1. Dr. Anthony Bonato Department of Mathematics Ryerson University
How I learned to stop worrying and love Wattpad Writing in the age of Digital Publishing
Dr. Anthony Bonato
Department of Mathematics
Ryerson University

2. About me
Mathematics professor at Ryerson, research is on network science
100+ articles in academic journals + 3 books
blog The Intrepid Mathematician: math in pop culture, interviews with mathematicians; 110+ blogs > 42K views
Editor-in-Chief of arXiv overlay journal Internet Mathematics
as a hobby, I write fiction:
upcoming YA Science Fiction novel PATTERN EARTH
SFF short stories, some with LGBT/YA themes

3. Digital First
45% of all books purchased in the US in 2016 were digital
adult fiction in the US were 71% digital
30% of all US adult fiction book purchases were of books by self- published authors
Source: Data Guy’s white paper for Digital Book World, Jan 2017

4. What is Wattpad? “YouTube for writers” content is posted by users
contains stories, all genres, often serialized
Toronto HQ, started by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen
96 employees

5. Wattpad by the numbers 45 million users (10/11/16)
300 million uploads with 32 million stories (10/11/16)
number of stories uploaded daily: 64,000 (1/6/14)
percentage of time spent from a mobile device: 90% (10/11/16)
percentage users that have written a story on their phone: 53% (1/1/14)
percentage users that are Millennials or Gen Z: 85% (10/11/16)

6. Case in point
Katarina E. Tonks - Wattpad Star @katrocks247 writes romance, humor, and fantasy
let go of her literary agent, who couldn’t sell the first book in her Death Chronicles series
on Wattpad, Tonks has millions of readers
“Nobody understood my work like Wattpad.”

7. All things Wattpadian
Wattpad Stars: select writers earning $$ via promotional assignments
Wattpad Futures (advertising)
Wattpad Brands (native advertising)
Wattpad Studios (film/TV ventures)
Wattpad has deal with NBC Universal for “original content across multiple categories”

8. Wattpad Futures and Stars
pays writers when readers watch video ads between chapters
program is invitation-only, beta
writers testing the program report making 1-2 K a month
Wattpad Stars:
selected popular authors are “Stars”
stars receive deals to write product-placement and other native content

9. My experience on Wattpad
posted short stories on Wattpad in support of my forthcoming novel PATTERN EARTH
three stand-alone short stories:
ST. SAM AND THE GENDER MACHINES
THE LIGHTS
THE MUSIC OF JUPITER
MUSIC… features YouTube content embedded in story!

10. “Sam discovers schematics on the hidden web for nanorobots, called the Gender Machines, that can change your sex overnight. Sam uses the Gender Machines on herself, with the intent of making them publicly available to the transgendered. The results of her physical change bring complications for her loved ones, society, and her own identity.”
ST. SAM featured on an LGBT list; getting decent traction

11. features a YouTube video in one part of story and a gif at end
“X97A2 is an orbital on a century-long research mission in around Jupiter. He hears music coming deep from within the planet, and enters its atmosphere on a one way trip to investigate. What he learns on his five minute journey will not only change the world, but it will challenge his place in it.”
features a YouTube video in one part of story and a gif at end
multimedia functionality for fiction is a plus for Wattpad

12. Academic publishing in the 21st century: Internet Mathematics
Internet Mathematics: academic journal on complex networks, began 2003
Taylor & Francis ceased publication of the journal on Jan 1, 2017
relaunched as arXiv overlay
in this model, journal operates as usual: submissions, assignment to editors and referees, reports, decisions
if accepted, paper resides on arXiv
author owns copyright
no copy-editing
inexpensive, mobile/tablet friendly, and papers readily available without a subscription

14. Whither? How will traditional publishing adapt to Digital Publishing?
Will readers collectively curate stories and form their own communities?
What will be the roles of literary agents and editors?
Future of academic publishing?