Wattpad has launched this year's Watty awards—with a few key new differences.
New Cover Category
This year's Wattys are sponsored by online design software Canva, which will provide judges for a new category: Best Cover. This category will have 5 winners who will receive a special prize of a one-year premium subscription to Canva Pro.
New Bonus Awards
This year, bonus awards will be awarded among the winning books. These extra categories will be Best Characters, Most Engaging World, Biggest Twist, and Catchiest Hook.
The Shortlist is Back!
Back by popular demand, Wattpad will again be posting their short list of selectees. The list will be announced on November 1st and will let entrants know if they are still in the running for a Watty. Final winners will be announced a month later on December 3rd.
Book Prize Has Changed
In previous years, there has been one winner who receives a publishing deal with Wattpad Books. That, however, has changed. This year, "consideration" for a publishing deal will be available to all winners in the YA category, but no guaranteed publishing deal. This is also specific to the YA category, while in previous years was technically available to anyone, though Wattpad Books is a YA publisher. It's also interesting to see that their recent new adult branch, W by Wattpad Books, is not included in any potential prize.
In place of the book prize, there are now 3 guaranteed slots available for paid stories in any category.
Languages and Genres
New genre categories this year include Chick Lit and Werewolf, bringing the total from 11 to 12 genres. The Literary Fiction category has been cut, probably due to a lack of entries. As a language option, Malay was also removed.
How do you feel about these changes? Let us know in the comments...