Wattpad Kicks Off 2021 Watty Awards
The 2021 Watty Awards Grand Prize winner will receive a book deal with Wattpad Books, priority consideration for TV and film development opportunities with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios
Loridee De Villa's 2020 Grand Prize winning story How To Be The Best Third Wheel will hit bookshelves in 2022 from Wattpad Books
TORONTO - July 7, 2021 - The 2021 Watty Awards are back in full swing! Wattpad, the global entertainment company and a leading social storytelling platform, is now accepting submissions to the 2021 Watty Awards, open to writers around the world in ten languages. The 2021 Watty Awards mark the 12th anniversary of the annual event, which is one of the world’s largest writing competitions.
The 2021 Watty Awards Grand Prize winner will receive a book deal with Wattpad Books, to be published in 2023. Other prizes will include consideration for the Wattpad Paid Stories program, the Wattpad Stars program, and other monetization and writer development programs. Winning stories will also be considered for TV and film development opportunities with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.
Since 2009, the Watty Awards have discovered some of Wattpad’s most successful hits online, on bookshelves, and on screens, and Watty Awards winners are consistently some of the most creative and diverse voices on Wattpad. Loridee De Villa’s 2020 Watty Awards Grand Prize-winning story How To Be The Best Third Wheel will be published by Wattpad Books, landing on in Summer 2022. Other past winners include Beth Reekles’ global YA sensation for The Kissing Booth (winner 2011), which went on to become a hit book and film from Netflix and Komixx Entertainment; Vic James’ hit book Gilded Cage (winner 2014); Kara Barbieri’s book White Stag (winner 2016); Katerina E. Tonks’ Death is My BFF, currently in development for TV with Sony Pictures Television (winner 2014); V.S. Santoni’s book I’m a Gay Wizard (winner 2017); and Shay Bravo’s book Historically Inaccurate (winner 2019).
“Our vision at Wattpad is to entertain and connect the world through stories, and that starts with creating inspiring programs to help writers achieve their dreams, whether it’s finishing a manuscript or signing a book deal to make their dreams come true,” said Jeanne Lam, Chief Business Officer at Wattpad. “For 12 years, some of the most successful stories on Wattpad have emerged from The Watty Awards. Watty Award winners have gone on to publish their stories, or have them adapted for TV and film. We’re excited to see the incredibly diverse, creative stories that emerge from the 2021 Watty Awards.”
The 2021 Watty Awards will accept submissions in 14 different categories, including historical fiction, fantasy, romance, and science fiction. New this year is the Best Cover category, presented in partnership with Canva, the online visual communication platform that empowers the world to design. This award recognizes the creativity that brings a showstopping story cover to life.
The Watty Awards is one of the world’s largest writing competitions, with more than 1 million stories submitted to date.
Writers can submit stories until 11:59pm EST on September 30, 2021. Winners will be announced on December 3, 2021.
For more information visit: www.wattpad.com/wattys.
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ABOUT WATTPAD
Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. A leading social storytelling platform and home to a community of more than 90 million people who spend over 23 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories, Wattpad has democratized storytelling for a new generation of diverse Gen Z writers and their fans. Alongside Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, the company’s TV, film, and publishing counterparts, Wattpad combines art and science to unearth incredible stories and cultivate the fandoms driving the future of entertainment. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at company.wattpad.com, or explore current openings to Work at Wattpad.