If you’re a fiction lover, I’m sure you’ve heard about Wattpad or you’ve even used it at some point. And if you write on Wattpad, you may have wondered how to make money writing on Wattpad. If so, this article will show you 10 ways you can make money on Wattpad.
For someone like me, when I started writing on Wattpad, monetizing my writing was hardly possible except I miraculously won the Watty Awards which was nigh impossible at that point in my life. But if you’re writing on Wattpad today and you’re asking the question, ‘Can I get paid to write on Wattpad?’, then this article contains all the answers you need.
What is Wattpad?
If you don’t know what Wattpad is, it’s an online community of over 90 million users.
It’s a free space where writers can write and publish serially that is chapter-by-chapter or episode-by-episode, get feedback, and develop a fanbase.
It is also a space where voracious readers can discover original stories that they like.
And Wattpad is completely free to join either as a writer or as a reader.
Can you Make Money Writing on Wattpad?
Yes, there are several ways to make money writing on Wattpad.
But this is not an easy route to making money.
If you’re writing on Wattpad just to make money, then you might not even end up making a dollar.
Even very passionate writers on Wattpad take years to find people who enjoy their stories and are willing to pay to read their stories. So don’t go into it if you just want to make money. You will have better luck making money through self-publishing on Amazon.
How to Make Money on Wattpad
1. You can make money as a WATTPAD STAR
As a Wattpad star, you get access to a plethora of resources and tools to help you grow as a writer. You can also join a community of Wattpad stars that you can connect with and gain access to Wattpad’s Paid Stories Program.
With that orange star next to your name, you will gain access to the opportunity to get your stories published by Wattpad’s publishing press which I’ll talk more about in this article.
But before you can become a Wattpad star, you need to meet certain criteria like:
- Having over two stories completed (each story must be up to 50,000 words).
- You can’t be writing stories that belong to the fan-fiction, classics, non-fiction, poetry, or random genres.
- You must have started on one story in the past year.
- You must have added a part to a story or modified a story in the past six months.
- You must have logged in to Wattpad in the past 60 days.
If you meet these criteria, you can fill out this interest form.
BUT even if you meet the criteria and fill out the form, only those that they choose will be contacted. After all, they have to look at other factors related to your stories and your status as an author.
Some of the things they look at are:
- Your stories’ quality.
- Story Originality.
- Your ability as an author to compel your audience to read and pay.
- How dedicated you are to Wattpad. Here, they’ll look at things like your contributions to the platform, your consistency in updating your stories, etc.
2. You can make money with WATTPAD PAID STORIES
Wattpad’s Paid Stories Program was established in 2019 to allow writers to earn money publishing their stories on Wattpad.
If your story is selected to be a paid story, you will be notified and you have the right to refuse or accept. You can also access Wattpad Paid Stories by becoming a Wattpad Star.
Here’s how you can make money on Wattpad with Wattpad’s Paid Stories Program:
- When your story becomes a paid story, the first few chapters are offered free kind of like a free preview or book sample.
- The remaining chapters will be locked and readers can only unlock them with coins.
- Readers can get coins by either buying them through an Apple/Google Play account, or by watching video ads.
- And you, the author earn according to the number of coins used to unlock chapters.
Find out more about Wattpad’s Paid Stories.
3. You can make money PUBLISHING WITH WATTPAD BOOKS
You can make money if your story is selected to be published by Wattpad’s Writing Press which is kind of like a publishing house.
Wattpad Books is now part of a press called Wattpad Webtoon Book Group consisting of four imprints: Wattpad Books, W by Wattpad Books, Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books, and WEBTOON Unscrolled.
Wattpad Webtoon Book Group publishes only the brightest, boldest, and most unique stories and voices from either Wattpad or Wattpad’s Webtoon platform. So you’ll need to try hard to create those or just self-publish.
4. You can make money with WATTPAD’S CREATOR PROGRAM
This is actually a brand new way to make money on Wattpad introduced in 2022, and it is currently still in beta.
With this program, you get the opportunity to earn stipends while they support you and provide the resources you need to sharpen your writing skills.
Here are the Criteria you Need to Meet to be Eligible for Wattpad’s Creator Program:
- You must have created and published a new story part in the last 3 months.
- You must have at least one completed story with about 50,000 words or more in your catalog.
- You must not have any Trust & Safety violations pending on you or your stories.
- You have at least one story in your catalog written in one of the genres stipulated below that has achieved a minimum number of Engaged Readers.
You can find more information about the engaged readers metric here. And you can also read Wattpad’s Creators Program FAQ or subscribe to their Creator Newsletter to learn more about this Wattpad earning program.
5. You can make money on Wattpad BY WINNING THE WATTY AWARDS
The Grand Prize Winner of the Watty Awards 2022 will receive a cash prize of USD 5000 as well as other opportunities. That’s a lot of money.
Winners in any of the 12 categories will receive a winner’s social media kit, promotion on Watty’s profile on Wattpad, opportunities for your stories to get featured around Wattpad, a Watty’s badge for your winning story, and priority consideration by Wattpad Webtoon Studios.
You may also get publishing opportunities related to Wattpad’s Webtoon Book Group.
Even those that don’t win the Watty Awards in any of the categories still get more exposure for their stories just by participating.
And here are the eligibility rules if you want to participate next year since 2022’s Watty Awards is now in the judging phase.
6. You can make money with REWARDS FROM YOUR READERS
This is an indirect way to make money writing on Wattpad. And you will probably not make a lot except you have very loyal fans.
You can do this with reward sites like Buy me a Coffee, Ko-fi, or Patreon. With a link in your bio, you can get your readers to buy you a coffee, tea, or a cookie via these platforms.
Better yet, you can direct readers from Wattpad to your Patreon by giving them access to exclusive content and stories on Patreon.
7. You can make money with WATTPAD WEBTOON STUDIOS
Do you have big dreams of one day seeing your story on the big screen? Well, your dreams can come through with Wattpad’s Webtoon Studios.
With Wattpad Webtoon Studios, your stories can get adapted into film, tv, digital videos, or animations.
However, there’s no way to apply for this. You would have to get an invite if your story is noticed by Wattpad’s Creative executives or editorial team.
8. You can make money through WATTPAD BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
With Wattpad Brand Partnerships, you can participate in brand campaigns and initiatives with your work.
Getting just one opportunity with Wattpad Brand Partnerships can elevate your entire author career, help you establish credibility and also give you the affirmation that you’re on the right path by choosing to be an author.
Wattpad works with some of the biggest brands and studio partners in the world like Maybelline, Tim Hortons, JCPenney, Paramount Pictures, etc. And you as a Wattpad creator can work with them by:
- Writing branded bonus chapters on Wattpad
- Submitting your stories for Wattpad x brand writing contests.
- Participating in branded Social Media Takeovers off Wattpad
- Writing sponsored stories and other seeded entries for brands
- Getting featured on a brand’s Livestream or podcast
- And more.
9. You can make money with WATTPAD WRITING CONTESTS
Wattpad has partnered with various brands like Maybelline, Netflix, Sour Patch Kids, Chipotle, and Harlequin to give creators on their platform access to various writing contests.
You can try writing for these contests and win not just money but also incredible opportunities like publishing opportunities or more exposure with sponsored stories.
10. A Bonus Way to Make Money Writing on Wattpad
For various reasons, you may not be able to take advantage of the various opportunities available to writers to get paid to write on Wattpad.
But you can still build an audience on Wattpad.
Yes, that ever elusive audience filled with fans who like the way you write and have read all the books you’ve ever written.
Writing original books and honing your writing skills on Wattpad is another way to make money writing on Wattpad even though you don’t make money directly this way.
Why? Because once you’re done writing several stories, you get free feedback from your free beta readers on Wattpad. They will tell you what they don’t like and what they liked. And you will become better at writing stories that your readers love.
The best part is that whenever you’re ready, you can work hard to edit and revise the stories you’ve written on Wattpad and then self-publish them, or better yet, your book may catch the attention of a traditional publisher or a small press.
WARNING: If anybody contacts you about a publishing opportunity on Wattpad, please make sure they’re not a vanity publisher or worse yet, a serial fiction platform that could make you sign contracts that could steal your book’s copyrights from you.
Pros and Cons of Making Money Writing on Wattpad
Pros
- You can build a loyal fanbase via Wattpad as an aspiring Author.
- Wattpad is free to use for Authors and Readers.
- You could get constructive criticism on your work from your readers or pseudo beta readers if you plan to self-publish.
- You will get access to a lot of resources to improve your writing and professionalism as an author.
- You may get to work with famous brands.
- You can build your credibility as an author through many of the ways you can make money writing on Wattpad.
Cons
- Many of Wattpad’s money-making methods require making your story exclusive to Wattpad.
- You don’t own Wattpad. I’ve heard horror stories of people who wrote entire novels on Wattpad only for their accounts to suddenly be suspended or deleted because they violated a rule or something. One way to reduce the risks of this is posting on a free WordPress site or other trustworthy writing sites like Inkitt and Archive of Our Own at the same time.
- Wattpad has some piracy/plagiarism issues. There are occasionally times that someone may copy your stories and post them on another platform. It hardly happens anymore and your readers will surely report back to you if they find out about it. This is, of course, not as bad as those sites that directly update their sites with every story posted on Wattpad. If you remove your chapters on Wattpad so you can self-publish, potential buyers might prefer to read those chapters hanging around online instead of buying.
- Making Money on Wattpad is no easy feat. You have to stand out in a large crowd. And you may never even get into any of Wattpad’s money-making programs.
- If you’re expecting every reader on Wattpad to give you sage feedback, you should swallow those expectations. You won’t get very much constructive criticism on there like you’d think but you’d still get some.
- You may not get noticed on Wattpad. Wattpad has a lot of books. I can’t give figures but it would take a long time for even the most voracious readers to wade through the books in their favorite categories. So if you’re not putting in the effort to promote your stories, they may not get noticed as fast as you think.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot more to Wattpad than just making money. If you’re an aspiring author, it’s a great place to build your fanbase, connect with other writers and grow your writing skills.
And if all you’re interested in is how to make money on Wattpad, it’s not quite that easy to make money writing on Wattpad.
It takes a lot of hard work, consistency, sacrifice, and finally talent to make money writing on Wattpad.
But if you’re passionate about becoming an author and you don’t want to self-publish, you can give it a try.
