Writers and Readers! Which communities are best?

[peach]

I want to start this off by saying I am not a short story or novelist writer myself. I draw comics.

But recently I have become interested in reading conventional stories more too And I know there are a lot of original stories online, things maybe to enjoy while I'm still in a bad Covid spot and have to stay indoors a lot.

So I was wondering, to the writers (or just anyone who enjoys reading), what places have you enjoyed the best readership and overall community? Here on Tapas? Wattpad? A03? I know all places surely have good quality stories, but I'm wondering if one is more friendlier than the other in terms of author/reader interaction? Or with the most variety?

Basically, any thoughts on sites that host stories? You can tell me about your experience as a writer on them, if you want!

[Black_Conscious]

what places have you enjoyed the best readership and overall community? Here on Tapas? Wattpad? A03?

I haven't really ventured outside of tapas since I have uploaded my first novel on this site, So I guess it has to be Tapas because as well with what I have said and along with their rules they have here that made it, I guess a good community
So best readership and community here on tapas for me

---

I did go onto Wattpad before but only as anonymous and I saw it as confusing and odd

[peach]

I didn't even know Tapas had novels until very recently, which is super cool I always heard of Wattpad as being the most famous and that stories had even gotten famous from it! But I felt a little confused navigating it as a reader so far too
@Black_Conscious

[WinterFall]

I've already read some works in Tapas, Wattpad, and A03, and all of them were great, of course! However, I'm only writing and publishing in Tapas; I'm just a reader in Wattpad and A03. I've tried publishing in these two websites though, but I didn't continue because I was a bit confused by the features they had. Well, even though I didn't try creating a series in A03 or Wattpad, I think that even if I did, I'd still think Tapas has the best community and readership. In Tapas, I think you can communicate more (mainly through Tapas Forums), and I feel a bit more comfortable publishing here. All of the sites and communities are great though, there are many great writers out there who publish their works in other different websites. But if you would ask me, I don't really have a favorite site or community, I just really love both reading and writing!

[Black_Conscious]

Yep!
As of right now I just find tapas more easier to navigate as a reader and a publisher

I didn't even know Tapas had novels until very recently,

lol, I had the opposite I didn't even know that tapas was only a site for comic artist at first

[crowstories]

I have a novel on wattpad, and I found it harder to build a community there. Also lower quality of writing there, on average. There's some decent stories, but you're gonna have to wade through a loooot of cringey and/or smutty fanfic to find it.

[WinterFall]

Ah, yes. The NSFW and cringey works...

I agree with you, though. Communities in Wattpad are a bit more complicated, and the cringey and smutty fanfictions... there are many writings in there that aren't quite great, if you would ask me (note that I'm not implying to all of them, there are also great works there). Although I don't really hold anything against Wattpad, it's just a bit... fiddly, if you know what I mean.

[surenlicious]

AO3. I keep finding hidden gems on there. Wattpad is a scourge, I want nothing to do with that place. XD Practically no place is friendly enough to novel writers as everybody and their mother thinks when you can also draw, you immediately making a comic. Granted, if I want to read other people's books I have to navigate a sea of places and that is why I rely on my social media to find creators and see what their work can be like in advance.

[YaoiParadise]

Wattpad's community is horribly toxic. I started posting online through the website when I was in high school (2012) and it was great, but over the years its been taken over by the worst side of social media, and I've seen some really disgusting things. It's also increasingly hard to build an audience there as a newcomer (I built up maybe 3k followers in 3 years when I started a new account to get away from a creepy reader who was crossing so many boundaries, as compared to 11k on Tapas in the same amount of time).
It probably has a wide variety of stories, but has also been very much swallowed by good girl/bad boy and borderline (at best) abusive relationships because I guess that's the 'in' thing.

AO3 is pretty good, lots of friendlies, you just have to be careful because some fandoms can get pretty aggressive over certain things (not nearly as bad as Tumblr).

Tapas is hands down the best. I haven't had a single negative experience with readers or other creators, and followers here are super interactive, understanding, and sweet. I feel like I've made an actual connection with some of my readers. Tapas also supports indie writers a lot more than any other site I've come across, and there are lots of reasons why this has become my home for posting writing online.
I've also seen a pretty good variety of novels, and less focus on the novel side on the gross side of glorified abusive relationships (though some of the premium comics- especially BL- have been tending that way, which is a shame)

[peach]

@YaoiParadise Wow, thank you for letting me know about Wattpad! I had heard that it could be kind of cringey (and other commenters here posted that as well) but I had no idea it was allowing such terrible things to be promoted in stories and between users... that's terrible!

[Zaboem]

Last year, I put forward half-hearted efforts with both AO3 and Wattpad. I've yet to pick up a single reader in either one. Thus, I am in no position to evaluate the community. If no one leaves comments, there is no interaction. The audiences on those sites seem bigger, but it's much more difficult to break out of obscurity there: low odds, high reward I guess.

In Tapas, the community is actually sort of ideal. I see the same names show up in comments over and over again because almost all of them are fellow creators. Readers who are just readers don't seem to interact much if at all. As fellow creators, the responses they leave tend to be both encouraging and useful as feedback. They tell you what they like and what resonates.

[sushy00]

The fact you are asking this on Tapas Forums says it all right

Haha I am definitely team Tapas xD
Though activity used to be more here a few years back, I still like this site the most.