How to write like a Pirate, Get readers, and other inspirational crap

Know you Audience. Covers, Tags, and Descriptions.

This is a very critical role in writing. And this is a long chapter. Everything should revolve around this. But let's pick a place to start.

The first thing anyone will ever see is your cover. I have a couple of critical things points to make. One, YOU SHOULD HAVE A COVER! If you have Wattpad then you have access to the internet. Go to Google, search Images and select anything, literally anything! And slap some words on it. 

If you don't want anyone to read your story the BEST WAY TO KEEP READERS AWAY is to have no cover or one that looks like a child with a crayon could do better. For the love of readership, if you want people to read you book and it's not a bio of some kind, then don't have a cover that's a picture you drew of something on lined paper. I don't care how 'good' you think it is.

You have access to literally every picture on the internet, slap some words on one of them and click update.

I have nothing against amateur artists, or writers. I love them actually, it's why I want to be a teacher. But there is salesmanship in being an author or an artist. The cover is the first thing your reader will ever see. There is research to be done but here is something to think about it:

Who is your audience?

"Everyone" is not an answer. Neither is 'as many people as will read it'. You'll never hit any of the targets you don't aim for. Who do you want reading your story? Teenagers, Kpop fans, Otaku's, soccer moms, Christian grandma's, children, boys, girls, men, women, romantics, adventurers, fantasy nerds, sports freaks. Maybe you thought about it or maybe you didn't, but having a big breasted anime girl on your cover is going to get a different kind of attention than a photo of two people kissing or a dark wolf close-up.

Know who your audience is and sell your book to them with your cover and description.

People looking for a cute anime book will look for something with an anime cover with bright colors. While someone looking for a gritty werewolf romance will pick something with a dark cover. Someone who just wants to read a fanfiction romance with their favorite actor or actress will look for a cover with a cute picture of that person.

Want some tips? Go to your local bookstore and take a walk down their aisles. Or go to amazon and scroll through their book section.

Romance novels aimed at women will have a lot of handsome shirtless men. Mystery novels will show the location, murder weapon, or a close up of something. Children's novels are all bright colors and easy to identify characters. Fantasy teen novels have dark colors while school girl drama books are bright pinks or pastels with girls standing in a school hallway. Horror novels usually have something scary or ominous on the cover.

Think about who your audience is and plan accordingly or those people will never even see the description of your book let alone read it. How can anybody judge if you're story is good if your cover is crap, attracts the wrong audience, or is nonexistent? Say what you will about uniqueness or the novelty of having a cover you made yourself. But what good does it do you if it scares away the people you want reading your story?

(If you are an amateur artist and a writer I have this to say, coming to you as a double major going for Art and English degrees. It is nice that you want to do the cover art for your book. It's cute. But there are place for amateur artist and artwork on the internet, deviantart, instagram, tumblr, and facebook. Just to name a few. It is a bold move to try and do both on wattpad but it is frequently the wrong move. You have to prioritize one or the other in some fashion. You will probably sacrifice potential readers by posting amateur art as your cover, or you may satisfy the ones you already have. But you have to make that choice yourself.  I recommend searching your feelings on who your audience is or who you want them to be. As an "Amateur" artist and writer you have little to no following so no one is going to come out of the woodworks to read your material. If you desperately want to do both, I at least recommend building your audience with an internet image search cover and making your own for book 2 or later when you have completed the book and are doing your finishing touches. And most importantly avoid cellphone camera shots of pencil drawing on wide-ruled lined paper like it is the bloody plague.)