After by Anna Todd: A Warning.

In this post I'm going to give you the run down on Anna Todd's Wattpad experience, that ended up in her online writing hobby becoming a printed novel series.  But at the end I feel it necessary to give you a warning about her series and the uses of Wattpad.  I don't feel like I can be comfortable promoting this platform without telling you what I have come to realize about it.  I'm not saying that it shouldn't be used, but I feel there's an issue here that parents simply need to be aware of.  I'm not against Wattpad in any way, in fact I have half a mind to start toying with my own story, but I feel a bit of education needs to happen for those of us with teenagers who may be reading these things, for free, on this site, and have known nothing of the site ourselves.  

  

Twenty-five year-old Anna Todd wrote the majority of After from her mobile phone while in and out of appointments and running errands.  Her story had over 1 billion reads and more than 6 million comments (and counting).   

The After series tells the story of Tessa Young, an optimistic freshman at Washington State University, and the dark, troubled British bad boy who stole her heart. 

Since becoming one of the most talked about stories on the internet, the After series garnered attention from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, who published the first installment of the novel, which went on sale on October 21, 2014.   

On Wattpad, After has over 1 billion reads, more than 6 million comments and the print edition is available in 26 countries.   

Wattpad is the world’s largest community of readers and writers. It has connected over 40 million people around the world who share a love of reading and writing.   

Wattpad is a new storytelling experience that’s mobile and social.   Wattpad stories are free.   

Mobile: With Wattpad you can read and share stories from your phone, tablet or computer. Whether you’re online or off, use the devices you already own to carry an entire library of stories wherever you go.   

Social: Wattpad creates direct connections between readers and writers. Everyone participates in storytelling on Wattpad. Some people may not identify with being a writer, but they can share plot suggestions via comments and messages or create original art/music to go along with the stories they’ve read.   

Anyone can share a story on Wattpad. Whether you’ve never written before, or published multiple books, Wattpad offers benefits for writers of all levels.   

One of the greatest benefits of Wattpad is a direct connection between readers and writers. Readers receive notifications whenever a new chapter of a story is posted. Many writers share their work serially: posting stories one chapter at a time, so readers keep coming back. As soon as a story is uploaded it can be accessed by millions of readers around the world. 

Wattpad by the numbers:

More than 40 million people have joined Wattpad

More than 80 million free stories are available on Wattpad

People spend 9 billion minutes a month on Wattpad

Stories available in over 50 languages - all for free

A new user joins Wattpad every second  

More than 24 hours of reading material is posted to Wattpad every minute

85% of all activity is on mobile

If you have never looked into Wattpad I would recommend it.  You can find some fun stuff being written on there.

That being said, I have something in particular that I want to say about the After series, and the realization it's brought to me about Wattpad.  After is a graphic harlequin romance book with strong language.  If you like harlequins, then this may be up your alley.  Though please be warned that it is also full of grammar mistakes and I wanted to take my red pen to it numerous times in the bit that I read.  It's poorly edited, which surprised me. What really concerns me, though, is the number of 11, 12, and 13 year olds who told me via social media that they had read the After series in its entirety and loved it.  It was their favorite series because, of course, it's based on One Direction.  And we all know how fangirls are about their bands (if you don't, I invite you to spend a day with my daughter, Casidee).

I'm concerned that this book is being marketed as One Direction fanfiction and is drawing the attention of tween and teen girls.  I'm concerned that they can read these graphic details, for free, through Wattpad.  They don't even have to buy the book.  And I'm concerned that parents don't know that their girls are reading these types of things.

While I can see that Wattpad can be a fun thing, it comes with a warning that anything can be written there and parents need to be aware of what their teens are reading. 

I put this out there simply as information and let you each make your own decision on the matter.  But I for one will not be allowing my girls to read this book.  I can not and do not recommend this book.

I participated in the After by Anna Todd blog program as a member of One2One Network. I received compensation but all opinions are my own.  Obviously.