Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month and the Next Generation of Latinx Writers on Wattpad
Hispanic and Latinx users are true champions for Wattpad. As the second largest group on the platform, Hispanic and Latinx users contribute an enormous amount of creativity and passion to the global Wattpad community. That’s why we’re celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15) by hosting a number of initiatives to honor the voices, stories, and talent of the vast Hispanic and Latinx community on Wattpad.
Of the more than 80 million people who make up our global community, more than 11 million are users in Spanish-speaking countries. In the US, where Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebrations originated, more than half a million users have read the incredible contributions from Spanish-language writers in the past year. Globally, users spend an incredible 1.2 billion minutes each month reading millions of Spanish-language stories, as well as thousands of stories from the US Wattpad community tagged #Hispanic and #Latinx.
On October 8, we’re kicking-off a new initiative: the #WattpadSpeaks virtual in-conversation series. Wattpad fans will have a unique opportunity to join a panel conversation with Shay Bravo, author of the Watty Award-winning Historically Inaccurate (402k reads, on sale Sept. 29), and V. S. Santoni, author of the groundbreaking I’m a Gay Wizard (800k reads) and I’m a Gay Wizard: City of the Nightmare King (65k reads, on sale Oct. 27). These exciting Latinx Wattpad writers will discuss Hispanic & Latinx representation, identity, and writing with journalist Johanna Ferreira. The panel will explore what it’s like to be a Latinx writer today, breaking through in a literary culture that has marginalized Latinx voices, what inspired their work, and more.
We’ll have more to share about other events in the #WattpadSpeaks series in the coming months.
We also know the importance of supporting writers with new opportunities to make money. Earlier this year, we launched a new publishing imprint with Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, bringing hit Spanish-Language Wattpad stories like Alex Mírez’s Perfectos mentirosos (45 million reads), E.M. Molleja’s She is One of the Boys (48 million reads), and Valentina Barsotti’s Mi estúpido niñero (68 million reads) to new fans all over the world. As those books start to land on bookshelves this fall, we’re also thrilled to share that we’re rolling out a new round of Paid Stories from Hispanic & Latinx writers. Throughout October, we’ll release six new Paid Stories from Hispanic & Latinx writers, with 14 additional Spanish-language Paid Stories added to the program by the end of the year. The Wattpad Paid Stories program allows users to directly reward writers by purchasing their stories on Wattpad. That means real, financial support for Hispanic & Latinx writers in a program we hope to expand to many more writers.
We’re also highlighting some of the amazing voices from Hispanic & Latinx communities around the world, showcasing a selection of the most exciting Spanish-language writers and stories on Wattpad right now! Venezuelan-American Wattpad Star Ariana Godoy (@ariana_godoy) has curated a reading list of original stories written by Hispanic & Latinx writers. From Alex Mírez’s (@Alexdigomas) ASFIXIA, a dystopian story about the mysterious extinction of mankind, to @Fifty-Seven’s Fingir, about a light-hearted bet with friends that turns into so much more, the list — currently featured on Wattpad — highlights a selection of talented Hispanic authors on Wattpad.
And to ensure we’re creating opportunities for Hispanic & Latinx writers at every stage of their writing journey, we’re also adding 30 new Spanish-language writers to the Wattpad Stars program this quarter.
Wattpad is home to the most diverse group of readers and storytellers on the planet, and those voices are what makes Wattpad special. Everything we do at Wattpad is intended to help them be heard, so we are proud — and honored — to celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month with the Wattpad community.