How Wattpad Makes Reading & Writing More Social + Anna Todd Giveaway #AfterSaga

I participated in this sponsored campaign on behalf of One2One Network. All opinions are my own.

My friends who are writers often ask me if I have a book in me. Meaning, did I want to write a book?

“No,” used to be my immediate answer, but now I’m not sure.

I love writing and want to write a book someday. I’m just not sure about what. Or when I’ll have time to do it. That’s a complaint I hear often too. We’re all busy: husband, kids, work, housework. It’s tiring to juggle all of those things. When do I have time to write a book?

Like any big goal or dream, breaking it down into small steps makes it more manageable. What if you just wrote one chapter at a time? Or published it? You can do that on Wattpad, a social media platform for readers and writers. The best part, the stories are free to read and there’s no cost to publish.

Usually writing and reading are solitary experiences. We sit in bed and read. Or we sit in the corner of a coffee shop and type our stories. Readers can give immediate feedback or plot suggestions to writers. Some even create fan art or music  inspired by stories on Wattpad! It’s a great way for writers to test out new ideas before investing time into a whole novel.

I love how serialized stories are making a comeback. Charles Dickens is well known for his serialized publications, where readers received monthly installments of his fiction like The Pickwick Papers. Instead of waiting monthly for installments to arrive in the mail, Wattpad can send you instant notifications when your favorite writer publishes a new chapter. Did you know that Margaret Atwood also publishes on Wattpad too?

Writing 15,000 words for a novel sounds intimidating, but I think I can manage one chapter at a time. You never know what might come out of it? Author Anna Todd is one Wattpad’s big success stories. She started writing One Direction fan fiction using on her smartphone when she wasn’t working her call center job. Every few days, she published a new installment about young Tessa and her on-again, off-again relationship with Hardin Scott, inspired by One Direction singer Harry Styles.

Her story After received over 1 billion (BILLION) reads on Wattpad. Readers left over 6 million comments (many of the 1D fan girl variety). Now Todd has a 3 book publishing deal with Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster (with 1D members’ names changed, of course). Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to adapt the story for the big screen.

Anna Todd’s experience might sound like a Cinderella story, but success stories like hers are becoming more common. As the leader of the virtual book club From Left to Write, I see self-publishers writers like who attract the attention of traditional publishers. Publishers are looking at unconventional places for new works to publish. A built-in social media following (like on Wattpad)  is a major draw for them as well.

I haven’t read After yet, but readers are very passionate about it! You can listen to an excerpt and grab a copy of After. Even after her big success, Anna Todd is still writing. You can follow her on Wattpad, Twitter and Instagram.

Has her story inspired you to jump into writing on Wattpad? Can you imagine how much writing we’d get done if we just wrote a chapter a week?

Giveaway: Win a copy of After and After We Collided (books 1 & 2)! Leave a comment below telling me if you read and/or write fan fiction. Or if you don’t, what do you like to read? I’ll draw a winner on January 2nd.

Winners will be chosen via random.org and contacted via email. Winner must respond within 24 hours to claim their prize. U. S. addresses only (no P.O. Boxes). I’m Not the Nanny is not responsible for lost, late, or misdirected packages.