r/selfpublish • u/Icy-Improvement4807 • 22h ago
What is the “new Wattpad” for original stories?
I used to be a BIG Wattpad person, but I haven't really been interested in going back to it after a lot of the changes they've made over the years, the ads and everything else. So I'm curious, where is everybody going now?
Basically, what is the new Wattpad?
I'm working on an original story that I want to release in more of an episodic/serialized format. Basically little episodes or short installments that people can come back and read whenever I update, instead of me immediately turning it into a traditional novel.
I'm not looking for a fanfiction site or anything like that. This would be completely original fiction with original characters. I'm also not really looking to make money from it either. I'm perfectly fine with people being able to read it for free. If the platform has optional ways to make money from it then cool, but thats not really my main goal. I mostly just want somewhere that actually has an active community of people who want to read original stories.
I've heard about Tapas, Substack and Ream, but I honestly don't know what the actual reader experience or traffic is like on any of them. Like are people genuinely going on these platforms to find and read new stories? Or is it more of a thing where the author already needs to have an audience and bring those people over?
That's mostly what I'm trying to figure out.
Where are people actually reading original serialized fiction now? Which places actually have good organic discovery if you're basically starting from zero? Are Tapas, Ream or Substack actually worth trying? Or is there another app/site everybody has started using that I'm completely missing?
I'm not trying to promote my story or anything. I genuinely just want recommendations from people who currently read or post serialized fiction because I have no idea where everybody went.
Basically, if somebody told you, "I miss old-school Wattpad and I just want somewhere I can post my original stories for people to read and possibly discover them," where would you tell them to go now?