Authors who want to make quick money are better off with regular self-publishing options, but of course there are other attractions on Wattpad for authors with quality work on offer.
Launched in 2019, Wattpad Paid Stories added a new dimension to the online-reading site that boasts 90 million monthly users.
This month comes news that Wattpad Paid Stories has now delivered over $1 million in royalties to participating authors.
Per the press release, Wattpad Paid Stories has seen “explosive growth”.
But let’s temper the hyperbole by noting that we’re talking here just 550 authors contributing 750 stories. Not unimpressive, but hardly explosive. Rather, the explosive growth comes in terms of the reception by Wattpad readers:
Users have spent more than half a billion minutes reading Wattpad Paid Stories, and now average nearly 30 million minutes each month reading stories in the program.
For context, the free-reading element of Wattpad clocks 23 billion minutes of reading each month, so this is small but important step towards financial security for Wattpad authors.
Jeanne Lam, Wattpad’s Chief Business Officer said:
Wattpad is committed to helping writers around the world share their stories, grow their fanbase, and make meaningful money from their work. Wattpad has democratized storytelling, and with a growing number of ways for writers to monetize their work, Wattpad is the best place on the planet for writers to take control of their careers. We’re excited to continue supporting authors with Wattpad Paid Stories, creating new opportunities for writers around the world in 2021 and beyond.
Okay, lots to take with a grain of salt here. A tiny, tiny fraction of Wattpad authors make any money at all, let alone meaningful money from their work on Wattpad, and “taking control of their careers” is a stretch given access to Wattpad paid Stories is curated, not a free-for-all.
Authors who want to make quick money are better off with regular self-publishing options, but of course there are other attractions on Wattpad for authors with quality work on offer.
Again from the press release:
At Wattpad, there are a variety of ways for writers to make money from their work. Wattpad Paid Stories offers an important new model for writers to make money from their work directly on the platform, alongside opportunities to secure TV and film deals with Wattpad Studios, publishing deals with Wattpad Books, and sponsored brand collaborations.
Check out the OP for more about individual authors doing well with Wattpad Paid Stories.
For regular authors and publishers the real story here remains the global scale and reach of Wattpad (the Amazon Kindle store is not even visible in much of the world) and Wattpad’s core Generation Z audience.
See past TNPS posts for more:
