Ep#21: Orna Ross chats with mystery writer Elizabeth Spann Craig to discover how she’s using Wattpad to expand her reader demographic. If you’re looking for an uncomplicated and free way of reaching more readers, Wattpad could be the option you’re looking for.

This month’s ALLi Insights event was full of information and inspiration about why and how you can leverage your existing content to reach a broader audience.

Here’s Wattpad Insights to whet your appetite:

• Wattpad users are very mobile savvy and skew towards a younger demographic.
• Authors don’t have to write serially, they just need to publish serially.
• The Wattpad mobile app for free, and a Wattpad account is also free.
• Set a consistent publishing schedule for your chapter releases.
• If you already have a free book, it makes sense to leverage it on Wattpad. Use it as a funnel to your other books.
• At the end of each Wattpad chapter you can add an author call to action (e.g. sign up to the author’s mailing list, or letting your readers know where to buy the book if they can’t wait for the next installment).
• A demographics tab gives you insights into the age demographics of your readers and their geographic location. Authors can add images or a video to each chapter to increase engagement.
• It’ll take about 4-6 chapters to get some audience traction. Wattpad increases your opportunity of reaching your share of the 40 Million global readers.

Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish.

About your host:

Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss