anything else? Despite the artistic window dressing, they need to make money. That's why they have those jobs. On the surface, they will say "no" to a query for literary reasons. Below the surface -- on conference calls with their bosses, reviewing spreadsheets with budget goals to hit and creating marketing plans -- they say "no" to writers because they don't think a "yes" will make them any money.

Wattpad writers are at a distinct advantage in that they can demonstrate their stories have legs before the book hits shelves. A loyal, built-in readership equals dollars to publishers and agents. That's one less marketing campaign they have to pay for. That's one less uncomfortable call they have to have with their bosses to justify publication expenses. That's one more chance to hit that year's sales goal.

That's why you see celebrities "writing" books that get picked up in million-dollar publishing deals. It doesn't mean those celebrities are better writers than someone with an MFA. It means that the publisher can make more money off of that book versus a collection of poetry.