Wattpad Originals Vertical

What Is a Vertical?

A vertical is a brand that helps readers find their next great read and helps writers position their work within a publisher’s list. More specifically, a vertical is a defined collection of titles within the larger catalogue that centres around a specific genre, sub-genre, or reading experience, and may have similarly styled cover designs to encourage discoverability.

Wattpad’s approach to monetizing stories is now focused on a vertical-based model. Writers can submit and be published under these verticals, which will have a common marketing approach that encourages readers to deep dive into their favourite kinds of stories.

Why Are We Publishing Stories this Way?

Simply put, to improve both writers’ and readers’ experiences on Wattpad. Writers will have a greater level of transparency into the kinds of stories we’re looking for, common pitfalls to avoid, and how their work aligns with reader expectations for a specific genre.

The guidelines for Wattpad’s verticals are intended to be specific but not prescriptive. We are describing the categories that the majority of titles in our existing Wattpad Originals catalogue fall into. While it is possible for stories to exist outside of these groups, the verticals will be the focus of our promotional efforts.

How Do I Submit to a Vertical?

Writers in the Wattpad Creators program will have the ability to pitch a serialized story that aligns with one of the six verticals at any time through the Writer Pitch Form. Due to the volume of materials received, we ask for your patience as our team reviews all submissions.

Serialized stories that fit these verticals can also be discovered by our scouts within the platform, especially if the story is seeing strong readership early on and it matches our content needs. You do not need to reach out to check if your story is being reviewed. We are constantly looking at the content that is posted on Wattpad and you may be contacted for an opportunity if you are writing consistently.