New profile design shows off your reading world
Reading and connecting with others is Wattpad’s specialty, and today we’ve updated our mobile apps so that’s even easier. The new design focuses on 3 things: helping you get to know other Wattpad readers and writers, making it easier to browse and share reading lists, and letting you quickly post feedback on your favourite stories. Today we are rolling out this new profile view to 5% of our iOS and Android users, with remaining users getting access throughout the month. So, keep an eye out for this fun visual update.
The Mystery and Thriller Genres Now Join Forces
We’re excited to announce that on April 2nd we’ll be combining the Mystery and Thriller categories into one larger genre called “Mystery/Thriller”. It’s all about simplifying the way readers find their next great story. To celebrate this new genre, we’re going to be showcasing awesome Mystery and Thriller works already on Wattpad, and we’ll need your help to find them. Tell us about your favourite Mystery-Thriller story on Wattpad or share your own stories with us through whodunit@wattpad.com. Stay tuned for some goosebumps and some gasps…
Doctorow Opens Up to Wattpad
Science fiction author, blogger and journalist, Cory Doctorow is well known for promoting open copyright. And, we’re happy to announce thats he’s brought his books to our open platform. Even though his stories Homeland, Little Brother, and Pirate Cinema talk about a future where managing digital rights is tricky, and file sharing is prevented – at Wattpad you can feel free to read and share Cory Doctorow’s greatest works. So go ahead and explore these featured stories from Cory Doctorow.
Brazilian Writer Proves A Good Story Knows No Borders
Lilian Carmine (pen name) joined Wattpad hoping some people might enjoy her story idea. And, it turns out they did! Her hit The Lost Boys didn’t just engage a few readers, it was poured over more than 20 million times – making it one of our most read stories ever. So when a UK publisher asked if Lilian could come by to meet them, they were surprised to find out that she lived in Brazil. Lilian speaks Portuguese, writes in English, lives in Brazil, and has connected with millions of fans all over the world. It turns out a great story knows no borders! Congratulations to Lilian on her unique path to success and to all her readers for discovering this rising talent.
Because People Still Judge a Book by its Cover…
This week we’ve made it even easier to write, publish, and go, without the stress of feeling like you have to be a cover artist too. The new Wattpad default cover design showcases you; your Wattpad profile picture is now the basis for some nifty algorithmic artwork that creates a clean visual icon for your work.
Of course you can always use a custom design of your own, or create one using Wattpad’s friendly cover generator when you’re uploading your stories. So keep writing and reading, and let the cover art take care of itself.
Spreading The Love With Marian Keyes
If you’re staying in this Valentine’s day, you’ll definitely want to snuggle up with our brand new lineup of ChickLit stories! This week, we partnered with globally renowned author Marian Keyes to officially welcome the ChickLit genre to Wattpad. You can read Marian’s stories for free, connect with hundreds of other heartfelt plots, or even start writing some ChickLit yourself. So forget the chocolates, the flowers, and the dining – all you need is a good story.
Your Fans are Now Your Followers on Wattpad
Wattpad is a place where readers and writers can build personal connections through great stories. With these connections, our users find out when new stories are posted, when someone puts a story in their reading list, or when users invite each other to keep in touch.
This social concept of subscribing to another person’s activity is becoming more familiar to users of online services as “Following”. Since we are continually working to make your experience as intuitive as possible, we’re changing the term on Wattpad from “Fan” to “Follower”. This allows for a clearer representation of what our users are doing online, and it’s also a term that works better for our international community who are reading and writing in over 24 languages.
The nature of your relationships on Wattpad won’t change. You’ll follow your friends, favourite writers, and people you want to support. You’ll continue to get instant notifications from people you follow. So keep reading, keep connecting, and follow those you want to get to know better!
Wattpad Open House 2013
On Thursday January 17th, Wattpad opened its doors to welcome in over 160 friends including writers, and readers and other folks from the Toronto tech scene. We celebrated a successful 2012 (which included surpassing 10 million uploads!) and presented our adventurous new work space. With our team now over 40 people and continuing to grow, this is actually our 4th office in under 3 years. The night was filled with conversation, neon orange cupcakes, locally brewed Toronto beers, and inspiring words from both Allen and Ivan. Thanks to all of our guests for being a part of this celebration. We look forward to many more to come!
Wattpad Celebrates 6 Years
On November 5th, we celebrated Wattpad’s sixth birthday! Our team is already three times bigger since last year, and still growing! Join us, and find out more about life at Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/life.
