5 CONS OF PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK ON WATTPAD

Consider this list of 5 Cons of Publishing Your Book on Wattpad before you take the leap. They could save you a little headache if you do.

1. Someone could steal your work. 

Once your work is out there, all the world has access to it. Unfortunately, that means both the good and the bad. Unethical companies or even individuals may decide to post your work as their own. If this happens, I do suggest you report them to Wattpad. They take security seriously and will research the issue.

2. Not getting reads/votes suck.

Reads/votes are a double-edged sword. They can motivate you like no other and humble you like no other. Once you post your newest update it will be hard to resist stalking your page to see what response you get. It will be equally as hard to not get bummed when there is no response. This is where self-motivation kicks into overdrive. Remember, you are doing this to share your creativity with the world, not for a popularity contest.

3. The number of Notification replies is regulated.

Once those comments and votes start rolling in, you will find yourself wanting to thank every one of them. For reasons unknown to me, Wattpad will randomly block your ability to do this. Some days you can get in five replies, sometimes ten, there is no rhyme or reason and it is extremely frustrating. 

4. People will share their opinions, even the ones you don’t want.

We all love positive feedback but it’s important to remember one thing. When you post your work publicly, you get the good, bad, and ugly. I find it best to just not respond when people choose to be unnecessarily sarcastic or plain out rude. Most of the time they are looking for attention so fight the urge to give it to them. 

5. Other authors can be shameless in self-promotion.

You will be surprised how brazen people can be. Someone you have never had contact with will randomly ask you to nominate them for awards. People will decide it is a good idea to promote their own book on your newsfeed even though they have no affiliation with you. I find it is best to handle them just like the haters, ignore them, or delete them. There is such a thing as common courtesy and you should always give it.