Calling all Writers: Wattpad Kicks-Off 15th Annual Watty Awards
The 2024 Watty Awards will recognize English, Spanish, and Filipino stories across eight genres
TORONTO, July 15, 2024 – Wattpad, a leading webnovel and storytelling community, is kicking off the 2024 Watty Awards, the company’s annual international writing competition. Now in its 15th year, the Watty Awards celebrate and elevate the creativity, fandoms, and aspirations of Wattpad’s global community of dynamic, diverse indie authors.
In 2024, the Watty Awards will recognize up to 40 stories written in English, Spanish, and Filipino, across eight genres: Action & Thriller, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Romance, and Science Fiction. Additionally, Watty Awards will feature categories to recognize exceptional storytelling, including Best Characters, Most Engaging World, Biggest Twist, and Catchiest Hook.
This year, four Watty Award Grand Prize winners will receive cash prizes of $5,000 USD. All Watty Award winners will receive formal recognition and a Watty’s Badge for their winning story, promotion on the official Wattys profile on Wattpad, and priority consideration for series, film, and publishing opportunities by Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.
The 2024 Watty Awards Shortlist will be announced on October 14th, 2024 and winners announced in early December 2024.
“For 15 years, the Watty Awards have celebrated indie authors around the world, helping a new generation of writers find inspiration and community to write their story,” said Nick Uskoski, Head of Content and Creator Development at Wattpad. “Some of Wattpad’s biggest authors and stories have been recognized with Watty Awards and we can’t wait to see this year’s submissions.”
“The Watty Awards inspired me to believe in my work and winning a Watty helped me accelerate my writing career,” said Gina Musa, author of the 2015 Watty-winner Boot Camp. “Wattpad allowed me to build my own fanbase and see the impact of my writing on readers across the world. To be recognized among so many talented writers is truly a special experience, one that gave me the confidence I needed to take my career to the next level.”
Since 2009, the Watty Awards have discovered some of the most exciting new voices in fiction and webnovels, with winners achieving success online, on screens, and on bookshelves around the world. After winning the ‘Talk of the Town’ Watty in 2015, Gina Musa’s Boot Camp moved into development for a film adaptation from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios in 2022, before being published in print by Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group in 2023. The film adaptation features a star studded cast including Riverdale’s Drew Ray Tanner and will be released on August 2, 2024 in the USA and Canada in select theaters and on Prime Video, Apple TV, and On Demand. Boot Camp exemplifies the power of the Wattys as a launchpad for authors, providing the inspiration, platform, resources, and audience to succeed.
Other notable previous Watty Award-winners include Ariana Godoy, whose Wattpad hit A Traves de Mi Ventana (Through My Window) accumulated over 381M reads online and has been adapted into a hit series of films from Netflix and Wattpad WEBTOON Studios; Claudia Tan, whose massively popular Perfect Addiction (86.5M reads) was adapted into a film from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and Constantin Film, debuting in Prime Video’s Top Ten all over the world, according to Flixpatrol; Mercedes Ron, author of the Wattpad webnovel-turned-Prime Video streaming sensation, Culpa Mia; Beth Reekles, author of The Kissing Booth, which grew to millions of reads on Wattpad before becoming a global Netflix hit; and Taran Matharu, author of the New York Times bestselling series, The Summoner.
Submissions open July 15th, 2024 and close August 6th, 2024. For more information visit: www.wattpad.com/wattys.
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Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. A leading global webnovel platform, Wattpad has democratized storytelling for a new generation of diverse Gen Z writers and their fans. Wattpad is part of WEBTOON Entertainment’s IP & Creator Ecosystem, where approximately 170 million* monthly active users discover incredible stories in multiple formats.
*As of the quarter ended March 31, 2024