Wattpad, the world’s largest community of readers and writers, has partnered with the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) to launch the event’s first Online Festival. The Online Festival will run from October 1 through October 22, before the official kickoff of the IFOA in Toronto, which runs October 23 to November 2, 2014.
As part of the Online Festival, Wattpad will feature a different IFOA author everyday and promote their works to its global community of 35 million readers and writers. Past and present IFOA authors to be featured include: Andrew Pyper, Anna Todd, Carrie Snyder, Crissy Calhoun, Cory Doctorow, Eimear McBride, Emily Lindin, Ian Hamilton, Liam Card, Margaret Atwood, Nick Cutter, Paulo Coehlo, Richard Crouse, Richard Rosenbaum, Russell Wangersky, Steve Paikin, Ted Barris, and Vincent Lam.
The official IFOA profile on Wattpad (www.wattpad.com/IFOA) will be used to promote featured Online Festival authors as well as IFOA readings, round table discussions, interviews, and performances.
“Every year the IFOA brings talented authors to Toronto. With the launch of this year’s Online Festival on Wattpad, these authors can reach and enjoy a direct connection with readers around the globe,” said Wattpad’s Head of Content, Publishing Ashleigh Gardner.
“We’re delighted to have Wattpad join us for the 35th edition of the IFOA. It’s exciting to work with partners who are exploring new ways of reaching readers and audiences,” said the IFOA’s Director Geoffrey E. Taylor.
As part of the IFOA, on October 30 at 7:30 pm, Wattpad will host a panel called: Crowds, Comments and Community: Understanding Writing in the Digital Age at the Lakeside Terrace at the Harbourfront Centre. The panel about the relationship between writers and their online communities will be moderated by Globe and Mail Books Editor Mark Medley and will include panelists: Anna Todd, Emily Gould, Emily Lindin, and Sina Queyras. http://ifoa.org/events/crowds-comments-community-understanding-writing-digital-age
Wattpad’s mobile and social storytelling experience is resonating around the world and more than 35 million people have joined the community. People are spending a whopping 9 billion minutes a month on Wattpad reading and sharing stories. To date more than 70 million uploads have been shared on Wattpad, that’s 24 hours of reading posted every single minute.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.