Social media fame isn’t reserved for pretty models or artsy photographers. Book lovers can become internet famous on their own terms by posting their drafted novels, poetry or short story collections online, especially on Wattpad. Right now, ordinary teens from around the world are becoming online authors with hopes of becoming published authors in stores like Barnes and Noble or Target.

Wattpad is the most popular, respected website (and app) for teens and adults to become online writers. Users simply join the site, edit their profiles and start writing their novels. These books are posted chapter by chapter, so writers can post a new part once a day, week or even all of them at the same time. Over time, writers can gain followers who read their chapters and vote on them. The most popular stories then soar to the top of their genre’s charts, and the writers become very well known on the site and within their genres.

Some writers even earn book deals from major publishers, which takes their online works from the screen and plants them directly on store shelves. Though this a rare occurrence, most writers use their fame to self-publish their works or find literary agents. After all, the publishing industry likes it when they see a work or an author that has an existing platform of people waiting to buy their books once released in stores.

Becoming “Wattpad famous” is not an easy task, but it can be done. The best writers eventually make their way to the top of the genre charts, and once they are there, they attract followers and fans day after day. If a writer reaches 1 million reads (or overall views) on one of their novels, it is generally understood that the author is pretty famous on the site.

According to writersdigest.com, Wattpad is making a big impact in the publishing industry. The new Wattpad Futures program is testing the capability of writers to put video ads between story chapters. Similar to YouTube ads, the videos would allow the writers to be paid each time their ad is viewed by a reader. Though the program is new, the future could very well include ways for famous Wattpad writers to make some cash off of their drafted works before they are even traditionally published.

Wattpad brings online fame to the real world by helping its users turn their online success into marketable manuscripts for publishers. Before long, Wattpad may be providing a way for teenage, amateur writers to make profits by posting novels and poems online.