How many Wattpad refugees?

[YaoiParadise]

I was on wattpad for eight/nine years before I finally gave up on it, because the community there is disgustingly toxic (the stories I can tell, smh) and it's extremely hard to get noticed unless you're writing the same canned cliches as everybody else.

Tapas has been a lot more welcoming and friendly. I posted as a laugh (I'd been reading comics on the site for a long time but didn't realize I could post my writing here) and fell in love. It didn't take long before I deleted my wattpad account.

I left wattpad with 3k followers I had built up over four or five years. I have more subs than that now and I've been posting half that time. I also have a lot more reader interaction than I ever did there. Readers are a lot more patient as well (which is great because it's been a rough year and I'm not the most punctual creator right now).

I'll never regret leaving wattpad for Tapas, especially with all the new changes I've seen. Wattpad is becoming what Figment used to be and we all know how that ended up...

[QueenofBabyLoon]

After 4-5 years of not having been on Wattpad, I just went, connected to my old account. Looked through the Forums. Had a gagging reflex (I don't know who their web designer is, but I am sure that is not what he wanted to make - I've heard horror stories of web designers having to face customers with zero taste).

HOW CAN THEY BE SO BLAND AND BORING?!

My Netter's Orthopaedics is more sensual and enthralling than that crap they have going on there.

And now I realize. You know, Tapas is mostly a visual arts/comics community. A comics community that makes HUGE efforts to be welcoming towards writers. But still a comics community.

And visual artists are insane in the best, most exciting, most inspiring way. They love to push societal buttons, they love to let their tongue run, they are opinionated and I love it. And that is what makes this place so exciting. They are the ones who set the pace. And we follow suite.

[ajcrwl]

I went ahead and added a ton of my chapters on Wattpad and waited. And waited. And realized that nothing was going to happen. I deleted my story from there.

I tried WP once and this is exactly my experience as well. Nothing ever happened, ended up deleting my works.

[yansusu]

Have u guys tried the Webnovel app?

Yes, and I can't recommend it to anyone.

[therealbereth]

I mean, as long as a reading app doesn't change the community, it basically does nothing for the user experience if we're being honest.

But really, I thought I was alone in my observations because there are quite a few of our queer siblings on Wattpad who seem to be fine with the people there or who try to educate others on certain issues. Me, I don't have the time nor energy anymore to engage bigots. Or overly dramatic people from the lgbt community who have been groomed to think everyone there wants to police their way of life, so they start to attack you if you only so much as utter a preference for a m/m story.

Because god forbid you are ace and prefer it when your characters develop a relationship that differs from the usual culture that we see at pride (I'm not a fan of the overly sexualized parades, even if I can understand that it must feel freeing). If you're being confronted on a regular basis by people who hate/don't tolerate you for who you are AND by people from your own community? That's when it's just enough.

[bjwebb]

You're not alone.

My current project is m/m because that's what it happens to be, but the new thing I'm working on has all kinds of different queer relationships (m/m, f/f, mmf, monogamous, polyam, ace, aro, etc.) and I've been agonizing over whether to even put it on Wattpad because I'm not sure it will be welcome there.

[silverraven0]

Was a wattpader(?), but then I got to know tapas and learn that I could upload comic and novel there, so here I am.

I very, very rarely go there to read or anything anymore.

[sevannah_storm]

I'm struggling to get into Tapas. I'm not getting a feel for the community. Which chats should I stalk?
How do I get readers to notice my novel? On WP, I could at least sign up for book clubs and contests.

[Maps]

I think participating in the forum discussions that catch your eye are a good way of getting to know the community. I recognize so many users now and I’ve only been here six months. I really enjoy the forums.

As for getting your novel noticed, I think you should definitely take advantage of the threads where you can share and promote your novel. It’s believe that it is way harder for novelists to get followers than comic artists (from my own experience... my novel has been here for 6 months and has like 70 chapters and my comic had been around for like 3 with 5 chapters and already had way more followers. Maybe my novel just sucks compared ).

Also, reading others works and supporting one another as novelists can help you gain readers and friends. It might be slow progress but hopefully it’ll be worth it later on.

One last thing, it might help to add the link to your work under your profile info in the forums. Sometimes I’ll check out peoples’ work that way.

[sevannah_storm]

Awww, thanks, Maps. Excellent advice, but before I immerse myself, one more question. Why are you on Tapas? What's the ultimate goal? (Okay, two questions )

[Maps]

I wanted to find a platform to share my story where I felt like people were actually reading and enjoying it. I don’t want to sound like I’m doing it because I want a ton of subs or anything, I just didn’t want to keep my story for myself anymore and it felt like I still was with Wattpad still since nothing happened when I posted (so I took my story down). I still felt like I wasn’t really sharing it.

I got a little feedback from A03 (I’ve kept my chapters up over there and let them know I moved to Tapas at one point. But, I think I may work on moving all of my edited chapters from Tapas and update them on A03 too since I have a soft spot for it).

But mainly I moved to Tapas because I was also interested in creating a comic (I’m very new to my IPad and web art) and Tapas has both novels and comics. So I really loved that aspect. I also love reading both comics and novels so I get a lot out of this site.

[Maps]

Oh, I should add that A03 had a ton of fanfics and I loved that the novels here are mostly originals.

[sevannah_storm]

I'm looking for an agent/publisher, so maybe Tapas isn't for me

[Maps]

Gotcha! Maybe you can make a post about this in the forums and ask if anyone has gone about finding an agent or publisher? Or if there is anyone on the site who is an agent or publisher?
I’m not so knowledgeable in this area, but I don’t see a harm in asking!
Also, Tapas does have premium novels. I’m not 100% on how they choose those...

[joannekwan]

Sometimes agencies and publishers are more inclined to pick up a story if it has a large online following. So self-publishing is still a viable option even if you want to go the traditional publishing route.

[sevannah_storm]

I was about to self-publish in June, but got an offer last night. Was just wondering if I should venture into Tapas when I'm just beginning here. Will the investment be worthwhile or should I remain with Twitter and WP.

[sevannah_storm]

Thanks, Maps. Searching now.

[joannekwan]

Well if the offer sounds lucrative enough, I'd pursue that and ask if it stipulates where you can/can't post your story.

[sevannah_storm]

I plan to unpublish it. I'm a prolific writer, too many stories, not fast-enough fingers. The one I uploaded here is a recent WIP.

[joannekwan]

Gotcha! Also I noticed you only started posting on Tap just two weeks ago, and the episodes were posted all at once. If you space out your updates, people are more likely to take notice. And two weeks is still pretty young for a series! One can't expect an avalanche of subs in such a short while.

And taking a look at your series, will it have romance in it? It might do better under the romance genre listing than sci-fi.