The social storytelling platform Wattpad is now replacing its Paid Stories with a new freemium model dubbed “Wattpad Originals” that provides authors the chance to monetize their work while also expanding their readership of non-paying customers.
“Paid Stories paid out millions to authors, but it also meant slower story growth,” head of content and creator development at Wattpad, Nick Uskoski, told TechCrunch.
“It was harder for a story to go viral or suddenly pick up new readers at the same rate as a free story. So, for some authors, the program created a difficult choice between quickly growing the readership for a free story or monetizing and accepting the potential of slower audience growth.”
With the new system, authors can place some chapters behind a paywall while still giving consumers access to free material so they can read it before making a purchase.
Only by invitation, Wattpad Originals offers premium content that has been chosen by editorial professionals based on reader engagement numbers.
By purchasing coins to unlock chapters (the price is based on word count) or by subscribing to Wattpad Premium+ for $7.49 a month, readers can support their favourite authors.
The first time Wattpad hosted sponsored content was with sponsored Stories. Since authors may increase their audience of free readers while providing supporters with early access to new chapters for a small cost, Uskoski thinks that the new paid content model will be a “win-win” for both authors and fans.
