User:Cja2023/Wattpad

History as an Inspirational Writing Tool
Launched in December of the year 2006 by founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen, Wattpad has been used by many for many different purposes and genres of writing that are both safe for work and not safe for work. It has allowed for many to springboard off of it and bring their literary creations to both life and fruition. It's no shocker either that the site has such huge power, as Wattpad now has over 94 million accumulated users with over a billion uploaded/published stories to accompany them. These numbers are only increasing as well, as there will always be somebody itching to write a story and publish it easily, and what's easier than submitting it to Wattpad? Absolutely nothing!

Wattpad's Influence On Writers
Wattpad has always been a strong presence in the digital writing world, with many looking to it for guidance and as a basis for story writing and possibly even storyboarding. Tamara Lush, a romance novel author, admitted in an article when asked about Wattpad that, "It’s inspired me to take risks. It’s also taught me that readers, and reader feedback, isn’t a scary thing. I’ve grown to love comments from readers on Wattpad, and wish I had that for my traditionally published. I adore the immediacy of releasing a chapter and getting near instantaneous feedback." Taking risks is near-everything when it comes to writing, and utilizing Wattpad is no different. It also doesn't matter what genre you're writing for or what audience, it all starts when you pick up a pencil or keyboard and start writing/typing what you want or what you need. Rebecca Phelps, an actress as well as another author from the same article advised that, "I think a lot of people think it’s just for amateurs. Sure, there’s a lot of that, but there are also a lot of really quality books on the site, written by people who have been working at their craft for years. All we can do is write. We write the best books we can. We learn from our mistakes, and we try again. That’s true for life, and it’s true for art. And I don’t know how to do anything else."

Publishing Opportunities
Since it's initial conception, Wattpad has acted as a watering-grounds for the entertainment industry, providing young readers with easy access to both write and read free original stories and letting the best of those stories get picked up by larger publishing houses or production companies to be consumed by more mainstream audiences as well as featured in mainstream media.

Wattpad has formed ties with publishing houses to try to help Wattpad authors to receive compensation for their digital works. A new branch, Wattpad Studios, was developed to connect popular writers to both the publishing and film industries. Wattpad has, in the past, teamed up with publishing groups such as Sourcebooks to help Wattpad authors receive book deals, and get their work into hard physical copies. More traditional publishing houses such as Random House and HarperCollins have approached popular Wattpad writers to negotiate publishing deals, allowing the website to serve as a springboard into the more traditional publishing industry.

Author Anna Todd, whose work "After" has received over a billion reads on the site, was given a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster to turn her online work into a multiple-book published saga. A film version starring Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Selma Blair, Jennifer Beals, Peter Gallagher, and Shane Paul McGhee was released by Aviron Pictured on April 12, 2019. References