What you should do is wait and see how the novels after the initial six do. Wattpad will be all over the first batch of six, marketing and such, but what they do with subsequent books will demonstrate their true dedication.
That's a good point. Amazon, in general, did a lot more for the early Kindle Scout books than for the later ones.
Except you didn't have to pay for scout, it had a reward system and it was well known through Amazon for its readers.
Did I miss something? Do you have to pay for Wattpad?
Perhaps I didn't state my point clearly. What I was getting at was that Amazon did a lot more for
Scout-selected books early on than it did later. Based on what some of the authors involved said, promotion went downhill near the end. Kindle Press became more and more obviously the poor stepchild among the imprints. (This is a little like what WriteOn was saying about the way Wattpad launched programs and then lost interest in them.)
It's also worth noting that, although entering a book in Scout was free (just like publishing in KDP was free), the more and more competitive nature of the process was pushing people to spend money on advertising. Otherwise, the book would only get views at the very beginning and very end of the campaign. This problem was exacerbated when the Scout folks let slip the fact that, although views and votes didn't determine the final selection, a book needed to hit a certain minimums to be a finalist (get actual editorial review). Then there was the weird case of someone who got the rejection email while the campaign was still running--evidence that a big burst of interest at the end by itself probably wouldn't help because the Scout folks were actually making choices before the end. Stats skyrocketed as people tried to do everything they could to get their book noticed as much as possible throughout the campaign. There were a few books that still achieved a decent level without advertising, but it was clear which way the norm was moving. And that's probably what Amazon wanted. I think the purpose was to draw more people into the Amazon ecosystem.
Of course, there were fewer people involved in Scout than on Wattpad, though I'm sure every single person on Wattpad isn't going to be trying for a book contract. But the way one would gets noticed for a book contract looks similar to what KS became. That's not really a criticism of Scout or Wattpad--it's just the way things will inevitably work with an open submission process. Editors will need some way to winnow down the prospective candidates to a manageable number. In the two cases we're talking about, the winnowing takes the form of what amounts to a popularity contest. In both cases, it's going to take significant time and/or money to make the cut.
Amazon closed that door with a resounding thud for whatever reason. Wattpad may or may not do the same thing.
Being an eternal optimist, I would have kept entering Scout even knowing what I know now. A chance is better than no chance.
Will I try for a Wattpad contract? Since I'm not already part of that ecosystem, I think I'm going to see how the process goes before jumping in. I will mention in passing, however, that some authors got contracts through Wattpad exposure before Wattpad books. Making a big enough splash in Wattpad (if it could be done without making the author insane or bankrupt) might still accomplish that. In that respect, too, it's a little like Scout. It's not that publishers were gathering around to pick up popular Scout rejects, but in my experience, the program made a spectacular launch platform. My first Scout reject was my bestselling book so far, particularly during its new release period. The fact that the Scout process exposed it to thousands of eyes that would have never seen it was part of that success. In the same way, Wattpad might produce benefits other than selection by Wattpad Books. I'm going to wait and see.