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✦ 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐓 ✧
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Here you can get help with marketing your stories to increase visibility and get more readers! Below are some ideas for marketing your stories both on and off Wattpad that I've utilized and have found success in, as well as some tips on what not to do when marketing your story. Please feel free to share any ideas that I've missed or tips for how to utilize them more effectively!
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✦ 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐏𝐀𝐃 ✧
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✦ 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃; Posting story updates to your message board is the obvious and easy way to market, but it can be effective because it reminds your followers about your stories.
✧ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒; Utilizing tags is another obvious tip but one that I think often gets overlooked. When creating tags, you want to be exhaustive and to think outside the box. The more tags you have, the more likely your story is to show up in a search (but make sure that they're relevant to your story). I recommend searching different tags on Wattpad to determine which tags are more popular so that you can know which ones to use for your story.
✦ 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑; While they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, it is the cover that catches the eye, and with the tens of hundreds of thousands of stories on Wattpad it's important to stand out. Now, this doesn't mean that you need to be super skilled at editing to make a good cover. In fact, simple is often better since the icons are small. As long as it's clear and unique, you're good to go! There is a list of resources for creating covers later in this book if you'd like more help with this.
✧ 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄; Similar to a cover, a title also helps a story to stand out. The more unique the title, the better, because this is what readers are going to search for when looking for your story so you want to make sure that it doesn't get lost in a long list of other stories. This is more relevant for fan-fiction, but another way to increase visibility with your title is to include the name of the fandom or the name of the love interest in the title. For example, my story "001" is titled "001 - [ Steve Harrington ]" so that it pops up when people search "Steve Harrington" and so that it catches the eye of those looking for Steve Harrington fics.
✦ 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘; Same with the cover and the title, the summary is one of the first things readers see when clicking on your story so utilizing it effectively is a good way to reel readers in. Most readers only give summaries a cursory glance, looking for key words that stand out to them, so you don't want to make your summary too long or you may lose their interest. It's also a good rule-of-thumb to avoid language that is too flowery or too complex in the summary for the same reason. If you're struggling to narrow down your summary, you can provide an extended summary on the first page of your story, but it's generally beneficial to still include a brief summary on the outside due to the high volume of stories on Wattpad (as readers are more likely to scroll through the search list than to stop and click on the first page of every story). Alternatively, if your summary is too short, it may blur together with other stories the reader looks at because there's not enough information for it to stand out.
✧ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍; Part of increasing visibility for your stories is increasing visibility for your account and you can do this by interacting with other users. Whether it's following other accounts, messaging, or responding to announcements, there are numerous ways to do so. But perhaps the best way, in my opinion, is to like and comment on other users' stories. If they see that you're reading and supporting their story, they're more likely to do the same for you. Plus, if you have particularly entertaining comments, you may draw other readers of that story to your account.
✦ 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓; This may be the hardest tip to follow, but remaining committed to a story and seeing it through to completion is another way to increase your reader count. Having the "completed" check-mark next to your story is a huge selling point for readers. Regular updates, especially on a set day every week, also help to increase your reader count because it keeps readers engaged and increases visibility on your story by helping it to climb higher in the tags.
✧ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒; Another way to increase the visibility of your story on Wattpad is to enter it in contests! The Watty's is the big one on Wattpad but there are also several user-run contests that happen every year. Even if you don't win, you still get your story out there and many contests provide feedback so you know what to work on for the next contest. And if you do win, you may even get a sticker for your cover to indicate to readers that your story is an award-winner, which is a huge selling point!
✦ 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃-𝐅𝐎𝐑-𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃; Some users will do read-for-read's, which is where they'll read your story if you read theirs. Generally this will be listed in their bio or you can find books where you can sign up for such.
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✦ 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐏𝐀𝐃 ✧
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✦ 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌; Creating an Instagram account for your Wattpad account is a great way to increase visibility for readers outside of Wattpad! Tons of Wattpad users have Instagram accounts and you may find new people to follow or to follow you! I use my Instagram account to post OC biographies, story playlists, and announcements for new stories.
✧ 𝐓𝐈𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐊; Creating a TikTok account for your Wattpad account is another great way to increase visiblity for readers outside of Wattpad. This option requires some video-editing knowledge but it's fairly quick and easy to learn! I use my TikTok account to post edits for my stories.
✦ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐁𝐄; Similar to TikTok, this is another marketing option that requires some video-editing knowledge but with the right resources, it's quick and easy to learn! I use my YouTube account to post trailers for my stories.
✧ 𝐀𝐎𝟑; Cross-posting your story on other platforms is a great way to increase your reader base because it'll reach a larger audience! Alongside Wattpad, AO3 (Archive of Our Own) is another huge story-publishing website. I also post my stories on there!
✦ 𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐑; Tumblr is unique for marketing your stories in that it offers both a story-publishing and a social media aspect. Like with AO3, you can cross-post your stories on Tumblr where there's a large audience of readers, and like with Instagram, you can also share posts and updates about your stories.
✧ 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃; Joining a Discord server with other writers can be beneficial in multiple ways. Not only does it allow you to market your story, it also enables you to make new friends and to get help with your story. There are multiple Discord servers created by Wattpad users that you can join, or you can even create your own and share it with your followers!
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✦ 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓'𝐒 ✧
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✦ 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓...post your story on other users' message boards without first getting their consent. This can become annoying to other users because it clogs up their message board and hides important announcements they may have made.
✧ DO NOT...advertise your story on other people's stories unless asked to do so. It takes away focus from their story which is very rude.
✦ 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓...direct message other users multiple times to read your story. Generally, marketing through messaging is more annoying to other users than it is effective; especially if it's a user you don't follow and/or a user whose stories you haven't read.
✧ 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓...assume that just because you read someone's story that they will read yours. While reading other users' stories is a good way to increase the likelihood of others reading yours as mentioned above, nobody owes you reads.
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✦ 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ✧
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If you have any questions that I didn't address above or would like to add your own tips about marketing stories on or off Wattpad, feel free to leave them here! ➔