Hello lovelies,
First of all, I'm so grateful to KellyAnneBlount for inviting me to be a part of Wattpad Block Party. You all know she is a wonderful writer but I think she is a wonderful human too. Kelly has done a great job by creating this place where writers get more recognition and she deserves praises for this.
Let me introduce you myself, I am S.G. Sonysa (sonysa) author of "Broken Hearts". It was my first ever book published on Wattpad. I never thought it would get so much recognition and readers would relate to the story.
Broken Hearts is not a cliché story. It has lots of drama, twists and turns, and the raw emotions of characters. There's obviously romance and love, and a few heart wrenching scenes here and there. I called it a rollercoaster ride for readers.
I published the book four years ago here and later, it caught the attention of readers then it secured the 2nd rank in Romance. I noticed how rapidly reads are increasing like I posted a thank you note for 19.M reads and 711k votes and a month later it was 21M reads and 784K votes. Now it has 21.8 M reads and 809K votes (I know it's crazy). Fast-forward, the followers, reads, and votes increased with each day. Recently the book got published and it's available on Amazon.
One stormy night, I realized that I must be doing something right to receive all the support and love from lovely readers here. So today, I'm going to share my experience and give you some tips on how to catch the attention of readers.
Before I start giving you the tips, I need to ask you a few questions.
1. Do you want to write but you don't know what to write?
2. Do you have a written book or chapters in your draft that you want to publish but you are too scared to do that?
3. Do you have an idea nagging in the back of your head but you don't know where to start?
If any of these questions are running in your mind then trust me you are at the right place.
Let's start!
The 1st question that comes to your mind is: What to write?
1. Pick a topic. (Anything you like)
2. Think about the plot and climax. (These are the important things)
3. Write the summary of the whole story that you want to develop into a book.
4. Pick the characters. (Think about their personality and write it down)
Then start by writing something that you would like to read. Don't try to make it too perfect and look for grammar mistakes because that will distract you. You will start self-doubting yourself and eventually, you would give up on writing and finishing the chapter. So the first tip, don't try to find your own flaws and errors before creating anything.
The 2nd question that comes to your mind after writing a chapter: Is it perfect to publish?
Well, read the chapter again and again. Then relax and let your mind soak it. Think about the story and the concept that you want to convey. Now I am 99% sure, a new or better idea would pop in your head. (Don't get panic! It's not a whole lot of work you would need to do.)
Write down that idea and think if you can arrange it in the chapter you wrote. Can you make a small alternation and adjust the new idea in it? If the answer is yes then do it (YEAH!). But if that's not the case then don't worry, I got you lovelies.
Write the new chapter. (Don't roll your eyes at me! It's a hard work for sure. But trust me, it will be worth it).
Then check your spellings and errors. When you are done, another question will pop into your mind. (I know we cannot control this mind. This thing is wild.)
The 3rd question that comes to your mind: Should I post it now?
No, you shouldn't post it. (Hey! I'm not being rude). You need to make sure a few things are perfect before jumping into the place where a bunch of popular authors is living in a glory.
1. If you are not comfortable in exposing your real name then create a pen name that would be your username. Your username or account name needs to be unique (Please don't use SpongeBob). The name must relate with your real name and show some kind of connection to your personality. If you are confident enough to use your real name then go for it. (I'm not stopping you, just going to highlight advantage and disadvantage here.)
The advantage of using the real name:
* You wouldn't need to change it if you get published. You wouldn't have to start a whole new journey to make your readers recognize you by your real name.
The disadvantages of using your real name:
*Your neighbor, the annoying cousins, your banker, the pizza delivery person, and gods know how many people you have met in your life will know who you are *insert evil smile here* and what you are writing.
*There will be no secret adventure going behind closed doors that would make you look mysterious.
*The people you know can hit you with the message like this, (Hey! Update the chapter. It has been a week now and I know you are not that busy).
That would be really awkward. You don't want to offend them so use a pen name and be secretive about this thing.
The advantage of using a pen name:
*It makes you look mysterious and you can live your life without getting yourself into any dangerous situation like people invading your personal social media space or using it to their advantage. It's the thing that only you know and not anyone else. They cannot pretend to be you because your name is your password (I hope it's making sense).
The disadvantage of using pen name:
*You are getting publish and you don't want to use your pen name anymore. But people recognize you with your pen name. So you have to start a new journey to make your real name known (drill into their head) and you might lose some readers because they don't recognize who you are.
Cover:
2. Make an attractive book cover. (Please don't post the chapter or your book without making the cover of your book. (It's a criminal act!)
Your book cover should be simple. You don't need to make it fancy. The title and your name need to be clear and bold (easy to read).
Tags:
3. Tags are very important. Without tags, the right people wouldn't be able to reach to your work easily. So add the right tags that would make it easy for readers to find your book.
4. Write a good, eye-catching and attractive summary. (This is really important so don't skip this part).
The 4th question that comes to your mind is: What will happen if I publish my work now?
Your mind will tell you not to publish it because you feel scared. Questions will start bombarding your mind. You will start thinking about what will people say? Would they read it? Would they ignore it? What if they didn't like it? What if no one will press the vote button even after reading it? (Oh, the horror you feel there!). I can understand buddy, its natural so don't be scared. Hold my hand and let me lead you there. (Very poetic *insert the cringe*).
Don't listen to your mind! Close your eyes and press the bloody publish button! (I hope you hear me yelling in your head when you do this).
Open your eyes (Don't make that horrifying face).
Congratulation, you've published your very first chapter! (I'm sighing here).
Now, make sure that you have actually published the chapter and it's not all for nothing. After that, log out from your account (yes, you are reading it right).
Logout from your account and don't check every minute how many people are reading it. (I know that's a big step but you have to do it, buddy).
Then after two weeks write a new chapter, polish it and login into your account to publish it. Publish a new chapter and take a look at how many reads you have received in two, three weeks.
Now, you wouldn't see much reads and votes. (Don't worry, it's NORMAL!)
The 5th question that comes to your mind is: Should I keep posting chapters when I am not getting the response I deserve?
Yes, dear, keep them coming. Publish chapters more frequently and give people an idea of what the story is about. People will start reading your work, some sweet soul will vote and some sweet soul will just read and keep coming back to read more. Some sweetest soul will give you feedback.
Read what they want you to improve and try to do that. (It's called learning).
The most important thing is to learn how to differentiate between constructive criticism and criticism.
Example of constructive criticism:
Hey, I noticed some spelling errors. If you improve these things the story would be great.
Hey, I think the girl needs to be strong enough in these circumstances. You should show some character development here.
I see you have a great plot but please improve the structure of your dialogues.
(I know it pains you to read this. But you should take notes and work on making yourself better. Take these feedbacks positively. It will help you improve. Don't be rude to your readers).
Example of Criticism/Poor behavior:
You shouldn't write at all!
Your story sucks!
You're the worst writer!
You shouldn't be on wattpad. Your work is awful. This is the worst book that I have read on wattpad!
You can find comments like this or even worse than this. Some worthless people will even go so far and call you names.
(Ignore their living existence because they have nothing better to do with their life than pulling other people down with them. They're heartless and I call them online bullies. They bully you and try to make you feel useless so don't listen to their BS).
Block them mercilessly!
The 6th question that comes to your mind is: How to promote your book and get reads?
First, you can always promote it in the club here on wattpad. Pick the club keeping the genre of your book in mind. EX: I write romance so I will promote it in Romance club. Leave the summary of your book there and wait for the response.
You are not going to magically become popular in the mass of thousands of well-known writers here. So please wait and give your readers time to read your work.
I know waiting is the worst part. Honestly, it takes years to become recognized. It doesn't happen overnight. Wait for it to happen and let the readers get to know you.
Some dos and don'ts for new writers:
Dos:
1. Follow people. (Don't unfollow them after they follow you back).
2. Advertise your books in clubs.
3. When someone follows you back, write a small thank you note and ask them to check out your book. (Be polite and make sure you are not sounding demanding).
4. Read more books to keep you sane. (Seriously just because you are writing, it doesn't mean you should stop reading. I call it exploring).
Don'ts:
1. Don't message people asking them to read your story. (This is the worst mistake you can make in the start of your writing career).
2. Don't ruin the comment section of other writers' popular books by leaving a comment for people to check out your book. (This is so clingy and annoying. You wouldn't be able to develop any sort of good relationship with any other writer here if you would do that).
3. Don't be demanding and advertise your work on any writers profile board. (That's really bad).
4. Don't waste your time on advertising and write more and more chapters. (It will help you in the long term. People will have a variety of books to read when they visit your profile).
So here it ends! I hope this helps you all and you enjoyed these tips. These are the few things that are the highlights to get you where you deserve to be.
You guys can follow me here:
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