Writing.
... congratulations! Indeed, Wattpad is a serious problem 😁
Yeah, I know, I'm just jealous of those very successful authors with millions of (unpaying) readers. Then again, am I that jealous?
Yes.
Or, maybe not?
I don't want to sound like a snobbish, foppish, arrogant, elitist, self-focussed narcissist, but I refuse to write certain things, only to get popular. Looking at Wattpad's 'suggestions' it does take a certain genre and flavor to become top-dog on the platform.
Here's the harvest of today... (click to enlarge)
Lessee... sex... bad boys... ripped guys... hookups... gay... poor lost girl in the big city. Interesting, no werewolves today?
But... would I want to write any of the above? Even if I could (I'm a poor writer at best) I'm not sure...
I wonder how Wattpad's algorithm works, as the only novels I ever completely read on Wattpad were fantasy and SF, with little to no romance. But hey, this is what Wattpad suggests to me...
Front and center!
Who not check out the front page this time? Unfortunately, I have to click on some titles to get a summary... (I've switched 'Adult' to OFF this time.)
Here's Top Picks, New & Hot, and Trending.
Top Picks
Of course, all are paid. We'll have a bit of boy x boy gay, girl x girl gay, the old acquaintance Expiration Date (which keeps popping up, maybe because it is prepped for Syfy?), a forced marriage. The fifth title is Poor Girl but appears to be a more normal book, from my limited sampling.
New & Hot
All paid, obviously, and I noticed books are swapped between Top Picks and New & Hot. So, only paid authors are top picks or new and hot? Then... perhaps one might consider Amazon instead?
Anyway, new and hot... girl on a hockey time with romance, twin sister starts living with her twin's husband, and of course he's all nice behind his icy exterior, nerdy girl meets millionaire bad boy, female student rooms with the captain of the hockey team, and then our first werewolf title where an outsider girl starts living with a wolf pack.
Trending
A regular romance, a superhero girl driven by emotions (now on Amazon, but lots of tell instead of show), a fantasy action (also available on Amazon), a dystopian novel, and a promo for a club.
I suspect this section did take into account my taste, somewhat. Interesting that two of the five entries are redirecting you to Amazon. A few reloads show that you'll find more variation under 'trending' than in the other (paid) catagories. Also, a number of those book have been 'opted for a TV show', whatever that means.
Summary
(Based on a very small sample size with a few screen refreshes, and I haven't got a clue how their suggestion algorithm works.)
1. The 'paid' sections serve the regular crowd, the endless 'werewolf alpha' has passed its peak.
2. Bad boys, gay boys, and poor girls sell.
3. I'm a little puzzled with the large amount of books 'optioned' for TV. Or claiming to be optioned for TV. Or perhaps 'optioned for TV' only means 'here's five bucks and we get all the rights, just to be sure'?
Let's do a resample in a month or two.
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