ASHLEIGH GARDNER: Wattpad as a Powerful Platform and Tool for Authors

Ashleigh Gardner is the Deputy General Manager, Wattpad Studios, Publishing. She works with Wattpad writers and publishers around the world to turn Wattpad stories into books. Ashleigh creates meaningful promotional and editorial partnerships with the publishing industry by leveraging the data and insights from the more than 400 million story uploads on Wattpad. This also helps publishers everywhere find exciting new voices and transform their business with data-driven decision-making. In today's episode proudly brought to you by Wattpad, we get into the nitty gritty about all things Wattpad and how it benefits the writers and readers in our community. We dig deep into Ashleigh's role at Wattpad and her personal journey that led her there and she shares advice on how to begin a career in the publishing world. We continue to discuss how Wattpad builds readerships and audiences for their writers, how it's a space for authors to instantly interact with your audience and receive feedback, how to use Wattpad to help the research and editing process as an author, and how its features can help our community virtually connect with writing groups to share ideas and encourage one another. Ashleigh unpacks the relationships Wattpad has with publishers to connect users with the publishing world and we discuss the most popular current trends that she sees at the company and how they're able to discover these trends. She also walks us through the steps you can take to increase your story's popularity on Wattpad and we discuss the kinds of questions you should ask a publisher when they approach you and your story. Happy Listening! Xo, Yin PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! --- If you enjoyed this episode, I'd really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page! --- Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group! --- Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here! ---  "You don't need to wait for anyone to do this with you, you can go out and do it on your own."  -Ashleigh Gardner (Click to tweet) "As soon as you get it out and post it, you can go back and change it. Just plowing through that first draft, not spending a lot of time re-editing things you've written already, that would be my biggest piece of advice." -Ashleigh Gardner (Click to tweet)  --- WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:  A look into Ashleigh's role at Wattpad and the journey that led her there  Advice on how to begin a career in the publishing world  How Wattpad builds readerships and audiences for their writers How Wattpad is a space for authors to instantly interact with your audience and receive feedback How Wattpad's technology and data helps publishers identify new stories and emerging voices Insight into the relationships Wattpad has with publishers to connect users with the publishing world  How to use Wattpad to help your research and editing process as an author  The most popular current trends Ashleigh sees on Wattpad and how they discover these trends The steps you can take to increase your story's popularity on Wattpad How Wattpad's features can help you virtually connect with your writing group to share ideas and encourage one another What questions you should ask a publisher when they approach you and your story