Wattpad as a Launching Pad for Author Brittany Geragotelis

The publishing industry is filled with Cinderella stories of authors who have made it big thanks to less-than-traditional methods. From Amanda Hocking who sold over one million copies of her self-published ebooks through Kindle Direct Publishing before being offered a traditional publishing deal, to Bella Andre and Hugh Howey who are sparking the creation of unheard of, twisting publishing deals in which the publisher has very limited rights to their works, there is no doubt that what once constituted book creation is changing. This week, author Brittany Geragotelis spoke to GoodEReader about the launch of her book, Life’s A Witch, a title she originally posted in installments on the popular content sharing site Wattpad. “I had experienced about nine years of rejection in various forms trying to get my book published traditionally before I heard of Wattpad. I had an agent who tried to sell my books but couldn’t, and then ultimately dropped me as a client. I had a period of thinking, ‘Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing? I took some time off and re-evaluated things and realized I needed to change the reasons I was writing. I thought before that I needed to get published and that my writing needed to look and feel a certain way.What it really came down to is I write because I love it and because I feel compelled to do it, and hopefully people will want to read it. “I had been trying to go about things the traditional way, and it just wasn’t happening.” Geragotelis was invited to try the then-newly launched Wattpad platform, based on her experience of working for a magazine. The founders reached out to readers and writers and asked them to try it. Despite the popular belief among writers that authors should not give their content away for free, Geragotelis looked at her new goal of just being a writer and putting her work in front of readers, and decided to post stories to the site. “It’s a huge platform of people who are my direct audience. they are people who just love to read. It’s also a community of people who inspire writers.” Geragotelis spoke to the positivity and support that she found among Wattpad’s readers, those who understand that authors are genuinely opening themselves up to criticism when they publish. She posted something original that she specifically wrote for Wattpad’s readers–in this case, a paranormal romance–due to the popularity of the genre on the platform. She crafted her series, which is a reimagining of the Salem witch trials had they taken place in modern day. After posting around one chapter per week on the platform, a fan base developed in which she had had six million reads of the first book in her series. Nearly a year later, Geragotelis had over 18 million reads of her book. As fans began to clamor for the book edition, wanting it to be available for purchase, the author had a revelation about readers that rings true across a number of issues facing the publishing industry: readers are willing to pay for great content. Despite the availability of the book for free on Wattpad, readers wanted to purchase the title, offering the author genuine compensation for her quality effort. Now, that title will be available. Geragotelis was offered a contract for the series by Simon & Schuster, and book one, still titled Life’s A Witch, launched this week. It is available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and more. Book two, What the Spell?, is also available, with the third title in the series set for release in January. Wattpad as a Launching Pad for Author Brittany Geragotelis is a post from: E-Reader News

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