First I will explain what Wattpad is and why writers utilize this platform.

Wattpad is a place that connects both amateur and professional writers with readers on a community-based platform. It's a social media platform where writers can learn, grow, and share their work freely with a community without losing the rights to their stories. Each writer has a different goal for writing on Wattpad. Some wish to be seen by publishers while others just may enjoy writing and the community Wattpad offers. Many of us make great friends on Wattpad, I have and I appreciate every one of them. Of course, a few bad seeds may find their way to our profiles, but I'll cover them in a little while.

Wattpad offers promotions, contests, and even encourages readers and writers to create their own contests. As writers, it's very hard to be found in Wattpad so these activities are very important to some of us. There are over 90 million registered users on Wattpad and each book is competing against hundreds of thousands if not a million other books to be seen by readers. That doesn't mean writers are competing against each other, it just means when we publish a book and we want it seen, it has to climb the ranks before it can be found easily by a reader.

This means there are some amazing stories on Wattpad with very little reads. The number of reads on a story doesn't determine how good the book is, it just means it's either had some exposure where others may not have seen as much exposure. This is why nobody should ever base a decision to read a book on the number of reads it has gained.

One myth that needs to be extinguished is that Wattpad is only for young readers and writers. While it's true the majority are Millennials and Gen Z, it's certainly enjoyed by many generations. Actually, I have noticed Wattpad does a great job joining people together of all generations. My target audience is 18+ and I'm lucky enough to have gained readers of all these ages. I have readers that are young all the way up to their eighties. Each and every one of them has helped me in many ways and I enjoy their comments and interaction. So, don't be surprised when you stumble across readers enjoying their retirement and reading the same stories you may enjoy.

Readers come from all over the globe. Wattpad is based in Toronto, Canada and I've had readers from just about everywhere, which just might be my favorite part of Wattpad. I'm in the United States, but most of my readers come from across the world from me. What else could a girl from small town America ask for in a community? For that reason, Wattpad is perfect for me.

Feedback is very important to most writers. They learn from it and it does help them grow. Many want a career as a writer and readers help them along the way. That is the case for most writers, but not every writer. Some writers just want to share their stories and not receive any negative feedback and that's okay too. I will also get into this a little further down the road.

As most of you already know there are quite a few published writers here on Wattpad, but there are also movies made out of our stories, isn't that exciting?

Next, I will talk about the reader's role here on Wattpad. How you can help and why you see writers asking for reads, votes, and comments.