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Top 10 Nerdy Things to Die for

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Wattpad brings you a guest post from Tsubame, author of our newest Featured Story Life As Told By Nerdy:

First of all, let me tell you about why I was let lose off my straight jacket and talking to you now. Apparently, Life as Told by Nerdy, a story I wrote, had caught some attention. Whether that was a good or a bad thing, I couldn’t be sure. But practically, the story revolves around Sarah Littman, also known as Nerdy, who tried her best to do a self make-over but failed too many times. She met a boy who was doing just the opposite. He was pretending to be a nerd.

But, ha! Don’t you ever think that being a nerd would be that easy. Not! It takes a lot more than talent and genes to do it. Now, if you are an aspiring nerd or just curious on how to be in touch with you inner nerd, here are a few things you might want to own.

The glasses. Yes. Spectacles, bifocals, cheaters—whichever you want to call them. A good nerd in their right mind would at least have one whether it’s a prescription or just for show. You’d probably need a good old pair to read all those volumes of hardbound books you’ve checked out from the library. Plus, I would recommend a spare just in case all hell breaks loose and the world comes to an end. You wouldn’t want to end up being gnawed on by the bad guys just because your glasses broke or fell off, do you?

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i. The Photochromic Glasses. I’m not talking of just any glasses. I’m talking about light-adaptive glasses that darken when outdoors and become clear indoors. Yes! Like shades! Ha!

ii. The Sony 3D Active Glasses. And if that’s not nerdy enough, if you want that 3D effect while apocalypse happens in reel time, or just want to see the boring world (but mostly your favorite TV show) in a totally different way, you might want to try this. It’s complete with a standard micro-USB port.

iii. The Sarcastic Talking Shirt. To add a dramatic effect, if you’re not sarcastic enough, then let your shirt talk for you.

iv. A Magic Eight Ball. If you think it’s just a hollow piece of plastic. We’ll you’re darn wrong. Nerdy minds are pretty complex and sometimes one just couldn’t decide whether to take the left or the right turn as you run for dear life away from Jason-X. Or if just to see whether to add Sulfuric acid or Hydrochloric or both. You’d find that this genius device is a lifesaver! That is if, by chance, you still haven’t exploded into pieces. Good luck!

v. A Super Mario Lamp that lets you punch the light out, literally. Or as I call it, The Super Mario Lamp that lets you punch the light out, literally. Ugh. Besides, the annoying long name which I couldn’t bear to repeat again, it lets you do what was said above, complete with a classic coin sound and probably a 1-up! Plus you’ll never have to sleep in the dark again.

vi. The Ghostbusters Proton Pack Backpack. Sarcasm, check. Guts, check. A degree in paranormal studies, double check. Now you might be wondering where to put all those stuff you got. Well here it is, complete with a Neutrona Wand especially made for evil spirits (and maybe as a flashlight carrier).

vii. The Lightsaber. Play Darth Vader theme at this point while breathing into a cup. Light up your life with some Plasma. Channel your inner Jedi with this neat glow-in-the dark weapon of greatness. Any nerd may need The Force with them, you know.

viii. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I know. Who doesn’t just love Arthur Dent? Whether you’re searching for some genuine outer space experience and or just bored out of your wits trying to fathom your existence and the human-from-apes premise and such, this book is the answer (or any of the five books for that matter). Plus, it has the words “Don’t panic” in front. You never know when you’ll get abducted by flying saucers. Be prepared!

ix. A copy of Resident Evil 4. (A. K. A. Biohazard 4 or any one of the series. I just happen to love Leon, duh.) You’ve seen the movie. Now, experience it. The ugly truth— most nerds have either low involvement in the social pool, or no life at all. That is why video games are invented, people! We do here what we couldn’t actually do in real life. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just want to blast off zombies for the fun of it, I think you’d find yourself somewhat deprived of sleep because of these games. I mean, who else is going to save the world once the T-virus infects us all?

x. A Towel. For obvious reasons, and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep thinking! Haha!

Done at last. I hope this helps. And do not panic. When I said 10 Nerdy things to die for, I don’t really mean that you should die for them, literally. That would probably get me arrested.

Check out Life As Told By Nerdy on Wattpad:

As if life wasn’t hard enough being bullied and treated like garbage all the time; my loathsome, insufferable seat mate just had to come with his “secrets” and torture my every waking hour. What’s the big deal you say? Nothing except for the fact that he’s some insanely beautiful Greek God under those nerdy glasses. And now, he lives next door. I’m Sarah and this is my story.


Reading List: Urban Books

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Every week, we feature an interesting reading list on Wattpad.

Check out StarrJoy’s collection of “Urban Books”:

  

How do you find new stories to read? If you’ve discovered a great reading list, let us know in the comments below, or share it with us on Facebook!

Small Fibs & White Lies

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Wattpad brings you a guest post from help-me-think-of-one, author of White Lies, a Watty Awards 2011 winner:

Lying is one of the lesser noble instincts that a human being possesses. Stretching the truth is a main reflex that we all have when dealing with a potentially tricky or humiliating situation. The question is knowing how much is too much, and knowing when to draw boundaries.

Jessabel Griffin doesn’t have boundaries when it comes to telling lies. Nope – in fact, she gets quite a kick out of it. When she was a little girl, she lied about her Daddy being an astronaut. On her first day at Greymare, she pretended to be a British albino on the run from an African tribe, who believed that albino blood cured all diseases.

And when her best friend – her only friend – mysteriously went missing, she lied about that too.

Sooner than she expected, she found herself trapped in an intricate web of lies
– lies more dangerous and powerful than she could have ever imagined. With
the wealth and power of Alistair’s elite families, a shiny new revolver, and an
annoyingly charming boy by her side, she untangles the web string by string and
finds the one thing she swore she’d never tell – the truth.

While most of us aren’t on the ‘Level 5: Jessabel Griffin’ scale of compulsive lying,
we’ve all fibbed a little here and there. It’s only natural of course – I mean, what
else are you supposed to do when you’ve forgotten to do your homework? What
else can you say when you’ve been given a really lame present for Christmas?

We throw common lies around frequently, but one lie too many, and you could
tangle yourself up. Here are some of my favourite – and most highly believable -
‘white lies’:

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5. “I never said that.”
What? How could you believe that I said something like that? Does our
friendship mean nothing to you?

4. “I’m almost there.”
Make sure you’re not calling from your home phone when you say this.

3. “Oh, I’ve had this for ages!”
No really, no. I bought it two days ago from Forever New, but it was half-priced
and you can’t know that.

2. “I’m 17, 6”5’, male, muscular built, tan…”
Or at least that’s how you think I look, hidden in the dark, chatting you up
online… Mwuahahaha.

1.“Oh yeah. I get it now.”
Actually, I still don’t get the math equation. But having you explain it to me for
the 9th time will make me look stupid. Now shoo. I’ll copy off of that guy.

So heed my warning. Don’t go pulling a Jessabel whenever you need a good
cover-up. One way or another, you’re always caught. Keep it simple, keep it
believable, and STOP GIGGLING. I mean it.

Last day to enter Bill Gourgey’s Glide contest!

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Win a black 2GB USB Bracelet imprinted with the Glide logo and filled with Glide goodies including the Glide eBook, invention imagery, and interviews with the author. Click Here for Full Contest Details!

The Developing Story: Once upon a time...

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The Developing Story: Once upon a time...:

Check out the brand-new engineering blog from the developers at Wattpad:

Everyone likes a good story, right? The engineering team at Wattpad has a few stories to share. We’ll mostly talk about how we build the system behind Wattpad, what’s worked for us and the mistakes we’ve made. You can sit back, relax and watch this space closely.

If you don’t know Wattpad,…

Read more

Check out Wattpad’s official podcast channel! We talk...

We're coming to London!

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[Photo source]

Wattpad Meetup in London, UK

Join us on April 14 for The Official Wattpad London Meetup. We’ll have some snacks, giveaways and mingle the afternoon away in the beautiful city by the Thames River.

Find out more and RSVP here!

We can’t wait to see you there!

Wattpad Cover-Off: "Portal"

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Which version of Imogen Rose’s “Portal” do you like better - 1, 2, or 3, or 4?


Are you ready to watch The Hunger Games this week?

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Are you ready to watch The Hunger Games this week?

Friday Find: "In The Lair Of The Draca"

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Another excellent chapter! I drop everything the moment I get an email saying you’ve updated this.

Every Friday, we bring you an undiscovered gem to read on Wattpad. This week, our secret Wattpad Talent Hunters recommend In The Lair of the Draca, a fantasy sci-fi:

In the Lair of the Draca by ahdiloo1

Two tiny girls, on a quest to find Earth, survive a devastating airship crash and find themselves on a seemingly desolate world…where they are not alone.

Do You See What I See?: Psychics through History

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Wattpad brings you a guest post from Jane Sevier, author of Fortune’s Fool:

Ever wish you could see into the future? Commune with your grandmama after she has passed over? Communicate with beings on another plane of existence? Well, you’re not alone.

Oracle. Clairvoyant. Medium. Shaman. Seer. Psychic. Whatever you call them, every culture has its version of the gifted who can do just that. From the time human brains advanced enough to embrace the idea that there is a tomorrow, people have wanted to foresee the future or plumb the unknown.

There are accounts of prophesies in the Bible, and the pharaohs of ancient Egypt consulted psychics on everything from the most auspicious time to plant crops to what day to engage an enemy to ensure victory in battle.

“Priestess of Delphi” (1891) by John Collier [source]

From as long ago as the 8th century B.C. until the 4th century A.D., petitioners came from throughout the Greek world to slopes of Mount Parnassus to consult the Pythia, the priestess who served the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, perhaps the most renowned of the ancient seers. Consultations were restricted to Apollo’s birthday, the seventh day of the Delphic month (possibly our March 4th). To win one, you needed a powerful sponsor, were required to undergo a purification ceremony, and had to bring along an appropriate animal to sacrifice. To prepare herself, the Pythia first bathed in the Castalian spring, then drank from the sacred spring Cassotis before she entered the temple. She chewed leaves from the laurel, the tree sacred to Apollo, which may have contributed to the ecstatic state she entered to deliver her prophecies.

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16th-century prognosticator Nostradamus [source]

Back in the 16th century, nobody thought it strange that a doctor also practiced astrology.

Medical science—and science in general—weren’t what they are today. This was lucky for French physician and astrologer Michel De Notredame, aka Nostradamus, whose prophesies have enthralled readers since he first began publishing them in 1550. Because some seemed to come true, he grew so famous in his own time that Queen Catherine de Medici invited him to the Paris court and Charles IX named him his personal physician when Charles became king.

Nostradamus supposedly sat awake at night for years, peering into a brass bowl filled with water to summon his visions of the future. Some believe that he forecast the French Revolution, the rise of Fascism in the 1930s, and the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger in 1986.

Many pour over the writings of Nostradamus today, hoping to decipher what’s next in store for the human race.

Southern Spiritualist, orator, and minister Jesse Babcock Ferguson [source]

When he became pastor of the Nashville Church of Christ in 1846, perhaps the Reverend Jesse Ferguson should have foreseen that his changing beliefs would one day make him a figure of such controversy that he would be forced to resign despite the support of his congregation.

Ferguson embraced the tenets of the growing Spiritualist movement, which taught that the spirits of the dead both can and wish to communicate with the living. He claimed that the spirit of Universalist minister William Ellery Channing had influenced his evolving religious views through messages that came to him through séances. Despite the controversy, Ferguson became a popular orator, lecturing across the South on politics and literature. He also traveled to England with the Davenport Brothers, magicians who claimed that their illusions were the result of supernatural ability, where he warmed up audiences with discussions of Spiritualism. In London,
a spiritualist colleague gave Ferguson a set of spirit dispatches for President Andrew Johnson, which Ferguson delivered in Washington.

Italian medium Eusapia Palladino apparently levitating a table at the home of French astronomer Camille Flammarion during an 1888 séance. [source]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of uber-rational fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, believed in psychic phenomena and was a devotee of séances. Conan Doyle ardently defended Eusapia Palladino, a Neapolitan medium whose admirers also included French Nobel laureate physicist Pierre Curie. Perhaps the most storied and scrutinized medium of the turn of the 19th century, Palladino included among her paranormal abilities levitating herself and objects, making spirit hands appear, and communicating with the dead through her spirit guide, John King. In 1908, her powers so impressed a committee appointed by the American Society for Psychical
Research to test her that they declared her to be genuine.

American psychic and medical clairvoyant Edgar Cayce [source]

Twentieth-century psychic Edgar Cayce claimed to have discovered his gift for healing while under hypnosis to treat a severe case of laryngitis. Having cured himself and then his hypnotist, Cayce was persuaded to offer his trance healing to the public. Throughout his life, healing would remain his primary interest. He also gave readings on topics as wide-ranging as Atlantis, politics, and theology and counted Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison, and George Gershwin among his clients. A devout member of the Disciples of Christ and a Sunday school teacher, Cayce also believed in reincarnation and in the akashic records, a concept popularized in theosophical movements that describes a sort of cosmic repository of all knowledge of human experience and of the history of the cosmos. Cayce founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment to explore holistic health, ancient mysteries, personal spirituality, dreams and dream interpretation, intuition, philosophy, and reincarnation.

So, are psychics real? For a very, very long time lots of people have believed in them.

I leave it up to you to decide for yourself. As for me, I’m with Hamlet. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Check out Jane Sevier’s mystery-suspense fiction about hesitant psychic Nell Marchand and her adventures in 1930s Memphis.

Fortune’s Fool

When her husband dies and leaves her penniless, a 1930s Memphis socialite becomes a fortuneteller, only to discover that she has the true sight.

It’s 1933, a quarter of all Americans are unemployed, John Dillinger grabs headlines
knocking off banks, and FDR is in the White House, promising a New Deal for the country.

Nell Marchand has never worked a day in her life. When her philandering skunk of a husband suddenly drops dead, leaving her without one red cent to her name, she lands smack dab in the middle of the hard times she has only heard about in newsreels. Nell tries to find a job to support herself and the household that depends on her, really she does. Her typing is a disaster, she cuts off every call in her one day as a telephone operator, and laundress leaves her back aching. There has to be an easier way.

A reluctant visit to prosperous Joseph Calendar, her flighty mother-in-law’s medium, persuades Nell that there are fortunes to be made in, well, telling fortunes. As society fortuneteller Madame Nelora, she is soon the toast of Memphis. But when a desperate father begs Nell to find his daughter, she has a true vision of the missing girl. Terrified that she’s losing her mind, Nell turns to Calendar. She may suspect he’s a charlatan, but he is the only man who can help her embrace her gift and the responsibility it entails. To find the girl-and unravel a secret from her own past-Nell must outwit a corrupt banker and his gangster pals who will do anything to keep her hidden.

Fortune’s Fool was a finalist for RWA’s Golden Heart©.

Look for Fortune’s Fool on Wattpad, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

10 Things I Wanted To Do After High School

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WATTPAD BRINGS YOU A GUEST POST FROM CAITLYNDUFFY AUTHOR OF GRACE - THE BELIEVER’S DAUGHTER.

When sheltered Grace Mathison runs away from boarding school with her brother, she gets a jump start on grown-up life and has an opportunity to do things she never thought she’d do in her whole life, like work in a tattoo parlor and fall in love with a guy who has a lip ring and regularly breaks laws.

Here’s my own, personal list of things I wanted to happen after high school:

  1. Getting my own apartment— no more roommates! With a dishwasher (still waiting for that part to happen).
     
  2. Traveling all over the world without waiting for my parents’ permission.



  3.  Adopting a fancy miniature breed dog and parading him all over my neighborhood (I guess I’ve kind of done that, although my Chihuahua is overweight, drools, and it’s hard to get him to do much).


     
  4. Hanging out in slammin’ nightclubs every single night with celebrities and an awesome crew of sexy gay boys (that actually was my life for a few years minus the celebrity part, but it got expensive quickly, and if conflicted a lot with the next item in this list) (Madonna, still living my dream life for me).



  5. Somehow, magically, waking up one day super beautiful and having tons of dudes sweat me, especially the cute guy with the goatee who worked at Starbucks near my campus who used to draw hearts on my cup next to my name (guess what – two days after I graduated from high school I completely forgot about that guy until today).
     
  6. Getting my eyebrow pierced (OK, maybe not the best idea I ever had, but I wasn’t going to tire of the idea until I did it).
     
  7. Looking like the coolest girl in Manhattan’s East Village one day, and having some kind of cool job where I made an incredible amount of money and got to flirt all day with cute boys. Please note, I don’t think this job really exists now that I’ve had many, many jobs. 



  8.  Winning a ton of writing accolades – Newbery medals, Odyssey awards, the Man Booker Prize, the PEN/Faulkner award, and getting on the NY Times Best Seller list.  I’m not 18 anymore but this is still on my list! Don’t ask me how I planned to achieve this when I was still counting on partying every night at Santos Party House with my gay boy crew. 
     
  9. Having so much money that I could just walk into Bergdorf Goodman and buy whatever I wanted, as if it were Kmart. This will probably be my very last thought, as I lay on my deathbed. I am a shallow, shallow person. If I were rich I’d even buy obscenely expensive curtain rods.
     
  10. Getting invited to the Oscars and Cannes and the IFP awards and maybe the Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards, too, and being BFF’s with Kate Winslet and having Rachel Zoe dress me. OK, maybe this one is a little over the top, but I dream big and  I dream in details!

      

What are you looking forward to doing as soon as you’re a grown-up?

A Star is Born

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WATTPAD BRINGS YOU A GUEST POST FROM BRITTHEBOOKSLAYER AUTHOR OF SUDDENLY STARLET.

My name’s Brittany Geragotelis, but most of you probably know me as The Book Slayer here on Wattpad. I’m the author of fan fave, Life’s a Witch, a book that started out here on Watty and was recently snatched up by publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster in a 3-book deal. S&S will be repubbing LAW, the prequel and the sequel beginning later this year (so stay tuned!)! I also wrote Fate Reloaded as well as a few stories for the totally awesome, totally new, Totally Amp’d app.

Now I’m publishing my third book, Suddenly Starlet, a story about teenager, Laney Herman, who’s plucked out of obscurity, brought to Hollywood and is given the role of a lifetime. After being discovered by a big-time movie agent, Laney makes the move to California where she auditions and scores a part in an upcoming film. Now, acting alongside other teen superstars and heartthrobs, Laney realizes that there’s a lot more to Hollywood than just memorizing your lines. There’s on-set drama, fame, romance…and paparazzi! Suddenly Starlet is a fun, inside look into the fabulous (and not-so-fabulous) lives of the Hollywood elite.

I may not be famous (yet), but I’ve interviewed many a celebrity (Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, Kendall Jenner and Ashley Greene just to name a few), so I know a little something about being a star. Part of it is all about where you live and who you know. And since we’ve already established who I know, how about I tackle the other part? I currently live in one of the best cities in the world. The spotlights of Hollywood have nothing on the bright lights of New York City. So, in honor of my latest book, I thought I’d give the scoop on all the coolest places in NYC, for all you stars out there. 

Here’s The Starlet’s Guide to NYC:

1. Serendipity 3

Best known for its desserts (hello, famous frozen hot chocolate!), Serendipity 3 went Hollywood back in 2001, when a movie by the same name (minus the number but starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale) showed just how romantic ice cream can be. The shop doesn’t take reservations, is super-small and always has a line out the door, but once you finally make it inside, the tasty treats are worth the wait. And if you’re rolling in the dough like Kim Kardashian (yes, she’s eaten there, too), you might just decide to order the Golden Opulence Sundae. It’s sprinkled with edible gold flakes and only costs $1,000!

2. Rockefeller Center/NBC Store

Yes, it IS a bit of a tourist trap, but if you’re a fan of entertainment, it’s a fun place to go. It’s got everything: Wander into the NBC Store to buy memorabilia (Cool tees, mugs, DVD’s, hats, sweatshirts, scrubs, etc) from your favorite shows or make videos and take pictures with the network’s biggest personalities. For a fee, you can even take a studio tour (and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see the “Saturday Night Live” set!). “The Today Show” tapes live in the square every morning, so if you want to score your 15 seconds of fame, you can drop by there, too. Just be sure to say hi to Anne, Matt and Al.

3. Central Park

This huge park is a getaway in the middle of a blazing-fast city…and has been the backdrop for many a movie and television show. While wandering through its many different walkways, be sure to drop by The Boathouse where Mr. Big and Carrie Bradshaw fell into the duck pond on an episode of “Sex and the City”, check out Bethesda Terrace where many a “Gossip Girl” has ventured, and saunter down The Great Walk which has appeared in so many movies and TV shows I can’t name them all.

4. The West Village

Head below 14th Street on the West side and you’re likely to run into a celeb or two. There are a ton of actors and actresses who have called the West Village home. Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Connelly, Liv Tyler, Julianne Moore, Keri Russell, Gwenyth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Radcliffe are just a few of the celebs who live in this hip NY area.

5. 5th Avenue

Tiffany’s, H&M, Louis Vuitton, Sakks, Bergdorf’s, The World of Disney Store, American Girl, Apple Store, FAO Schwarz, Prada, Gucci, Fendi—and the list goes on and on. Whatever your price point (you could be a rising star or a full-blown superstar), there’s a store along 5th Avenue for you. And really, is there anything a starlet does better than shop?

6. Broadway

Any starlet knows that all the world is a stage. But NYC has this amazing place called “Broadway” where celebrities flock to show off their acting chops live. Shows like Wicked, Chicago, Book of Mormon, Mamma Mia!, Spider-Man, The Lion King, Rock of Ages, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Phantom of the Opera and Rent all display acting, singing and dancing at its best. And at any given time you can see certain celebs up-close-and-personal (I most recently saw Joe Jonas in How to Succeed) as they star in select shows. It doesn’t get much more “Hollywood” than that.

Now that you’ve checked out my favorite NYC spots fit for a starlet, be sure to read Suddenly Starlet, being published on Wattpad now! For more info on me and my publishing journey, visit my website or follow me on Twitter  and Facebook.

The prequel to Life’s a Witch, called What the Spell? will be out in bookstores January 1, 2013!

Wattpad's Manila Meetup

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Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came out to our first official Meetup in the Philippines! It was so great to meet all of the Manila Wattpadders and spend the afternoon with you guys. We had so much fun! Also, a special thanks to Louisse and Kim for all their help!

Check out some of the awesome pics from Saturday:

Our next meetup is taking place on April 14th in London. We’d love to see all our UK users there, so be sure to RSVP!

I want to publish my book!

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Signing a book deal with a publisher is a pipe dream for many writers, and sometimes sheer passion isn’t enough to get your words into paperback. Here’s how romance writer Marie Higgins, author of Falling in Love Again (Colonial Romance) found her publisher, got her books into print and continues to cultivate the relationship. 

How did you find your publisher? 

I love the internet! I love Google! I asked around my Yahoo groups in hopes of someone knowing a good Christian publisher. I queried a couple (one I had to snail mail my story to), and when I found Walnut Springs I emailed a couple of their authors to find out more about the company. When I was satisfied, I queried them. Not more than a month later, I got an offer. They loved my story! 

What do publishers look for? 

I have been in the writing business for several years. I was even with Romance Writers of America and President of the Utah chapter for a few years. I’ve been to many conferences and workshops. This is the question most readers ask. It comes down to this… Write the best possible story you know how to write. Study your target publisher…which means if they publish romances the kind you write, then they are the publisher you want. If they publish science fiction and you write historical romance, they are probably not the right fit. Read their books to get a feel for the story and how the story comes together, etc. If you write this way, then it’s a good fit. If you don’t…it’s probably not a good fit. Once you have perfected your story the best you can, send it to them. Editors are very picky, especially lately. Don’t be discouraged if you’re rejected. If writing is what you love, keep trying!! 

How long did it take you to find a publishing house? 

YEARS! I’m one of those authors who was passed over quite a bit. I wanted to quit, but I loved writing so much, I couldn’t. Not only that, new stories kept popping into my head and I would always think “This is the ONE”. 

How did you deal with rejection? 

When I got that rejection letter or email, I wanted to cry “NOT AGAIN”! I wanted to throw my hands in the air and give up. Then I got angry because some of the authors I’d read from that publisher weren’t that good in my opinion. I gave myself one day to sulk and feel sorry for myself, and then the next day I grew tough skin and continued in my search for the right publisher. I tried to create better stories. I tried to write what I thought was selling that what editors were looking for. Soon, the rejection was behind me and I could move on. 

What are some tips to maintain a healthy relationship with a publisher? 

Don’t be a diva! lol Your editor knows what he/she wants for the publisher. Be willing to bend…a LOT. If you don’t think something is right with your edits, communicate to your editor and see how the two of you can work it out. Promote yourself, as well. Once your book is out, don’t wait for them to do all the work. You must do all you can to tell people about your story! 

How does being on Wattpad benefit an already-published author? 

Believe it or not…it lifts me up. There are several times during the day when my mood is low and I feel worthless and I wonder why I’m even writing. Then suddenly, I receive a comment on my story - and someone actually loves my writing. My readers are so involved in the story they get emotional. I LOVE IT! And…these comments come at just the right time, too. Believe me, Wattpad was the best decision I’d made in a very long time!


The Lipstick Kiss

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Wattpad is very pleased to bring you today’s guest post from author Margaret Atwood. Ms. Atwood has recently embarked on a new adventure in online publishing and we’re happy to see her dive in! We are also incredibly happy that she has been generous enough to share some advice and insight with the Wattpad community on the process of selecting a title and cover for her latest original short story. 

Choosing the Title and Cover Image for Byliner’s I’m Starved For You

Choosing a book title is sometimes a dream, though more often it’s a nightmare. The title is like a doorway: it’s the first thing a reader sees in addition to and the cover image. Whoever decides on the title of a book hopes that it will invite the reader to open the door and go in.

Sometimes a writer has the title very early, and knows it, and the publisher’s enthusiastic. But if there’s uncertainty, the process of deciding can be nerve-racking, because not everyone involved – the publishers, the marketers, the editors — will agree. 

While I was writing I’m Starved For You, I called it Consilience, which is the name of the town where the story takes place. This word has a comfortable, friendly feel to it, though what it actually means, according to Wikipedia, is “a ‘jumping’ together of knowledge by the linking of facts and fact-based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation.” This kind of fits what’s going on in the town of Consilience, where the justice system and the economic system are linked by turning a prison into a full-employment scheme, with cost savings and other benefits. These include house-sharing by its citizens, who take turns being prisoners.

But who knows what “consilience” means, right off the bat? So I changed the name to Lockers. This seemed fitting as well, since each of the four characters who share a house has a locker in which to stow the clothes they won’t be wearing during the months they spend in the prison. The lockers are different colors: red, green, purple, pink. Stan’s wife, Charmaine, has the pink one; she briefly considers putting Stan into it, though she realizes she would have to cut some pieces off him in order to cram him in. As a title, Lockers also dovetailed with the prison theme, for prison is a place where people are locked away.

But the editors at Byliner felt that title didn’t jump off the page. They wanted something “sexier,” more alluring; something that would evoke all the longing in the story. We all cudgeled our brains, sending titles back and forth by email – Shackle Day, The Red Locker, Purple Kiss, The Heart Goes Last, I’m Starved For You.  Finally we narrowed it down to the last two. Then we voted, and I’m Starved For You won by a narrow margin.

It’s a line from a note Stan finds hidden in the house that he and Charmaine share with their “alternate” couple, whom they are never allowed to see. The note appears to be from the wife, Jasmine, and is addressed to her husband Max. It’s sealed with a purple lipstick kiss. At the beginning of the story, Stan falls in lust with the imprint of this kiss, and determines to track down the woman who has made it. 

Once the title was decided on, it was the turn of the cover image.

There was a brief flirtation with a picture of a red scooter on a deserted beach – the mood was “escape” – but as there was no beach in the book, I wrote to my editor, “Never promise a beach when you don’t have one to offer.” It didn’t take us long to decide on the final image, which was the purple lipstick kiss itself, on a folded and slightly crumpled piece of paper.  It fit the title – the final title – because an open mouth can be sexy, or it can be hungry. As for the dark pink color, it can be seen as provocative or maybe a little vampiristic. “Starved” implies desperation, and viewed from a certain angle the vertical creases in the paper slightly resemble fangs.

A title and a cover image are indeed like a doorway; and doors are gateways to the unknown. I suppose that’s one of the reasons we read: to follow mysterious pathways; to be taken somewhere we’ve never been before. It might be a little dark in there, but that’s always the chance you take, with doors.

Margaret Atwood is the author of over forty books, including The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake. I’m Starved for You can be found at www.Byliner.com/originals/i-m-starved-for-you. Read an excerpt here

Today we’re holding our first ever internal hackathon at...

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Today we’re holding our first ever internal hackathon at Wattpad! We’re not sure what’s going to happen, but we started out bright and early at 9am and the plan is to code for 24 hours straight!

So, what’s a hackathon you might ask? Well, it’s a chance to work together on some innovative extracurricular projects. We all pitched ideas, voted and then split up into teams to start building! Some of us are working on new Wattpad products and features, while others have set out to hack the office!! Hello collaborative DJ’ing! We even have a hardware project going!!
 
The pizza, sushi and donuts have been flowing all day long because we need to keep up our strength. Nobody’s slowing down yet! So be sure to check back tomorrow morning to see all the cool things we’ve managed to hack together!!! 

April's Recommend to Win Contest

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To celebrate fun, pranks, and laughter in honor of April Fools’ Day, we are hosting a Recommend to Win Contest for the month of April.

To join the contest, share a link to a Wattpad story that will make your friends smile or brighten someone’s day. Also, don’t forget to tell everyone why you recommend it!

For all the laughs and additional info please visit: http://www.wattpad.com/user/WPAprilFools

20 lucky winners will receive Limited Edition Wattpad April Fools’ shirts!!

Announcing the Winners of Caitlyn Duffy's The Rockstar's Daughter Contest!

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CAITLYN DUFFY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER AND RUNNERS UP OF THE ROCK STAR’S DAUGHTER CONTEST.

(Steve Tyler of Aerosmith with daughters Chelsea and Liv)
 
From Caitlyn:
First of all, thank you guys so much for all of your heartfelt and imaginative entries! Even though many of you wrote about the same musicians, all of the entries were really distinctive and showed that you put a lot of thought into the reasons for choosing who you did. Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, and Adele especially should be very appreciative of their adoring fans! Choosing winners was not easy and I read and re-read all of the entries about one hundred times trying to narrow it down to one grand prize and four runners-up.

Grand prize: 
StorySpinner for her funny post about Steve Tyler with lots of shouts out to her real dad.

Runners up: 
1. MeganSmith98 for admiring Shania Twain for overcoming loss and raising her siblings after her parents’ death.

2. _BRINK_ for her highly imaginative story about Joan Jett.

3. DenisseTorres for her realistic fantasy about being the daughter of Jay-Z and Beyonce.

4. BrittanyHernandezDeu for her very funny post about what it would be like to be Lady Gaga’s vegetarian daughter.
 

If I could have chosen any famous musician to have been my parent, it would have been hands-down: Madonna. No question. I remember the first time I ever saw “Desperately Seeking Susan,” and I vowed that I would move to New York City, pile on the make-up, and dance my butt off at Danceteria (the nightclub where Madonna dries her arm pits in the “Get Into the Groove” video) as soon as I could. Sadly, by the time I was old enough to move to New York City, Danceteria had long since closed its doors, so I was never able to fully realize my dream. But at the time when Madonna first became really famous, there was no one else like her on the scene.  When her first single to gain global attention (Lucky Star) hit the airwaves (yes, this was back when there were airwaves in the glory days of radio), Madonna was already twenty-six. Throughout my life that has served as inspiration for me. No one plucked Madonna out of a crowd when she was sixteen and handed her fame on a plate. Madonna worked very hard, made opportunities for herself by tenaciously going after success, and opened doors for herself.

I remember with great clarity seeing Madonna on “American Bandstand” for the first time (I was really young and I’m sure it was a re-run). She told Dick Clark, “I’m going to take over the world.”  And she meant it. 


It’s hard to explain what that meant back then, now that the world has endured The Spice Girls and Avril Lavigne and P!nk and lots of other examples of brash girls telling the world that they’re coming to get it. Madonna was the first female celebrity to really say, “I’m here, and I deserve attention and success.” Before Madonna, female singers acted politely surprised and humbled by fame. Madonna made it OK for girls to demand recognition. Blond Ambition was right – why be coy about having ambition?   Throughout her career, Madonna has always set out to try new things and has never let the potential for criticism hold her back. She’s taken risks with her music, has acted in and directed movies, and has even published children’s books.  When she talks about her daughter Lola’s own creativity and the leadership role she’s taken in creating the Material Girl fashion line, I can’t help but be jealous. Who wouldn’t want a mom who respects her daughter as an artist and business woman?
 
Thanks! 
- Caitlyn

The 2012 Watty Awards Info: Categories and Rules

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The Watty Awards are our annual celebration of the most loved stories by the community. This year over $20,000 will be given out in prizes across a wide range of categories! 

So, can you finish a story within a year? Take the challenge and enter the 2012 Awards. Everyone who participates has a chance to win! All showcase finalists plus 50 lucky winners will receive Limited Edition Watty Awards t-shirts.

Based on the success of last year’s awards and your valuable feedback, we’re happy to announce some exciting new information about the 2012 Watty Awards! Complete details will be posted in June 2012, but for now check out http://www.wattpad.com/watty to get started!
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