Wattpad v1.5 for iPhone is here!

The long awaited update for iPhone and iPod Touch users is finally here! You will find some much appreciate improvements and new features. The tap controls in the reading view has been improved, it is now easier to toggle the auto-scrolling and the toolbar. You can rearrange the order of the items in your library, browsing by categories is also easier. The orientation lock is now saved when you exit the app which many of the beta testers suggested.

As always, be sure to send us your suggestions so we can make the app better still!

Special thanks to all of our beta testers who sent us their feedback. If you want to join us for testing future updates, please contact us.

Fans, Twitter, Message Boards… and more!

Most of you have probably noticed a few not-so-subtle changes on the Wattpad website. Since we rolled out the fans feature a month ago, the response has been awesome. Nearly 20,000 fans have  been following their favorite writers!

But there’s a lot more coming. Each user now has their own message board that you can personalize, where fans and friends can ask questions. You can also send private messages if you want to share a secret. Writers and fans can also link to their twitter account.

So what’s next? Why don’t you tell us what you’d like to see!

Want to be a fan?

As some of you have noticed, there’s a new option available on our website. When you find a good story or a writer you enjoy, you can now become a fan. This is a great way to support your favorite writers. You’ll be notified by email whenever the writer posts something new – you’ll be the first to know when a new story or chapter is available!

Keep sending us your suggestions to help make Wattpad better!

Update: In just 24 hours, we have over 1000 fans support their favorite writers! Way to go!

“Share What You Have Written” Contest

Do you have a collection of your written works sitting around on your computer? Maybe an essay, short story, screenplay, poetry or even a novel? Don’t you think it’s time you put them to good use? You can win $1,000 by uploading it and sharing it with others on Wattpad.

Submit your original written works to Wattpad and be sure to include the tag writingcontest. The grand-prize winner will receive $1,000 in cash, two second place winners will each receive an iPod Touch. The top finalists will be determined by the number of votes received, so be sure to tell your friends about it!

Visit our contest page for more info.

And the winner is…

The winner of the Facebook fan iPod giveaway is Holly Gower Simmers from Memphis, TN. Congratulations, you will be receiving your prize, a new iPod Touch soon. We will be announcing other contests soon, so stay tuned!

Wattpad Arrives on Android

Wattpad arrives on what may be the most popular mobile OS this year. With the launch of T-Mobile’s myTouch (HTC Magic) just around the corner and 20 other new Android phones slated by the end of the year, the number of new users will likely surpass both iPhone and Palm Pre.

Those familiar with the Wattpad mobile application will feel right at home. The Android version has all of the core features users love, combined with the large touch screen, it is the ideal mobile reading experience. And of course you have instant access to over 100,000 titles from the Wattpad library, all for free.

Give it a try, search for “Wattpad” on Android Market. Remember to share your comments with us on our Facebook page.

iPhone OS 3.0 update is here

The newest update of Wattpad for iPhone OS 3.0 is here! Thanks for waiting, this update addresses all of the OS 3.0 problems everyone has been reporting. We’ve also thrown in a couple of nice features to top things off. For those using OS 2.x, we haven’t forgotten about you. We’ll make sure these juicy features are included in the next update for 2.x users. As always, don’t forget to send us your comments.

iPhone OS 3.0 Update

Thanks for all the feedback on iPhone OS 3.0! We are working on an update to address the problem with page skipping and crashing, we’ll keep everyone updated on the progress. We expect to have the free update available soon.

Updated June 25, 3:55 PM EST – Just received confirmation from Apple that the new update will be available on the App Store later today. Please share your comments with us once you’ve had a chance to try it.

Ebook Metrics Report – Time to share some data!

I’m excited to report that after much work and lots of internal debate, we’ve decided to publicly share some of the interesting mobile ebook usage data we gather every day. We’re launching the first Wattpad Global Ebook Metrics Report which entails the quarterly release of a free report on the global activity we are seeing.  We pioneered ebook cloud services way back in 2006 (yes, that’s before Kindle even existed).  As a result, we can analyze every search, browse, read, and click and use this to optimize our service. This report offers a snapshot of the data to provide insight into trends in the ebook ecosystem.

Our first report covers both country and handset/manufacturer data with some fun facts attached at the end of the report. We expect to expand the report to include more axes of information in the coming months.

Here are the highlights:

• Wattpad is the world’s most downloaded mobile ebook applications with 3.1M downloads, 60% more than second place Amazon Lexcycle Stanza. Usage come from subscribers of over 450 mobile operators in 160 countries.
• Java devices are still the most used mobile platform for reading ebooks. 63% of ebook usage come from Java devices while iPhone usage grows to 33%.
• Nokia dominates the top device list with 4 of the top 6 are Nokia Series 40.  iPhone claims the top spot.
• iPhone dominates US ebook usage with 78% of iPhone usage comes from North America. Nokia still dominates the rest of the world.
• Blackberry usage grew over 400% since the launch of App World. Indicates the effectiveness of an application storefront.

Here are some fun facts:

• Usage typically surges on weekends by 10%
• Daily usage peaks in the evening at bed time (local times).
• Blackberry users read the least per day as shown in our average daily number of sessions. Blackberry users have about 1.6 session per day, while iPhone users have 2.3 and Java phone users read the most with 2.6 sessions per day.

Download the full report: Wattpad Global Ebook Metrics Report June 2009

An Open Letter to the writing community

Open Letter to the writing community

As noted in a recent New York Times article published on May 11, 2009, digital piracy in the literary world has ballooned in recent months as an expanding appetite for e-books has spawned a bumper crop of pirated editions on a number of websites such as Wattpad.

Firstly, while the New York Times article is correctly pointing out a real problem, we would like to strongly emphasize that it is not our desire to make the website open to copyright infringement.  Wattpad’s goal has always been a destination site for writers to publish their own works.  Users upload copyright material without the permission of the copyright owners violate Wattpad’s terms of use: http://www.wattpad.com/terms.

Since Wattpad’s inception, we have been actively monitoring uploads to identify and remove inappropriate content.  However, we have been facing increasing challenges in the recent months.  Due to the exponentially increasing volume of uploads and the difficulties in identifying unauthorized material, it is beyond our capability to effectively monitor uploads.

As a result, in April 2009 our website underwent a significant redesign to combat piracy, which included the introduction of a content filter to prevent repeat infringement, tracking and banning repeat offenders and other technology aided advancements.  As part of the redesign, we also launched a pilot program called “Authors In Charge” that is specifically set out to help identify and remove infringing material by copyright owners directly (http://www.wattpad.com/press?pr=043009).  Many writers, including New York Times bestselling authors, have joined the pilot program with great results.  The “Authors In Charge” program is the industry first to take such an initiative in order to protect content owners and at the same time support creative use of our innovative service for both writers and readers.  This reflects our commitment to eliminate copyright infringing material from the website.

In recent weeks, we have seen a dramatic decline in the number of takedown notices we have received from copyright owners, which is an indication that these changes, to a degree, are effective in combating privacy.  Despite these efforts, we recognize the daunting challenge we face in combating copyright infringement.  Therefore, we would like to send out an open invitation and welcome the entire writing community to join the “Authors In Charge” program.  Similar community self-policing methods has been used successfully by other websites, such as Wikipedia, in monitoring inappropriate content.  With more authors participating in this program and other proactive measures that we continue to develop, we truly believe that we can completely eliminate content piracy on Wattpad in the near future.

Thank you for your attention to this issue.

Regards,

The Wattpad Team