Wattpad announced today”Featured shotsa new offering that gives Premium and Premium+ subscribers monthly access to five free Wattpad Originals — a recently launched freemium model where select authors can choose to monetize chapters.
Instead of paying to unlock content, members now get five Wattpad Originals each month at no additional cost. The selection is curated by Wattpad’s team of experts, ranging from the best books and yet-to-be-discovered gems to books written by up-and-coming authors. Some examples of Premium Picks include titles written by the author of Perfect Addiction Claudia Tanauthor of Gaslight Rachel Roseand the girl who went unnoticed by the author Nilani Alejandrino. Premium Picks will give authors exposure for their work and potentially gain more readers.
The selection of free stories will expire on the first of each month, so subscribers will have to purchase stories they were unable to complete. Wattpad has included a countdown timer on the Premium Picks screen, so readers know how much time they have left. They can also turn on app notifications to be alerted when the next batch of stories is available.
One month doesn’t seem like enough time for subscribers to read all five stories. But we think Premium and Premium+ members are hardcore readers anyway, so this probably won’t be a problem for most people.
“Wattpad readers read a lot, and our premium subscribers are some of our most passionate fans,” Megan MacDonald, head of strategy and business operations at Wattpad, told TechCrunch. “They subscribe to Wattpad Premium because they want to be able to read without interruption. Every reader enjoys stories at a different speed. While some may immerse themselves in an entire book in one sitting, others may read a story over the course of a few days or weeks.
Wattpad launched its $4.99 per month Premium subscription in 2017, giving users an ad-free experience, offline stories, bonus coins with every Wattpad Coin Pack purchase, and exclusive profile colors and reaction stickers.
“Wattpad Premium looked very different when we launched the first version of our subscription service in 2017… Our internal research and data on reading trends among subscribers showed that we could add significant value by giving access to a selection of Wattpad originals, some of which were : “The most interesting stories on Wattpad.”
Meanwhile, Premium+ subscribers ($7.49 per month) — Wattpad’s most loyal users — get an added bonus: a choice of two additional Wattpad Originals. They will also have unlimited access to any Wattpad Originals unlocked through their subscription and can re-read those titles as long as they remain part of the Wattpad Originals program.