What is Wattpad?

I put together this button for my blog today (Note that this isn't a working button - the working button can be found to the right of my blog). Before I coded it up for use, I asked for constructive criticism on it since I plan on creating a bunch of them and using them for several jobs around the blog.

Anyway, one question that I get a lot is:- What is Wattpad? Since I plan on taking this blog in a slightly different direction, I think it's time that I answer this question right here on my blog.

Wattpad is a rather cool place where authors and readers gather to do what they do best - and that is write and read books. It comes as both a website and an app, so you can read while you are on the move as well as when you are in front of your computer. The app even allows you to write updates on the go, too... though you'll need an internet connection in order to publish your updates.

Many of my friends write and publish their work online for a living. Wattpad isn't like that though, because you don't get paid for the work you publish... but it can be a great resource for getting new books out there for a number of reasons. You don't have to wait to get feedback on your books in the same way as you would if you were to publish your book in the traditional way, you can get people talking about your book even before you decide to publish it as a traditional or Ebook, or even use it as a place to post teasers of books that you have already released traditionally.

As far as Wattpad goes, there are a lot of aspiring authors out there who write some truly remarkable work - and there are a few well known authors out there too (I'm not going to sit there naming them - you'll have to look for yourselves). My point is that it doesn't matter if you are a world renowned author or if you are lucky to get a poem published in the local newspaper - if you have a story to tell, then Wattpad is the place to tell it.

On a personal level, I've been writing off and on over there for 10 months now - and I love it. I know that I've had my ups and downs in my writing career over the past couple of years, but they have been related more to things outside of Wattpad rather than issues with Wattpad itself. My main issues have to be my own self confidence - but I intend to conquer that one way or the other.

What I like about Wattpad is that you don't have to write to read others' stories any more than you have to read to write your own stories - you get to be as involved or uninvolved as you want. I also like that you have the freedom to update as much or as little as you like. I currently have 6 books that I'm working on published (and many more in progress that you can't yet see). I have the freedom to write and publish a complete book, or I can take the more popular route of uploading a chapter at a time until I complete the book.

I also have the ability to edit the story in most any way that I choose without any issues - and no editor to tell me what I can or cannot have in my book, since I am my own boss.

If you'd like to join Wattpad, you can do so here:- https://www.wattpad.com - please tell them that BeckFletcher referred you in the box provided on the form.