Finding a Social Network I Can Truly Engage With ~~~ #Wattpad

I’ve been engaged in a social media endeavor for 4 years, 10 months, and 18 days—right here on this blog… 

Naturally, since I’m a writer (and, naturally, a reader, too…), I tried the “social networks”:

Facebook—a raucous place for writers (or, readers)—folks standing up on platforms, shouting about their wares…

Google Plus—more mature than Facebook but still not geared, specifically, toward writers (or, readers)…

LinkedIn—hmmm… Sure, writing can be a “business”; but…

Twitter—broke up with it numerous times—worked out a functioning, minimal relationship…

I do, however, have WordPress automatically sending links of all my blog posts to all those networks…

Feel free to check out more of my social media opinions.

However, 5 years ago I signed up with Wattpad.

I was deep into writing my first novel and didn’t see Wattpad’s value (for writers or for readers)…

14 days ago, I wrote a post about my reunion with Wattpad and I linked to that post in another one I wrote 2 days ago—Very Short, Very Powerful Review of My Book on #Wattpad . . .

In that post, PAHughes said (about my novel):

“Picked this up and could not put it down. Astoundingly gripping , your words just dance on the page and every little bit comes to life. 

“I have downloaded a full copy of the book and will read it to the end. A brilliant book, well done sir.”

Then, yesterday, PAHughes told their over 1,100 followers the following:

“‘Notes from an Alien’ is Beautifully written with immense description and powerful undertones. It is the view of a world from strange but familiar eyes. Seriously go check it out.”

So, the reads of my novel have gone up and so have the reads of my poetry book and my collection of fantasy shorts. I’ve also had quite a few more folks follow me…

But, I’m finding out that Wattpad isn’t just about me getting readers of my works…

It’s also a wonderful place to read others’ writing—some great, some struggling, some amateurish—making comments on that writing (usually greatly appreciated, even if I’ve been a bit critical).

This was something I tried to do through other social media channels but never got used to…

Perhaps, as I prepare for my next book (I’m in no hurry…), I finally can take the time to appreciate others’ writing (even if it’s a bit poorly done…)—perhaps it’s the ambiance in Wattpad—perhaps it’s knowing that about 80% of my readers are mobile (my writing is traveling while being read…)—perhaps it’s that around 85% are under 30…

Perhaps it’s that I may be helping some stressed-out kid, on the streets ’cause home is a tragedy, slowly, incrementally improve their reading.

It’s possible to upload a full book or story but the Wattpad community has evolved in a serialization world (they even recommend keeping each portion of your work below 2,000 words...)—many Wattpaders are obviously writing a serial first draft and begging for comments so they can improve it.

I discovered Katherine A. Ganzel the other day and profited from reading her, How To Get Reads, Votes, and Comments – A Guide.

Katherine recommended another guide that I haven’t yet read—MichaelLimjoco‘s, Cracking the Wattpad Code: Insider Secrets the Pros don’t want you to know!

Wondering who those “pros” are or if Michael is just trying to draw in readers…

But, Katherine’s guide is comprehensive and extremely helpful and she really likes Michael’s guide…

Wattpad also has a Club (Forum) called Improve Your Writing and within that Club there’s a special place with a multitude of links to other aids and resources for aspiring writers plus what I’d call their Community Library…

Plus, they’re rolling out Multimedia Storytelling.

And, for any writers out there who still feel hesitant to, at least, explore Wattpad’s possibilities, here’s an interesting blurb from a writer with more entrepreneurial spirit then me:

“Drawing on her own success story, indie author Dianne Greenlay explains why she thinks all self-published writers should try using Wattpad to increase the discoverability of their books.”

She’s written this article—How Wattpad Gained My Self-Published Novel 500,000 Reads.

So, whether you’re a reader looking for mobile-joy or a high-powered Indie author, I feel fairly certain Wattpad has something for you…
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Above and Beyond The Call . . .

Networking can often elicit seemingly magical responses.

One would think people are closely connected at some deep psychological level.

And, I do, in fact, believe we are all connected—sometimes obviously, usually without conscious awareness.

There’s a man from Wales who maintains four blogs {whew}—one on Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, another on Kayak Journeys, yet another on the latest news and information from NASA.

His fourth blog, The Writing Desk, carried a review of my recently published book, Notes from An Alien.

It was my “co-author” and main character from the book, Sena Quaren, who first made contact with Tony Riches, a truly modern Renaissance man.

Tony then got a free copy of Notes from An Alien and contacted me about a review.

It was my first :-)

Time passed………

I recently sent an email to the 240 folks who’ve received a free copy of the book to encourage them to give me feedback on the follow-up volume as well as give any of them who’d lost the digital copy {So Much Email} a chance to have me resend the book.

Tony wrote back and offered me a guest post on his blog…

Some may think it’s just the normal sort of thing that happens when you network with people.

If that were true, I’d have gotten a multitude of guest post offers…

I believe there’s a bit of magic in sincere networking.

What do you think?
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My New Social Network . . .

One week ago I was pondering Google+, a new way of doing social networking, in the post, Book Promotion & Social Networking Frenzy ~ Pondering Google+.

A few hours after I published that post, my blogging-buddy, Lindsay Buroker, sent me an invite for Google+ :-)

I gave a couple introductory links about G+ in last week’s post and I’ve been reading all the articles I can on what folks think and what it means in the Web’s social landscape and how to do things inside it.

That last part generated the best news I can offer, being only a week old as a G+ user–it’s not hard to get used to it :-)

All I had last week was a bad taste in my mouth from Facebook and Twitter and the hope that G+ would come through and create another dimension for my book promotion activities.

At the one week mark, I’m extremely satisfied with the Google+ experience and can see many ways to use it to broaden my connection with folks I already know and those I’ve wished I could know.

As far as finding people to follow, check out this G+ Directory; and do notice the links on the left side to narrow down your search…

And, for all you Readers, Writers, and Publishers, there’s literary/book people lists on Google+.

G+ is still in what they’re calling the “field test” stage but, heck, if it’s as good as it is right now, I can imagine it can only get way better!!

Does Google+ intrigue you?

Are you going to try it??

Have you already gotten in???
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