I'm just wondering if any of you readers (which is probably none at the moment) have a Wattpad account. I have one, in case you don't know that already. I love reading. That's the simple truth and the reason why I joined Wattpad in the first place. I've also recently joined a site called Goodreads and have been absolutely obsessed with it.
For those of you who don't know what those two websites are, let me explain. Wattpad is a large community for readers and writers (or both, if you like to write and read) to come together. Writers can publish their books on the web and readers can read these books for free. Wattpad is a good site for writers who are looking for some direct feedback on their story. I enjoy the site, though it might not be for everyone. Users are suppose to be thirteen to join and for good reasons. Ninety percent of the books posted are romance and when there's romance...well, I think we all know what'll be inside. There are quiet a few people that try to use it as a social outlet. Sure, I'll go into the forums and talk to people, but I mainly use it for reading. Hopefully, I'll be able to publish a book on Wattpad to see if I'll have a chance at being a writer.
And then there's Goodreads. I knew of Goodreads way before I joined it. In fact, I still would not have been a member if a friend had not invited me to join. So now I am! I feel that Goodreads has a better connection to the real world. In Wattpad, teens (and adults, of course) can publish their books and become "popular". But these popular authors might be writing off of false feedback. Although there are some good critiques on the site, there are some that give out compliments without thinking about helping improve the author's book. And the truth is, they really aren't that popular, just in that one website.
Of course there are a few exceptions. But Goodreads deals with real, published, best-seller books. It helps you keep track of what books your reading and when you finished them. You can rate books, join book clubs, participate in different challenges, take quizzes, etc. It keeps me reading. I'm not saying that Wattpad isn't as good as Goodreads. They both serve different purposes (although Goodreads also let's you publish your own book on the site. However, this...attraction, for a lack of better words, isn't a popular as it is on Wattpad). But they do have something in common. They attract book lovers. And that's exactly what I need.
I don't understand how people can not like reading. Wait, no. I take that back. I actually do understand, or at least I did. There are so many other ways to spend the day; surfing the 'net, playing sports or video games. I used to spend the whole day watching TV. But then I found books. At first, I thought they were boring and pointless, but I later came to realize that it was like another form of TV. It's telling a story except through words. And, before I knew it, I almost constantly had my nose in a book, hardly even sparing a glance at the television. One thing I noticed is that people seem to be more impressed with you. They look in your direction and make a comment to their spouse about how it's good to still see younger people reading. Of course, that was a while ago and it only happened once. And they were my grandparents.
...
Anyway. Back to what I originally wanted to talk about.
I had been on Wattpad recently and, as I do on occasion, I looked at my reading list. As of the present, I have five reading lists; Reading, Finished, Read Later, Roleplays and Watching. They're pretty self-explanatory, but I think I'll be removing my Roleplay Reading List. I, sadly, don't have a lot of time to role play, so I have abandoned the role plays that I had joined. Sad, right?
So, I'm not sure when, but I had been viewing my Reading Reading List (haha, it looks like a typo!) a while ago. And then I saw that one of the books I had been reading had been deleted. Now, when this fact finally sunk in, I was shocked. And mad. You have to understand that this book was a really popular book. It had over a million reads which, in Wattpad, means that the writer is practically equal to J.K. Rowling. Maybe a bit less. Or a lot less. But that's beside the point. What's important is that you know that the book's popular.
But the sad thing about writers that are popular is that, despite their enormous amount of fans that support them, they tend to become really lazy. At first, they might promise to update at least once a day. The promise might hold for a while until their reads start racking up. Then it becomes two weeks. And then a month. Now, I know that these writers are busy, like the rest of us. But their "busyness" tends to get out of hand. It had been almost half a year since one of the so-called famous writers updated their book.
You might think I'm crazy right now. That I'm just a selfish, whiney little reader. But my whole point is that writers shouldn't make promises that they won't be able to keep. And if they're going to delete their book for whatever reason, they could at least offer an explanation. As a reader, I'd appreciate it, even if it's hard to believe.
This author (who's name I won't mention) deleted her book without reason. And it made me really mad. Anyone else get really mad when author's do unjustified stuff? Or do you completely disagree with me? Let me know by leaving me a comment!
