Wattpad - GalleyCat

Wattpad Counts 10 Million Uploads

Maryann Yin — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:07:30 +0000

Digital publishing community Wattpad now counts ten million uploads.

Members of the community upload one million new pieces on a monthly basis. Back in August 2011, the site reached one million site users. Several Wattpad writers, including book blogger Brittany Geragotelis and UK novelist Beth Reekles, have landed book deals with traditional publishing houses.

In an email announcement, product marketing manager Amy Martin shared the company’s next goal: “Given current growth rates we’re only looking at another three years until we reach 129 million uploads. That’s our next target because according to engineers working on the Google Books project it’s the total number of unique books that have been published worldwide since the advent of printing.”

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Wattpad Launches Poetry Contest Named After Margaret Atwood

Maryann Yin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:23:29 +0000

Wattpad, an online literary community based in Canada, has launched a digital poetry award called “The Attys.” One winner will receive $1,000 in prize money. Other prizes include editorial feedback from The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood, tablets and t-shirts.

Poets can enter the contest as a competitor or an enthusiast. Competitors will submit a collection of 10 poems; each piece should be written in a different poetry format (i.e. haiku, sonnet, limerick). Enthusiasts will only be allowed to submit one poem. The deadline is October 31st. Follow this link for more details.

This award was named after Atwood (pictured, via), a Canadian native, who will be one of the judges for this year’s competition. Here’s an excerpt from Atwood’s welcome statement: “Poetry is at the core of each language, and language itself is at the core of our humanity. May you enjoy composing your own poems, and enjoy reading the poems of others! These are very ancient pleasures; by sharing in them, you are sharing in our own deep history.” (via The Guardian)

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Book Promotion Advice for the Digital Age

Maryann Yin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:23:56 +0000

What can writers do to promote their work in the digital age? Rob Macdonald from Scribd, Scott Weisenthal from Off the Bookshelf, Nina Lassam from Wattpad, and Debbie Stier shared their thoughts during a book promotion panel at our eBook Summit last week.

Lassam shared the example of novelist Diana Ilinca. The author will publish Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh’Nehn in June, but Ilinca developed a side story from the novel on Wattpad. After interacting with her readers every week, Ilinca built a fan base for her upcoming novel.

Stier suggested that people pay more attention to mobile devices. She highlighted Foursquare’s use of coupons and how food trucks use Twitter to announce their locations. Stier predicted that writers, especially those in nonfiction, can capitalize on similar techniques.

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