Jump to content

Wattpad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wattpad.com
Current, rebranded logo since 2019
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Reading app, social networking service
Available inMultilingual; stories available in more than in 50 languages[1]
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada[2]
Area servedWorldwide (except blocking countries)
OwnerWebtoon Entertainment (Naver Corporation and LY Corporation)[3]
Founder(s)Allen Lau
Ivan Yuen
Employees145[4]
URLwattpad.com
RegistrationRequired for nearly all actions.
Users500 million (2020)[5]
LaunchedDecember 2006; 17 years ago (2006-12)
Current statusActive
Native client(s) onWeb, Android, iOS

Wattpad is a website for reading and publishing original written fiction[6] and connecting with fellow writers and readers.[7] Its most popular genres are romance, teen fiction, and fan fiction.[8] As of November 2021, Wattpad has more than 90 million monthly users[7] (the majority of whom are younger women)[9] and there are over 665 million story uploads in total.[10][failed verification]

Some of its stories have been transformed into mainstream novels and TV series and movies, such as the After and The Kissing Booth series. In January 2019, Wattpad launched its own publishing division named Wattpad Books to ease the effort for its authors.[11] In January 2021, Naver Corporation announced that it would be acquiring Wattpad and the deal was completed in May 2021.[12]

History

[edit]

Wattpad was developed in 2006, as the result of a collaboration between Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen.[13] The company is based in Toronto, Ontario.[14]

Growth and funding

[edit]

In February 2007, Wattpad had announced the addition of over 17,000 e-books from Project Gutenberg, making them available to mobile users.[10] According to a June 2009 Wattpad press release, the application had been downloaded over 5 million times.[10] In March 2009, an iPhone version was released. This was followed by the launch on BlackBerry App World in April 2009, Google Android in June 2009 and Apple iPad in April 2010. In December 2015, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile Version was released. Currently, Wattpad has more than 90 million users[15] who collectively spend 15 billion minutes each month using Wattpad.[15] As of 2018, there are more than 400 million fanfiction uploads on Wattpad.

An old Wattpad logo dated back from 2006 until 2018. The first letter "W" is an upside-down letter of M. According to Wattpad Corporation, it was pretty dated and static.
The old Wattpad logo (2006–2018)

As of January 2018, Wattpad had received almost USD $117.8M in funding from investors.[12] In 2011, Wattpad announced that it received $3.5M in total funding from its current investors, and from W Media Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, and Union Square Ventures.[16] Then in June 2012, Wattpad raised $17.3M from a group of venture funds led by Khosla Ventures.[17]

In April 2014, Wattpad announced $46M in a Series C of funding led by OMERS ventures.[18] In January 2018, Wattpad announced USD $51M in funding from Tencent Holdings Limited, BDC, Globe Telecom's Kickstart Ventures, Peterson Group, Canso, and existing investor Raine.[19]

Awards

[edit]

In December 2011, Wattpad was selected as the hottest Digital Media company in the country at the Canadian Innovation Exchange.[20] In the same year, co-founder and CEO Ivan Yuen was also recognized as a top Canadian entrepreneur at the Impact Infused Awards, sponsored by Deloitte.[21]

In March 2014, Wattpad signed a contract with Pop Fiction, an imprint of Summit Media, to print Filipino Wattpad stories in the Philippines.[22] Other publishers from the Philippines also publish stories from Wattpad.

Since then, some Wattpad stories have also been adapted into teleseryes. Filipino television network TV5, in partnership with Wattpad and Life is Beautiful Publishing Company, launched Wattpad Presents, a series of Wattpad stories turned into TV dramas. Wattpad stories aired on the show are usually those that were published by LIB Publishing.

ABS-CBN also made several adaptations of Wattpad stories such as "My App Boyfie" by Noreen Capili (noringai), starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre, and the coming-of-age series Bagito starring Nash Aguas, Alexa Ilacad and Ella Cruz.[23][24][25] Pop Fiction's best-selling book, She's Dating the Gangster, written by Bianca Bernardino (SGWannaB) as a Wattpad original, became the first Wattpad story adapted into a full-length motion picture starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. The movie adaptation was produced by ABS-CBN's film production arm, Star Cinema.[26] Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil also starred on the film Just The Way You Are, based on the Wattpad story "The Bet" by Ilurvbooks. "Chasing Red" was published by isabelleronin, a Filipino-Canadian writer which got more than 200 million views.[27][28][29] In 2021, He's Into Her, a novel written by Maxinejiji (Maxine Lat Calibuso), will premiere on iWant TFC, starring Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan.[30][31]

GMA Network has also started making adaptations of Wattpad stories via Luv Is, a series of stories turned into dramas similar to that of TV5 but the stories are longer.

Sister apps

[edit]

In February 2015, Wattpad launched a second standalone app called "After Dark".[32] The app focuses specifically on the romance genre and is intended for adult readers.

On February 21, 2017, Wattpad launched a chat stories app called Tap,[33][34] which offers stories in the form of text messages as if reading a private conversation on someone else's phone. The app was an early success, with over 240 million taps in the first few weeks after the launch.[35] On July 28, 2017, Tap launched "Tap Originals", a series of original stories produced by writers every week, with some of these series working on an episode-by-episode basis.[36]

[edit]

On November 13, 2018, Wattpad introduced "Next Beta" to a few select countries for early testing.[37][38] The launch of the Next Beta featured over 50 stories that were to be paid for with Watt Coins, which could be earned by having readers spend coins to unlock participating Next Beta stories. This offered writers the chance to earn money through their work and to provide support for readers. Wattpad planned a fast-follow launch for Next in Spanish-speaking regions and to expand the program. The program was available in Latin America and Spain beginning May 27, 2019, before expanding worldwide on July 11 the same year.[39] On September 17, 2019, the Wattpad Team announced the ending of the Next Beta program after results from the program showed that "Wattpadders are ready for a program that funds writers".[40] The program was later rebranded to "Paid Stories".

June 2020 data breach

[edit]

In June 2020, Wattpad suffered a huge data breach that exposed almost 270 million records. The data was initially sold before being published on a public hacking forum where it was widely circulated. The incident exposed extensive personal information including names and usernames, email and IP addresses, genders, birth dates and passwords stored as bcrypt hashes.[41][42]

Later that same year on July 14, researchers at Risk Based Security discovered that a threat actor from an unknown source was responsible for the breach, along with the sourcing of over 278 million password credentials and email addresses, with breakdown analysis suggested that Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook accounts were mostly affected.[43] The Wattpad Corporation has since investigated and patched the issue.

Acquisition by Naver

[edit]

In January 2021, Wattpad announced that it was to be acquired by Naver Corporation in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal.[44] In an interview, Lau states "it’s also been very clear from Naver, and we agree, that we should operate as independently as possible."[45] Wattpad will remain headquartered in Canada and under its current leadership.

Private message controversy

[edit]

In April 2024, Wattpad announced that it would be removing a private messaging (PM) feature from the platform in response to a report on sexual grooming in PMs.[46]

Wattpad has stated that the feature has "only been relevant to a small percentage of our user base"[47] and removing it could foster "transparent dialogue."[48] However, proponents of retaining private messaging[49] have stated that private messaging allows for collaboration among other things.

Countries blocking access to Wattpad

[edit]

China

[edit]

Access to Wattpad from within mainland China is restricted. Censorship in China covers topics such as LGBT+ content, which censors consider to be immoral.[50]

Turkey

[edit]

In July 2024, a Turkish court, the Ankara 10th Penal Court of Peace, ordered that access to Wattpad be blocked. As of July 18th, users within Turkey have been unable to access the site without use of a VPN.[51] This makes Turkey the first country to officially restrict access to the site. [52]

Usage

[edit]

Statistics

[edit]

As of September 2020:

In 2018, nearly 300,000 writers from 35 countries take part in its yearly writing competition, The Watty Awards.[56]

Professional authors

[edit]

Famous authors such as Margaret Atwood and R. L. Stine have also joined Wattpad. Atwood has posted poetry and judged a poetry contest on the platform.[57] Stine has used Wattpad to post chapters of his books and done interactive events with readers.[58]

Fan fiction

[edit]

Wattpad has increased in popularity among many fandoms, who take to the platform to craft their own fan fiction.[59] One of the most notable stories on the platform is the After series by Anna Todd, which was originally published as a Harry Styles fan fiction.[60] After its large popularity amongst the One Direction fandom and the app's readers, the story became the most read book on Wattpad,[61] having achieved just under 10 million unique readers on the platform and been read more than one billion times.[62] The series went on to be published by Gallery Books and became a New York Times Best Seller.[61]

By crafting a spot for fanfiction alongside its other genres, Wattpad prioritizes its teen readers and gives the platform a twist.[8] Deputy General Manager, Ashleigh Gardner, added the following about the genre: "What’s unique about Wattpad is that fanfic is treated like any other genre, living alongside other forms of fiction. This makes it more fluid for readers of an original fiction to discover a new fanfic, or inspire a fanfiction writer to start a new story and bring their audience along with them."[63]

Fan fiction is the third-largest category on Wattpad, closely behind Romance and Teen Fiction, many of which are also fan fictions.[8]

Contests

[edit]

Wattpad hosts a number of writing contests each year, including the annual Watty Awards, the largest writing competition in the world.[64] In 2011, The Watty Awards introduced three entry levels (Popular, On The Rise, and Undiscovered) to allow greater chances of winning for every type of writer. Contests are open to anyone who has a Wattpad account.

During the summer of 2012, Wattpad in collaboration with Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet/novelist/literary critic, held the "Wattys": the first major poetry contest offering a chance to poets on Wattpad to compete against each other in one of two categories, either as an "Enthusiast" or a "Competitor". It has been going ever since, and now the contest is open to books of all genres.

Publishing

[edit]

Wattpad has formed ties with publishing houses to try to help Wattpad authors to receive compensation for their works. A new branch, Wattpad Studios, was developed to connect popular writers to both the publishing and film industries.[65] 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 copies.[66] 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.[67]

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 McGhie was released by Aviron Pictured on April 12, 2019.

Wattpad Books

[edit]

On January 24, 2019, Wattpad launched publishing division Wattpad Books led by Wattpad Studios' Publishing Deputy Manager Ashleigh Gardner, with operations managed by Wattpad Studios' Publishing Director Deanna McFadden.[68] According to CEO Allen Lau, this project was in an effort to take the "guesswork" out of publishing.[69]

The Wattpad Books acquisitions team uses a mix of machine learning algorithims and human editors.[70] The acquisitions team looks to Wattpad's large and existing digital library (over half a billion titles) in order to select notable material for publication.[70][71] According to Wattpad Books leader Ashleigh Gardner, this is in an effort to combat bias inherent in human editors.[70] Gardner says that this technology analyses the data behind each title, looking at story structure and word use in addition to levels of reader engagement per title.[72] This data is then compared to analyses of other books on Wattpad and in the public domain.[72] Once all the data has been collected and engagement has been looked at, human staffers read the titles and create their list.[72]

All published titles are a combination of international hits and notable but known material from their digital library.[68] These titles are distributed by Macmillan in the United States of America, Raincoast Books in Canada, and Penguin Random House in India and the United Kingdom, with their Fall 2019 list available in leading North American retailers.[68][11][73] Outside North America, Gardner has sold the rights to Hachette (France) for Deanna Cameron's What Happened Last Night.[74] Additionally, Lauren Palphreyman's rights to Cupid's Match have been sold in French (Hachette) and German (S. Fischer Verlag).[75]

Wattpad's first list consisted of six young adult novels.[75] The QB Bad Boy & Me by Tay Marley (28.8 million reads) will be their lead title and was slated for release on August 13, 2019.[75] The remaining five books will be released[needs update] between September and October 2019 and include: Trapeze by Leigh Ansell (2.5 million reads), What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron (over 1 million reads), Saving Everest by Sky Reads (17.2 million reads), Cupid's Match by Lauren Palphreyman (46.4 million reads), and I'm a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni (404,000 reads).[75] Wattpad hopes to publish 18 titles in their 2020 list.[75]

Besides Wattpad Books, Wattpad announced a partnership with Anvil Publishing, Inc., one of the Philippines' leading publishers, to create Bliss Books, a YA imprint with Filipino Young Adult and romance fanatics as their target market.[76]

Entertainment

[edit]

Netflix film The Kissing Booth was written in 2011 by author Beth Reekles. It originated as a story on Wattpad where it won a Watty Award for "Most Popular Teen Fiction" in Wattpad's annual writing contest.[77] By 2012 it had amassed over 19 million reads on Wattpad and, in 2013, was published by Penguin Random House.[78] In an interview with Forbes, Reekles explains what drew her to Wattpad: "I loved the feeling of community on the site, and when I began to share, I liked the anonymity of it because I was so self-conscious about my writing and hadn't shared it with anyone before."[79]

Since The Kissing Booth premiered on Netflix on May 11, 2018, Ted Sarandos called it "one of the most-watched movies in the country, and maybe in the world".[79] The Kissing Booth was the fourth most-popular movie in IMDb's popularity rankings in June 2018.[80] Wattpad has also signed deals with Asian distribution partners, such as pan-Asian streaming platform Iflix to co-produce dozens of original movies based on Wattpad stories out of Indonesia,[81] and Singapore's Mediacorp, to bring Wattpad stories to Mediacorp's FTA channels such as Channel 5 (with exception of CNA) and its streaming service Toggle.[82]

On December 8, 2021, it was announced that ViacomCBS would be partnering with Wattpad to produce some of its original stories.[83]

Wattpad, with AwesomenessTV, produces Hulu's popular Light as a Feather.

Effects on writers

[edit]

According to a study, online writing communities like Wattpad help young writers learn and grow their craft from constructive feedback and criticism.[84] Composed of students and their experiences on online writing platforms, the study aims to show how constructive criticism affects their writing process. Most participants prefer serious feedback over subtle critiquing, based on the results.[84]

Wattpad as well as similar online writing communities help young authors build and construct their self perception as writers, as well as establishes an audience and interact with readers.[85] It acts as a gateway into the publishing realm and offers hands-on experience with digital writing. This type of experience helps writers develop personal authorship.[85]

Wattpad offers unique features that other writing platforms do not, such as the interactive margin commenting. Registered readers can add comments and feedback by individual lines and paragraphs as they are reading rather than after the chapter or story is finished.[86] These comment sections are available to be viewed by all readers (guests and non-guests alike, so far as of 2021). Registered users can also use them for reacting to the chapter, offering feedback, or just for personal input, allowing readers to see what others are thinking and writers to see how readers are responding.[86] If a guest attempts to view replies to a comment, or wishes to give feedback themselves, they will be prompted to create an account or log in to do so.

[edit]

Early in its history, some large volumes of user-uploaded material hosted on Wattpad was copyrighted material created by authors who did not grant republication rights. In May 2009, an article in The New York Times noted, "Sites like Scribd and Wattpad, which invite users to upload documents like college theses and self-published novels, have been the target of industry grumbling in recent weeks, as illegal reproductions of popular titles have turned up on them".[87]

The Wattpad website notes, "We do not welcome upload of material that violates its copyright terms," but also states "it is simply not possible to screen and verify all posted content."[88] In response to industry criticism, in April 2009 (before the publication of the New York Times article that named Wattpad as a vehicle for user-generated e-book infringement) Wattpad announced an "Authors In Charge" program, designed to allow authors or their representatives to identify and directly remove infringing content from the site, but this program is designed specifically for "authors with published books for sale."[88] Authors may begin their stories on Wattpad and then choose to publish their work. In most cases, the work on Wattpad is only a sample to ensure funds going to them in regard to their writing.

Competitors and similar sites

[edit]

Bookmate and the long-established and popular sites FanFiction.Net and Fiction Press (a spin-off site for original fiction) also serve as hubs for online prose. An alternative site which is free and open source is Archive of Our Own, or AO3.[89]

Monogatary.com [ja] is named after a stylized romanization of monogatari (物語, 'story'). It is also a novel-centered social networking service about creative writing and illustrations founded in October 2017.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Pianzola F, Rebora S, Lauer G (January 2020). "Wattpad as a resource for literary studies. Quantitative and qualitative examples of the importance of digital social reading and readers' comments in the margins". PLOS ONE. 15 (1): e0226708. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1526708P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226708. PMC 6961871. PMID 31940372.
  2. ^ "Wattpad HQ". Foursquare. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "Home", Wattpad, archived from the original on February 22, 2024, retrieved December 7, 2023
  4. ^ Silcoff, Sean; Dingman, Shane (October 18, 2017). "Tech startup Wattpad raises $40-million from Chinese internet giant Tencentlaccess-date=2017-12-06". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  5. ^ "About Wattpad". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "Wattpad: Building the world's biggest reader and writer community - The Literary Platform". October 18, 2012. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Wattpad | Wattpad HQ". wattpad. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Wattpad's unlikely literary revolution". The Daily Dot. July 25, 2012. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Rao, Sonia. "How 'The Kissing Booth' went from a teenager's passion project to a Netflix sensation". Washington Post. WP Company LLC. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d "Press". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Penguin Random House India Partners with Wattpad to Showcase Exclusive Content and Innovative Promotions". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Wattpad Raises $51 Million in Funding from Tencent, BDC and Other Partners". wattpad. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  13. ^ "Wattpad: Building the world's biggest reader and writer community - The Literary Platform". The Literary Platform. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  14. ^ "Discover - Wattpad". www.wattpad.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Wattpad". www.wattpad.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  16. ^ Ingram, Mathew (September 12, 2011). "Union Square backs Wattpad to make reading more social". Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  17. ^ Ingram, Mathew (June 6, 2012). "Wattpad raises $17 million to become the YouTube of writing". Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  18. ^ "Wattpad Raises $46 Million to Build a Global Literary Community". Mashable. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  19. ^ "Tencent Leads $51 Million Investment in Canadian Startup Wattpad". Bloomberg.com. January 17, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  20. ^ Jackson, Brian (December 2011). "Wave Accounting and Wattpad win people's choice awards at CIX". Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  21. ^ "Impact and Deloitte Press Release". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  22. ^ "Summit Media and Wattpad ink partnership to publish more works by online writers in the Philippines". Summit Media. March 24, 2014. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  23. ^ "James Reid and Nadine Lustre to star in new TV project". Rappler. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  24. ^ CoconutsManila (September 5, 2014). "James Reid and Nadine Lustre to star in 'My App Boyfie' series". Coconuts. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  25. ^ "'Bagito' debuts strongly in national ratings – The Manila Times". www.manilatimes.net. November 22, 2014. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  26. ^ Villano, Alexa (July 12, 2014). "'She's Dating the Gangster': Evolution to the big screen". Rappler. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  27. ^ Sagan, Aleksandra (June 21, 2018). "Wattpad eyes more book-to-movie adaptations after Netflix success". CTVNews. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  28. ^ "Sourcebooks Signs Author of Wattpad's Most-Read Story of 2016". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  29. ^ "Chasing Red - Isabelle Ronin - Wattpad". www.wattpad.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  30. ^ ABS-CBN News (November 7, 2019). "Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano team up for new iWant series 'He's Into Her'". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  31. ^ Matalog, Patricia. "IN PHOTOS: The cast of upcoming iWant series 'He's Into Her' | Star Cinema". starcinema.abs-cbn.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  32. ^ "Wattpad Launches After Dark app for Steamy Romance". Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  33. ^ Perez, Sarah (February 22, 2017). "Wattpad debuts Tap, an app for reading chat-style short stories". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  34. ^ Hoffelder, Nate (February 22, 2017). "Wattpad Launches Chat-Style Reading App Tap". The Digital Reader. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  35. ^ Dingman, Shane (March 17, 2017). "Wattpad taps into a new genre". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  36. ^ Perez, Sarah (July 28, 2017). "Wattpad takes 'chat fiction' beyond text with launch of Tap Originals". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  37. ^ "Wattpad Next". Wattpad Next. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  38. ^ "Wattpad Announces US Launch for Wattpad Next (Beta) Program, Adding Exclusive Paid Content to the Platform". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  39. ^ "News & Updates - April 3rd, 2019 - Thank you, Next. Introducing Paid Stories. - Wattpad". www.wattpad.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  40. ^ "Introducing Paid Stories". Help Center. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  41. ^ "Have I Been Pwned: Pwned websites". haveibeenpwned.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  42. ^ "Statement Regarding Recent Security Issue". Help Center. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  43. ^ "Personal Data and Credentials of 268 Million Users Exposed In Recent Wattpad Hack". RBS. July 23, 2020. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  44. ^ "Wattpad to be sold to South Korean internet giant for $600M US | CBC News". CBC. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  45. ^ "Interview: Wattpad CEO Allen Lau on the Merger with Naver". Publishing Perspectives. January 21, 2021. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  46. ^ "Wattpad has a community problem, so it's killing DMs". The Verge. April 23, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  47. ^ "Private / Direct Messages". Wattpad Help Center. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  48. ^ "Wattpad Addresses Community Issues by Discontinuing DMs". Turkmmo. April 24, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  49. ^ Smith, Jane (April 22, 2024). "An Open Letter to Wattpad: Why Removing Private Messaging Is a Mistake". Medium. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  50. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (March 4, 2016). "China bans depictions of gay people on television". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  51. ^ Editor, I. P. A. (July 22, 2024). "International Publishers join calls for Türkiye to unblock Wattpad". International Publishers Association. Retrieved October 21, 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  52. ^ "Turkey becomes first country to ban Wattpad". bianet.org. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  53. ^ Mathew Ingram (January 17, 2018). "Wattpad Banks $51 Million From Tencent, Other Investors to Fund Entertainment Projects". Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  54. ^ "Wattpad tracks 80 million monthly users, 23 percent increase since 2018". BetaKit. August 15, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  55. ^ "Wattpad's 2020 Year in Review: Catharsis Through Creativity, Creating Community, and Changing the World with Stories". Wattpad. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  56. ^ Anderson, Porter (June 4, 2019). "The International Watty Awards at 10 Include a Wattpad Books Contract". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  57. ^ Atwood, Margaret (July 6, 2012). "Margaret Atwood: why Wattpad works". The Guardian.
  58. ^ "R.L. Stine Finds New Era of Readers On The Web". Bustle. April 7, 2015.
  59. ^ "The path to publication from fan fiction and Wattpad". Lariat. August 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  60. ^ Pham, Jason (April 12, 2019). "How Anna Todd's Harry Styles Fanfiction Became a Bestselling Book—& Now a Movie". StyleCaster. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  61. ^ a b "About Wattpad". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  62. ^ Gannes, Liz (October 22, 2014). "Q&A With Anna Todd, the Breakout Fanfic Star Who Writes Everything on Her Phone". Vox. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  63. ^ "YA Reading and Writing Trends from Wattpad's 60 Million Users". Publishing Perspectives. October 25, 2017. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  64. ^ "Writing Contests on Wattpad". Wattpad. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  65. ^ Ha, Anthony (April 26, 2016). "Wattpad sets its sights on brands, publishers and Hollywood with Wattpad Studios". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  66. ^ "Sourcebooks, Wattpad Team Up To Launch YA Authors". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  67. ^ "What Is Wattpad? The 'YouTube For Stories' Is Transforming Book Publishing". International Business Times. October 23, 2014. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  68. ^ a b c "Wattpad Launches Wattpad Books, a New Publishing Division to Bring Diverse, Data-Backed Stories to Book-Lovers Everywhere". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  69. ^ "Wattpad, founded by U of T alumni, launches publishing division: New York Times". University of Toronto News. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  70. ^ a b c Liptak, Andrew (January 24, 2019). "Wattpad is launching a publishing imprint called Wattpad Books". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  71. ^ Rugo, Lily. "Wattpad's New Book Publishing Branch Uses Machine Deep Learning To Find Stories". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  72. ^ a b c Flatt, Molly (February 4, 2019). "Algorithms, trends and partnerships: the inside story of Wattpad books". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  73. ^ "Penguin Random House UK collaborates with Wattpad Books to bring global Wattpad hits to readers in the UK". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  74. ^ "Wattpad Launches a Book Publishing Division Called Wattpad Books". Publishing Perspectives. January 24, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  75. ^ a b c d e "Online storytelling community Wattpad launches its own publishing arm, Wattpad Books". TechCrunch. January 24, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  76. ^ "Anvil Publishing and Wattpad Team Up for Bliss Books, a New YA Imprint for the Philippines". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  77. ^ Doll, Jen (April 9, 2013). "Meet the 17-Year-Old Who's Already Got a Three-Book Deal with Random House". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  78. ^ "Netflix's latest hit 'The Kissing Booth' is a Wattpad success story". June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  79. ^ a b Rowe, Adam. "Why Beth Reekles Is The Wattpad Success Story Behind Netflix Hit 'The Kissing Booth'". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  80. ^ Clark, Travis (June 12, 2018). "Netflix says its teen romcom 'The Kissing Booth' is 'one of the most-watched movies in the country'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  81. ^ "Wattpad Strikes Original Content Partnership With Asian Digital Platform Iflix". Deadline. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  82. ^ "Wattpad and Mediacorp partner to bring Singapore stories from written word to national screens". Wattpad HQ. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  83. ^ Keck, Catie (December 8, 2021). "ViacomCBS announces partnership with Wattpad to adapt originals". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  84. ^ a b Birch, Heather (2016). "Feedback in Online Writing Forums: Effects on Adolescent Writers". Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education. 5: Article 5. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  85. ^ a b Ramdarshan Bold, Melanie (2016). "The Return of the Social Author: Negotiating Authority and Influence on Wattpad". Convergence. doi:10.1177/1354856516654459. S2CID 220053190.
  86. ^ a b Rebora, Simone (2018). "A New Research Programme for Reading Research: Analysing Comments in the Margins on Wattpad". DigitCult - Scientific Journal on Digital Cultures. 3: 19–36. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  87. ^ Rich, Motoko (May 11, 2009). "With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  88. ^ a b Wattpad – Writer Program, archived from the original on November 20, 2009, retrieved August 12, 2011.
  89. ^ Hale-Stern, Kaila. "How To Find The Best Fanfiction On the Internet". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.