How to pitch your story to Wattpad

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Wattpad now has an always-open general submissions opportunity for all writers. Any writer can pitch their story for Wattpad Originals by filling out our Pitch form.

Wattpad Originals are a diverse collection of high-quality stories, giving readers the chance to indulge in top-tier content and support their favorite creators. Wattpad Originals can be unlocked with Coins or wait to unlock ongoing Originals for free.

When you submit a pitch, you'll be letting our team know what you'd like to work on and why we should be excited by sharing a sample of new your story with us. This will allow us to give you guidance toward opportunities through early feedback, hook your story up with the right opportunity, and/or put it on our radar for when an opportunity arises. Pitching is not a guaranteed contract opportunity.

A guide to pitching

Rules for the submissions opportunity are as follows:

You can only pitch serialized story ideas for Wattpad Ongoing Originals

Serialized stories are posted at a regular cadence and run for at least 150,000 words. Ideally, your story has two seasons (two stories in the series) and each chapter is 2,000-2,500 words. Learn more about how the Wattpad Ongoing Originals process works.

Pitching is for new story ideas only

Any complete story or story that has already been posted on Wattpad or any other platform is not eligible for submission. We are looking for new, ongoing stories to ensure that they are an excellent fit for the Wattpad Originals opportunity and are delivering on what readers are looking for. Please do not post the pitched story on Wattpad, as that would disqualify it as a pitch.

Your story must fit into one of our verticals

There are six verticals that your pitch submission must fit into. Dangerous Love, Hot Encounter, Werewolf, Para-Romantasy, Slice of Life, Speculative Fiction. To understand what types of stories we are looking for in each vertical, please refer to the Vertical Guidelines and our Tropes and Verticals resources.

All pitches must abide by our Content Guidelines

To be considered, your submitted pitch must follow all of our content guidelines. These guidelines help to create a safe and comfortable space for everyone to discover and create. Pitches that violate our content guidelines will be declined.

Pitching is available at any time

Our pitch inbox is always open! Access the submission form here. In addition to our general inbox, we will also have openings for specific verticals and subgenres. You do not need to wait for a specific opening to submit to that vertical. These openings are for priority areas that we want to fast-track stories into, such as key Wattpad Originals genres or stories featuring meaningful representation. Though you can (and should!) submit these sorts of stories any time, our priority calls indicate an area we are actively acquiring stories for and are a great way to focus your pitching if Wattpad Originals is your goal.

Pitching is open to anyone

Creators Program members get priority assessment, but anyone can pitch a story written in English that fits in one of our verticals for consideration. Learn more about our Creators Program.

What we're not looking for

We will automatically disqualify any story that contains the following:

Content that glorifies, trivializes, or condones dubious consent, sexual assault, abuse, bullying, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, and religious persecution
Content that features gratuitous violence and torture
Content that features a romantic or sexual relationship between a minor and an adult
Content that features a romantic or sexual relationship between a teacher and a student
Content that features harmful representation of marginalized identities
Content that trivializes mental illness, trauma, suicide, suicidal ideation, and any other potentially triggering themes
Content that is banned as per Wattpad’s Content Guidelines

Preparing your pitch

To pitch your story to Wattpad, you’ll need to collect and finesse all of three of the following materials. All materials are required, and any pitches that do not include them will be declined.

1. Logline

A logline is a one sentence description of your story designed to quickly grab a reader’s attention. Your logline will generally contain the following elements:

Protagonist: Main character of the story
Inciting Incident: The moment that kicks off the plot
Protagonist’s Goal: The thing that the protagonist is trying to achieve
Central Conflict: The main problem or question the protagonist is trying to solve

Try this formula to get a feel for writing your logline: When [inciting incident] happens, [protagonist] must [action] in order to [goal]

2. Summary

A summary is a 500 word overview of how the plot of the story develops. We want to get to know how the story develops beyond the inciting incident. In other words, we want to see how the central problem or premise can create ongoing plot events. We want to see stories that have a strong narrative drive, where events keep happening to the characters that keep us hooked.

When writing your summary:

Do spoil things. We want to know what happens in your story!
Do focus on the plot conflict. Character is important too, but we’re looking out what happens in the story, not so much who it happens to.
Don’t focus on backstory. While backstory may be important to your characters and the reader experience, we want to focus on the story’s present.

3. First Chapter

Your pitch needs to include the first chapter of your story. It should ideally be 2,000-2,500 words, with a maximum length of 3,000 words. It should be polished, spell-checked, and should represent your best work.

In a first chapter, we are looking for the following elements:

Hook
The first chapter should set up the basic premise of the story in a dynamic way and leave the reader wanting more. It should involve some sort of change that gets the story moving. It should make a promise to the reader about what kind of story they’re about to experience.

For additional resources on hook, explore:

Goals, Motivation, Conflict, Stakes (GMCS)
By the end of your first chapter, we should have a strong idea of what the characters want, and what’s preventing them from getting it. Ensure that your reader has an understanding of the goals, motivation, conflict, and stakes of your main character(s).

For additional resources on GMCS, explore:

Reader Promise
Your first chapter must demonstrate what kind of story the reader is going to experience. It should demonstrate engagement with the tone and scope of the subgenre you’re writing in. For example, if the story is a high stakes, high heat, mafia romance, the first chapter in your story should not be a cozy day in the life of the main character. It should be a high-stakes moment. If your story is a romance, your leads should meet by the end of the first chapter.

Webinar: How to perfect your story pitch