Nichole Cava’s The Vampire Always Bites Twice Wins English-Language Grand Prize at the 2022 Watty Awards
Now in its 13th year, The Watty Awards continues its legacy of uncovering the most exciting new voices in fiction from around the world. A total of 13 stories won publishing and adaptation opportunities with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios
Wattpad, the global entertainment company and leading webnovel platform, announced the 2022 Watty Award winners! With over 500 winners across nine languages, the 2022 Watty Awards were the biggest edition yet. This year's USD $5,000 English-language grand prize went to Nichole Cava for The Vampire Always Bites Twice (55.1K reads), which follows a criminal necromancer and vampire private eye that unexpectedly team up to solve the case of a missing barista.
In addition to cash prizes, 2022 Watty Award prizes included multiple publishing and entertainment adaptation opportunities from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and the Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group. Among the more than 30,000 entries for the 2022 Watty Awards, these winning stories were selected:
The Wattpad Books YA Award was given to @KatFeatherly for her Young Adult story Two Weeks to Fall in Love (167K reads). This charming story follows Skyler Fox, a clever girl with a strong sense of justice, as she investigates the appeal of her classmate Noah Archer who seems to only date girls for two weeks at a time and somehow keeps a great rapport with all of them.
The W by Wattpad Books Award went to @DanielleTalbury for her New Adult Romance The Heartbreak Hypothesis (530K reads). This humorous story centers on love cynic Madison Watson as she tries to prove her hypothesis that love is a construct and heartbreak is inevitable, especially when dating in the age of technology.
The inaugural Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books Award was given to @DL_Sims_Books for Everything Is Just Fine, which was selected by Anna Todd, Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books co-founder, producer, entrepreneur, and New York Times best-selling author of the After series, which started on Wattpad. This hidden gem LGBTQ+ love story follows college freshman Jesse who starts to grow feelings for not one, but two of his classmates.
The Wattpad WEBTOON Studios Entertainment Prize went to @LLSanders, whose story Tattered Paige (13.8K) will have an opportunity to be adapted for an upcoming studio project. The story tells the tale of Ima Jean Paige, an aspiring teen author who realizes she is a character in an unwritten horror novel and must use her storytelling knowledge to somehow steer the narrative toward a happily-ever-after ending.
The Wattpad WEBTOON Animation Prize, which offers a winning story a chance to be developed as an animated project, was awarded to @HaileyMorrisonBooks for Plagium (3.2K). The adventure-packed story follows Tracey Higgenbottom, who with the help of a few quirky characters, sets out to find her missing boss and runs into a number of complications.
Eight winners from international markets will also have an opportunity to work with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios on an adaptation for their stories. Winning entries span the globe, with winners in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
Other 2022 Watty Award categories and winners year include: Best Characters, awarded to @AnnKReeves for Blend (6.7K reads); Most Engaging World, won by @HeyLookTheSnitch for Quill of Thieves (2.9K reads); Catchiest Hook, won by @AnnaWestley for The Palmer Pool (6.7K reads); and Biggest Twist, going to @whereagardenwas for Your Best American Girl (31.1K reads).
“The Watty Awards have long been where some of Wattpad's most creative and powerful stories got their start,” said Sue Johnson, Chief Content Officer, Wattpad. “This year's submissions continue that trend, reflecting an array of diverse, exciting, and innovative voices and narratives. I want to congratulate all the winners of the 2022 Watty Awards, and I can’t wait to see what these authors do next.”
For thirteen years, the Watty Awards have celebrated Wattpad writers who share their stories with the world, launching the careers of some of the platform’s most exciting new voices. Carolyn Hill’s 2021 Watty Award winning story, Mask of Celibacy (121K reads), is the latest example of how Watty winners are consistently some of the most creative and diverse voices in the industry. The coming-of-age asexual romance about two students discovering their identities will be published in 2024 by Wattpad Books, bringing this unique, must-read tale to bookshelves everywhere.
Previous notable Watty Award winners include Beth Reekles for The Kissing Booth (4.9M reads); Vic James’ Gilded Cage; I’m a Gay Wizard (683K reads) by V.S. Santoni, now in development as a series from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios; Katerina E. Tonks’ Death is My BFF (21.2M reads); and many others. Ariana Godoy, Wattpad superstar author of the Netflix sensation A Traves de Mi Ventana, won a Watty Award in 2012 for her novel, My Wattpad Love (50.4M reads).
A full list of the 2022 winners is available on the Watty Awards website.