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<ul><li>Being in lockdown can be tempting for many but for readers, this may be a good time to curl up on the bed and catch up on all the unread stories. </li><li>This week, Business Insider brings you user-generated fiction stories to poetry and humor from the internet community <keyword id="1959531" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wattpad">Wattpad</keyword>. </li><li>Check out the stories you can explore from the ‘Best of wattpad’ list.</li></ul>Being in lockdown can be tempting for many but for readers, this may be a good time to curl up on the bed and catch up on all the unread stories. The <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> pandemic is showing no signs of dying down and social distancing and self isolation are here to stay. This is also causing anxiety among employees and even students who are stuck at home. Several studies point out that reading for merely six minutes can reduce stress by over half as it releases tension in the muscles. Business Insider collates interesting books to read, giving an outlook on career and professional growth, setbacks and opportunities. However this week, we bring you user-generated fiction stories to poetry and humor from the internet community Wattpad. Here are all the stories you can explore from the ‘Best of wattpad’ list. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/765329-in-27-days-watty-award-winner-2012">In 27 days</a> Published by a college graduate Ally, In 27 days is a watty award winning novel from 2012. The book narrates the story of a young girl Hadley Jamison who is in complete shock when her classmate Archer Morales commits suicide. She starts to feel that she could’ve helped him in some way, though she didn’t know him much. But, on the very night of Morales’ funeral, she is offered the chance to go back in time to stop Archer — and has only 27 days to do it. What if she can’t? <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/143011222-heart-of-the-sky">Heart of the sky</a> Heart of the sky is a 2018 Watty award winner, written by Gavin Hetherington. Brando Hallward is stuck with his ex while he’s about to miss his flight. He happens to meet Daxten Lowe at dinner before the flight where the two bond well and continue to flirt. As the romance takes off, Hallward’s ex is increasingly jealous. But, something is wrong with the plane and Hallward’s life too. Will it be alright? <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/185650009-the-ants-that-carried-us">The ants that carried us</a> Written by a university student Minohava, The ant that carried us is a Watty Winner 2019. Shah Minos is very particular about order. Even if it comes at the cost of being brutally dominated by his father, who is also the Emperor. However, eventually the emperor loses power and his children are standing against each other to inherit that throne. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/170779431-a-woman-of-the-sea">A woman of the sea</a> A woman of the sea is a historical fiction written by JM Frey. Jessie is a 21st century girl stuck in the Regency era. After the university degree, she has plans to celebrate graduation in Paris — kissing as many drunk French girls and boys as she can. Later, a mysterious accident happens and Jessie has no choice but to work as a maid in return for shelter and hide her sexuality. However, her boss finds out her secret. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/99347340-i%27m-a-gay-wizard">I’m a gay wizard</a> I’m a gay wizard is a story of two best friends, written by VS Santoni. Ryan and his best friend Alison are brutally assaulted and bullied. But later, they find themselves pulled by a mysterious organisation — Marduk Institute that claims to be a school for wizards. In the secret wizard school, they eventually discover power, acceptance and love. Disclaimer: Business Insider and Wattpad both are Times Bridge partners in India See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/world-book-day-here-are-the-five-books-from-the-best-of-wattpad-list/articleshow/75313130.cms">World Book Day: Here are the five books from the best of Wattpad list</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/india-is-reportedly-planning-to-let-50-of-students-attend-classes-from-home/articleshow/75616865.cms">An odd-even plan for schools ⁠— India is reportedly planning to let 50% of students attend from home</a>

Wattpad’s chosen list of fiction on the reading list this week

<ul><li>Ad &amp; Media Insider’s latest property Storyline, brought to you in association with <keyword id="1959531" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wattpad" source="Orion">Wattpad</keyword>, one of the world’s most loved <keyword id="282281" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="storytelling" source="Orion">storytelling</keyword> platforms, endeavors to decode what storytelling stands for today. </li><li>Today, we bring you highlights from our first three episodes where we discuss how marketers and advertisers are navigating new mediums and innovating to tell engaging stories in today’s highly dynamic world.</li><li>Watch <keyword id="4332869" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pg-aditiya" source="Orion">PG Aditiya</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer, dentsu Webchutney and Pooja Manek, creative director, dentsu Webchutney Bengaluru, <keyword id="2289556" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajdeepak-das" source="Orion">Rajdeepak Das</keyword>, CEO &amp; Chief Creative Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett and <keyword id="336063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sonal-mishra" source="Orion">Sonal Mishra</keyword>, Associate Vice President- Marketing, <keyword id="6630114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy" source="Orion">Unacademy</keyword> talk about creativity and what it takes to tell successful stories in today's world.</li></ul>Stories are almost as old as human existence and with time, storytelling has evolved, hand-in-hand with human evolution. It has been an important part of our history and will continue to be an intrinsic part of our future too. In today’s digitally-driven world, where almost everything is happening online, storytelling continues to be at the heart of it all, albeit in different forms. Brands are still trying to find new ways of telling stories that engage with the consumers, and help the brands seamlessly become a part of their lives. Ad &amp; Media Insider’s latest property Storyline, brought to you in association with Wattpad, one of the world’s most loved storytelling platforms, that endeavors to decode what storytelling stands for today, how marketers and advertisers are navigating new mediums and innovating to tell engaging stories in today’s highly dynamic world. Here are some key takeaways from our first three episodes: Episode 1: PG Aditiya, Chief Creative Officer, dentsu Webchutney and Pooja Manek, creative director, dentsu Webchutney Bengaluru Dentsu Webchutney in 2021 was the highest scoring Indian agency at the Cannes Lions this year, for the second year in a row. This year, the agency got 20 shortlists, bringing home a total of 7 Lions. So we tried to understand what storytelling means for this dynamic young agency. Mediums and Creativity Both PG Aditiya, Chief Creative Officer, dentsu Webchutney and Pooja Manek, creative director, dentsu Webchutney have been responsible for crafting some of the agency’s most-loved campaigns over the last few years. We got to talking to them about how writing for the internet has impacted long-form writing and Aditiya started off with, “If long copy was Julius Caesar, then the internet is Brutus, with the last stab.” And truly, the internet has often been accused of killing long copy. However, Aditiya feels it has given birth to a new writing aesthetic. Today it is not simply about crafting a great video, it could be about writing that perfect tweet or creating that engaging reel. “We have a joke within the team, that if a tweet is taking more than 15 minutes, its not worth it. There are so many trends everyday and at times, brands try too hard to get the most manufactured tweet with very engineered writing. And that’s when you get caught. We all make the mistake of thinking that the younger audience, especially Gen Z, are kids. But honestly, it's time to consider them as grownups and trying too hard comes across as a red flag for them,” explained Manek. What works today On what works in today’s world, Manek says, “Today, it’s no longer about something that is embraced and enjoyed. It is more about what travels. For GenZ, it is usually quid pro quo, you have to give them something for them to give you something back. It's no longer about hard selling, or over-engineering, it's about giving them something to chew on, and that’s how you get their attention.” The internet is also an ephemeral medium. So how does one create engaging stories for the medium? “We try to spend less time on the theory of it and just make sure that whenever one of us has something that's worth not letting go of, we try to make it work,” added Aditiya. User-Generated Content: The Secret Sauce The advent of social media has also given consumers a voice today and user generated content has become an important tool for many brands. Webchutney has come up with a lot of social media campaigns that have gone on to generate UGC, making brands the talk of the town and part of a lot of trends. Talking about one such campaign they did for Tinder, Manek said, “For Tinder’s Valentine’s Day campaign, we were doing something around moving on. We were thinking of a few ideas and we realized that the digital age has made it harder for us to move on because you might want to move on but then you get reminders on different platforms. We all have so many pictures stored on our phones that we don’t delete maybe because we are attached to the memory, or we look good. So we launched a photoshopping service for two days and asked people what they wanted to replace their exes with. And we kept getting requests and replaced people with pizzas or wine. So we ended up photoshopping pictures for close to 36 hours, and that’s the power of UGC. We couldn’t have done it without people actually sharing those pictures. So you give the consumer something which is worth it and you just empower them and then magic happens.” Aditiya said that this idea also busted the myth that you need some kind of incentive to make a UGC campaign work because at the end of it, consumers were not exactly winning something but were simply ‘Axing their Exes’. Watch the full episode here: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3" retweetcount="5" status="LIVE | Join @PGAditiya, CCO, @webchutney and Pooja Manek (@boredmanek), Creative Director, @webchutney in conversat… https://t.co/yH7WRSlYK4" createdat="1644924610000" id="1493548184102080513"></div> Episode 2: Rajdeepak Das, CEO &amp; Chief Creative Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett Rajdeepak Das, the chief creative brain at Leo Burnett is often considered to be one of the most experimental and innovative creative storytellers in the country and a discussion around storytelling would have been incomplete without a conversation with him. In our 2nd episode, we caught up with Das who talked to us about his storytelling journey and how he has evolved as a storyteller, with the evolution of mediums and consumers. He tells us that his love for storytelling started as a child, when his mom would tell him stories from Panchatantra or Mahabharata. “My mother would enact a lot of those stories and I would be awestruck. And when a storyteller is asked ‘And then?’, that’s when you realize the power of storytelling. That’s exactly what we are doing while scrolling social media platforms, looking for our ‘And then’ on these mediums. And I feel, till the time humans are on this planet, the mediums will change but the navarasa won’t,” he said. The Creative Intuition For every creative professional, there is usually a method behind all the madness. For Das, who says he is bad at most languages he has tried to learn, it is more about understanding the human feelings than understanding a language. “For any creative person, it is all about having an intuition, to understand why people say what they say and do what they do. As a creative, you have to have an intuition about what will work for consumers. You have to dream of what people want and then create something out of it,” he explains. He also adds that the best way of bringing these dreams to fruition is by realizing that it can no longer be a one-man show. “Gone are the days when people would consider themselves God and think they know everything. That is impossible today. In today’s world, the only way of creating wonderful stories or bringing our ideas and intuitions to a proper execution is by ensuring you work with people who are smarter than you,” he added. Finding solutions to human problems Earlier this year, <keyword id="261687" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="leo-burnett-india" source="Orion">Leo Burnett India</keyword> launched ‘StreetEye’, a motorcycle mounted device to help map potholes in real time which had the potential of saving thousands of motorcyclists from accidents and mishaps for digital general insurance brand, ACKO. The agency used technology to solve a basic human problem, and according to Das, that is what <keyword id="35666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising" source="Orion">advertising</keyword> should be about. “If I were to reflect on what advertising is all about today, I don’t believe in storytelling. It is all about finding human problems and solving them. Once you are able to do that, you will automatically create stories. And that’s what we did with ACKO’s StreetEye. The brand said, we don’t want to be just about insuring people. We want to get two step ahead and talk about protecting people. We didn’t want to talk about the cure; rather we wanted to do something to prevent the accidents from happening. And this is just one part of it. Everyday, we are working with brands like Reliance, Ariel, Tide, CarDekho, Airtel etc where it is all about using innovation to solve everyday human problems. A consumer doesn’t want advertising, he doesn’t want to buy things. If you are able to become a part of their lives by solving their problems, people will come to you,” said Das. Watch the full episode here: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4" retweetcount="4" status="LIVE | Join Rajdeepak Das, CEO &amp; Chief Creative Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett in conversation with… https://t.co/9f6u7Qr99z" createdat="1645097410000" id="1494272960705675264"></div> Episode 3: Sonal Mishra, Associate Vice President- Marketing, Unacademy Storytellers, since time immemorial, have been exploring formats of narration that span nearly every conceivable gamut. And a lot of brands, in the early days of digital marketing, would stick to short videos. At the same time, there are brands that have been part of long-form stories, where they have seamlessly become a part of the narrative. In the past few years, we have seen Unacademy do that again and again, be it with its association with The Viral Fever (TVF) for hugely popular web series like Kota Factory and Aspirants, or its recent talked-about IPL ads. The brand has, time and again, used long-form content to draw audiences into their narrative, and it has largely worked for the most part. To understand the brand’s secret sauce, we caught up with Sonal Mishra, Associate Vice President- Marketing, Unacademy, who took us behind the brand’s thought process and what has helped them stand out. Crafting clutter-breaking stories Over the years, digital has become a highly cluttered medium where everyone is trying to grab eyeballs where there is limited mindspace. So what are a few factors that Unacademy keeps in mind while crafting its stories? “As a brand, we try to be unique and do the unexpected, but at the same time be relatable and believable. The emotions one derives and the value that you add is what stays with the audience for a very long time. So it's very important to be relatable and believable. Having said that, it is also important to tread on different routes that meet the consumer at different touchpoints in their journey. So it's very important to latch on to a stronger human insight to build that consumer connect,” shared Mishra. For Unacademy, the goal is to engage with learners across the countries, be it in the metro cities or the smaller Tier II and III cities. Therefore, collaborating with platforms and creators who can help them reach out to a larger audience has been at the core of their associations with the popular TVF webseries. “Whatever we do is about becoming a part of our consumer’s life cycle, connecting with them by addressing a topic they can relate to. Our recent property Unacademy Unwind, which was all about music and unwinding hit a different chord altogether. Another campaign we did called Mistakes – the Greatest Teacher, did very well. The campaign said that Unacademy doesn’t just stand for clearing exams or being successful, it also stands for the journey you took. These are a few things that have helped us stand out,” she explained. Creating campaigns by listening to consumers Brands that are able to listen to their consumers, catch their pulse and create content pieces around those insights are usually the ones to woo them. Unacademy has been able to break the clutter through a lot of its recent campaigns. So what is their feedback mechanism that is helping them craft their communications? “Its not that we have figured it all out and know these are the secret ingredients that can make a piece of content work. It's a constant learning for us as well. But the benefits of these partnerships, initiatives, associations have been huge. They've helped us amplify the reach for the brand, build trust and penetrate deeper into the country. There were a lot of learnings from our associations like Kota Factory and Aspirants that we would like to better in the next property that we create. There have been a lot of pluses and we are learning at each step,” she added. Long-form vs short content While a lot of brands have been focusing on creating shorter, bite-sized content, Unacademy has associated with TVF and created highly talked-about webseries that have become a part of pop culture. Why did the brand choose long-form content over shorter content at a time when people are constantly talking about decreasing attention spans? “Understanding the psyche of the audience helped us. A strong story is something we mutually work on with our partners, but at the same time, from a brand standpoint, we have always ensured that the product integrations are so seamlessly weaved into the story into the content, that it doesn't actually disrupt the flow of the story and the audience can continue to enjoy and get entertained. So that is something which we are very conscious of. And that's why whoever we partner with also find the entire journey exciting,” said Mishra. Watch the full episode here: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2" retweetcount="2" status="LIVE | Join Sonal Mishra, Associate Vice President, Marketing at @unacademy in conversation with @AshwinRaghunath a… https://t.co/51eEJystug" createdat="1645443009000" id="1495722508720349184"></div>

Storyline: Where master storytellers tell us what goes behind crafting engaging stories that stand the test of time

<ul><li><keyword id="3009415" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shunali-Khullar-Shroff">Shunali Khullar Shroff</keyword>, the author of ‘Love in the time of Affluenza’ and ‘Battle Hymn of a Bewildered Mother’ is hosting a series of masterclasses on ‘writing and building a compelling narrative.’ </li><li>Starting April 29, the video sessions are being hosted on <keyword id="7098442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wattpad-India">Wattpad India</keyword>’s Instagram page. </li><li>She will explain how to go about writing, developing characters, dialogues and the <keyword id="500148" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="art-of-storytelling">art of storytelling</keyword>. </li><li>Earlier, the platform offered sessions from Anand Neelakantan, author of the ‘Bahubali’ trilogy, and Durjoy Datta, author and screenwriter.</li></ul>Shunali Khullar Shroff, the author of ‘Love in the time of Affluenza’ and ‘Battle Hymn of a Bewildered Mother’ is hosting a series of masterclasses on ‘writing and building a compelling narrative.’ Starting April 29, the video sessions are being hosted on Wattpad India’s Instagram page, the Canada-based online publishing platform. “Community and connection are cornerstones of the Wattpad experience. Writers around the world know that Wattpad is a place where they can hone their craft, find a community of other writers, and build a global audience. We’re thrilled to introduce Shunali Khullar Shroff to the Wattpad community and offer this unique opportunity to learn together in a Master Class setting,” said Devashish Sharma, Country Manager, Wattpad India. The best-selling Bloomsbury author will explain how to go about writing, developing characters, dialogues and the art of storytelling. This will cover three aspects of writing — ideation and the first page of the story, research and narrative and the finish line, which will include the final blueprint of the story after editing rounds. The masterclass will conclude with a contest for aspiring writers or authors, inviting them to share short stories on Wattpad. The top three winners will get personalized feedback from Shroff. “Wattpad is democratising storytelling and we are constantly finding ways to create value for our users. Through the association with an author as well-known as Shunali Khullar Shroff, we want to encourage users to write and expand their horizons by helping them understand the writing process better,” said Viral Jani, SVP, Investment Operations at Times Bridge. Wattpad has a user base of nearly 2.6 million users with over 4 million stories. Earlier, the platform offered sessions from Anand Neelakantan, author of the ‘Bahubali’ trilogy, and Durjoy Datta, author and screenwriter. Business Insider and Wattpad both are Times Bridge partners in India See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/world-book-day-here-are-the-five-books-from-the-best-of-wattpad-list/articleshow/75313130.cms">World Book Day: Here are the five books from the best of Wattpad list</a>

Wattpad to host storytelling sessions by bestselling author Shunali Khullar Shroff

<ul><li>In 2020, Wattpad is looking at increasing its brand partnerships.</li><li>2019 saw it partner with T-Series, Universal, Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Graphic India, Aleph Publishing and Teach for India.</li><li>For Wattpad, the future goal is to ‘entertain and connect the world through stories’.</li></ul>For global writing community and multiplatform entertainment company Wattpad, 2019 was a year of many innovations and landmarks. Last year, Wattpad’s global community touched the 80 million mark, and Apple recognized the platform for driving the Storytelling App Trend of 2019. Wattpad also made a move towards helping writers earn money on the platform by introducing several new monetization initiatives like Wattpad Premium and Wattpad Paid Stories. In entertainment, Wattpad’s film ‘After’ won a People's Choice Award for Best Drama Film, three Teen Choice Awards, and became one of the top-grossing indie films of the year. Their Hulu show, ‘Light as a Feather’ received four Daytime Emmy nominations and a second season order. The Wattpad Studios team also signed a dozen international entertainment deals, forming new partnerships and developing projects with the biggest studios across Europe, Latin America as well as in South Asia. Globally, the platform has been working with brand partners like JC Penny, National Geographic, and T-Mobile. Closer home as well, 2019 saw Wattpad bring brand partners like Universal Music India, T-series, Gaana.com, Graphic India, Big Bang Music, Penguin India and Harper India on board. Come 2020, the platform aims at working with more brands, to build a stronger community of storytellers, while also giving advertisers an opportunity to target an engaged community of writers and readers. Wattpad’s India story In India, Wattpad introduced the <keyword id="7098442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wattpad-India">Wattpad India</keyword> Awards in December 2019. Modelled on The Wattys, Wattpad’s annual global writing competition, the initiative is aimed at engaging with Wattpad’s growing community of readers and writers in India. Speaking about some of the other highlights from India, Devashish Sharma, Country Manager, Wattpad India said, “2019 was all about educating the market about the offerings of Wattpad. We parterned with schools, colleges, publication houses, trade bodies, production houses, music labels etc. We showcased a new way of connecting with your fans/audience through storytelling. In addition to digital contests, we also ran Masterclasses, Wattpad Campus Talks etc. to reach out to new users.” The platform also partnered with various brands like T-Series, Universal, Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Graphic India, Aleph Publishing, Teach for India, etc and is on the lookout for bringing more partners on board this year. How brand partners benefitted When used right, storytelling can be an important tool in engaging with audiences. And as more and more brands open up to this power of storytelling, it is expected that Wattpad will see more brand partnerships. Speaking about the opportunities that the platform offers for advertisers, Sharma said, “We are already deeply engaged with brands in India and around the world. With our combination of technology, community, engagement, and a built-in network of influencers, we transform the way brands connect with their audiences - particularly Gen Z - through stories. From video with best-in-class completion rates to branded content and native programs with Wattpad influencers, we tailor brand campaigns to find the best way to reach the right audiences. Wattpad Brand Partnerships aligns brands with stories that are unique, diverse, and have a massive built-in audience so that they can always reach the right consumers with content that is perfectly tailored for them.” Using a new-age platform like Wattpad also means that one has to come up with innovative ways of engagement, and that’s what a few partners tried to do. Gaurav Wadhwa, Founder, Big Bang Music (a JV of Kwan and Sony Music) said, “We've successfully worked on campaigns with WattPad - to combine music and it's expression at a time when nobody seems to be doing it. It's about moving beyond traditional streaming apps, but finding audiences that are still music-centric. Each song that we release through Big Bang Music is unique and WattPad gives us that edge to market these songs to a new audience.” Moreover, publishing houses find a direct connect with a platform like Wattpad. Speaking about how they gained from their recent partnership with the platform, Niti Kumar, Senior VP – Marketing, Digital &amp; Communications, Penguin Random House India said, “It’s been about a year since we have been collaborating with Wattpad to drive discoverability for our books and authors. We started a little cautiously but over time have seen great value online and offline through initiatives like campus events, online chats, contests and excerpt posting. There’s still a lot of potential that Wattpad has and we look forward to newer and better initiatives in 2020!” Wattpad’s vision for the future For Wattpad, the goal is to ‘entertain and connect the world through stories’. Throwing light on their goals ahead, Sharma added, “We are investing in India, growing our business and community in the market, and creating global opportunities for Indian storytellers. We’re helping writers all over the world build an audience and get discovered. Wattpad writers are already bestsellers. When you turn on the TV, go to a movie, or log in to your favourite streaming services, Wattpad’s insights could be behind the decisions that led to that project being green-lit. Soon you’ll see even more Wattpad stories on screens everywhere. India is home to some of the most creative storytellers on the planet, with the most exciting literary and entertainment sectors anywhere. We want to help more India Wattpad writers build a global audience, telling their stories to people around the world.” -- Wattpad is backed in India by Times Bridge, an investment arm of the Times Group

Wattpad: Empowering writers and connecting the world, one story at a time

<ul><li>As we observe <keyword id="143315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Book-Day">World Book Day</keyword> on April 23 amid Coronavirus lockdown this year, Business Insider brings you books from internet community Wattpad. </li><li>Studies show that reading a book for merely six minutes can reduce stress by over half as it releases tension in the muscles. </li><li>From user-generated fiction stories to poetry and humor, here are all the books to read, straight from the ‘Best of Wattpad’ list.</li></ul>For book lovers, reading is always the favourite way to kill time. In fact, studies show that reading a book for merely six minutes can reduce stress by over half as it releases tension in the muscles. As we observe <keyword id="144181" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Book-and-copyright-day">World Book and Copyright Day</keyword> on April 23 amid Coronavirus lockdown this year, Business Insider brings you the books from the internet community Wattpad. From user-generated fiction stories to poetry and humor, here are all the books to read, straight from the ‘Best of wattpad’ list. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/11287121-confessions-about-colton">Confessions about Colton</a> Published by a 23-year-old author Olivia Harvard, Confessions about Colton is a suspense novel featuring a teen boy Elliot Parker who is trying to cope up with betrayal and loss. Meanwhile, Colton Crest, his best friend, is brutally murdered. While Parker tries to get on with his life leaving behind his past, Crest’s death creates a mayhem. On the day of his funeral, Parker finds a letter that says “I killed Colton Crest”. But there are six more letters that unfold six clues as to why Crest was murdered. As Parker tries to put together the pieces, he wonders if he really knew Colton. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/35022704-if-i-fall-girlxgirl">If I Fall</a> Written by Lauryn A Brooks, the book features characters from the LGBTQ+ community. It is a story of two girls who fall in love. On a dull September afternoon, when the protagonist meets Drew Wilder, her life changes forever. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/4327248-the-numbered">The Numbered</a> Authored by MJ Gary, The Numbered is a Watty 2015 winner novel. The day Hannah is born, she undergoes a series of genetic and psychological tests. These scores decide her fate. Her birth parents leave her to be adopted by a ‘flawed’ family where she struggles to live. However, one fine day she is told that the consultant got the scores wrong and she has to relocate to her birth parents for a ‘perfect’ life where she has important decisions to make. And these decisions influence everyone’s lives around her. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/71858829-the-star-and-the-ocean">The Star and the Ocean</a> Authored by Maggie Derrick, The Star and the Ocean is a story of a young woman May Alana, who wishes on a star and finds a stranger on the remote island she lives. The book narrates how the pair survives all the odds to be together — including her secret that she is in possession of otherworldly powers. <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/116184094-given">Given</a> The book Given by Nandi Taylor narrates the story of an Island Princess Yenni, who is engaged to a prince of a neighbouring tribe. She wants to save her father’s life at any cost but ends up meeting a dragon who claims her to be his "Given", or destined mate. Disclaimer: Business Insider and Wattpad both are Times Bridge partners in India

World Book Day: Here are the five books from the best of Wattpad list

<ul><li>Ad &amp; Media Insider in partnership with Wattpad, hosted a 2-part webinar where we brought industry experts to discuss what makes GenZ different than others, which mediums do they use, how to capture their attention in less than 8 seconds, which topics are they most passionate about and why communication can no longer simply be a monologue. </li><li>The panel was moderated by Dr. Marcus Ranney, Champion of Well-being and had Sameer Yadav, Associate Director - Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India, P.G. Aditya, NCD, Dentsu Webchutney and Chris Stefanyk, Head of Brand Partnerships, Wattpad as panelists. </li></ul>Generation Z, which includes anyone born after 1996 and is in the age group of 18-24, is not just digital savvy, they are digital natives who are immersed in social media. They are a tweet away, catching up on the news developments and dance trends on Instagram, with an attention span of a gnat, wanting to see real content and calling out fake news. This generation is surrounded by a barrage of information online, spoilt for choice and skip ads that do not keep them hooked beyond the first few seconds. But if you do get their attention in 8 seconds, they are also a generation that binge watches content. India also has the largest population of young people, making them an important target group for marketers. However, marketers in India -- who are largely Millennials or Xennials and invest in traditional mediums -- are still trying to understand the upcoming generation to find out new ways to market and evolve with them. So, to figure out the most effective ways to connect with GenZ and help quell this panic of navigating the clutter, Ad &amp; Media Insider in partnership with Wattpad, hosted a 2-part webinar. Industry experts decoded how to market to this new age group, which channels deserve the majority of a brand’s marketing monnies, and new ways of appealing to the younger generation. The panel was moderated by Dr. Marcus Ranney, Champion of Well-being and had Sameer Yadav, Associate Director - Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India, P.G. Aditya, NCD Dentsu Webchutney and Chris Stefanyk, Head of Brand Partnerships, Wattpad as panelists. <keyword id="10216730" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="understanding-genz">Understanding GenZ</keyword> GenZ has an attention span of a gnat, which is less than 8 seconds and Millennials have an attention span of goldfish. Tinder, whose core audience is millennials and GenZ, had changed its Twitter bio to “RTs are now hugs” after one Twitter user requested it to retweet at midnight and a few others jumped on the trend. Aditya made a point that GenZ wants to be heard but brands need to respond to their queries as they also forget very quickly. Sharing a yardstick Aditya uses to measure a campaign's success probability, he said, “If someone chooses to interact with your brand, how quickly am I responding? We should use that as a parameter to gauge GenZ's attention span, because if someone tweets about you at 11:47, they will forget it at 11:50.” GenZ adapts to new technology faster than Millennials, Xennials and Boomers but that isn’t the only way marketers should look at GenZ. Yadav highlighted why it is important to segregate them into different psychographic segments and analyse their behaviour. “GenZ is not just an age bracket. You need to consider some beliefs, attitudes and then you try to figure out what are their interest areas, which you can then narrow down to a right set of cohorts you want to target. In this case, even the spillover might be better rather than segmenting them into a different set of age groups,” said Yadav. Building on Yadav’s point, Stefanyk spoke about diversity and commonalities within GenZ. While they might have a different upbringing, they are all looking for honest communication. Stefanyk said, “We realised in our research that GenZ is by far the most diverse generation of all time. For example, 48% of the North American audience claimed to have sexuality other than straight. To connect with them, you need to be serving content that relevantly speaks to them. GenZ wants to be spoken to as an individual and not a group. They are the first ones acting as BS (bull sh*t) detectors. So, they will call you out, at a platform or brand level. In North America, there is a concept called cancel culture which is GenZ using social channels to cancel brands, people or otherwise. At the end of the day, you have to be true to what your platform stands for.” Using the right mediums At-home media consumption as well as online consumption has grown significantly in lockdown, particularly among younger viewing audiences. According to Kantar's report, online video saw the greatest increase during lockdown, with 72% traffic coming from GenZ. However, experts said medium doesn’t matter as much as storytelling does. New-age brands like Swiggy and Zomato continue to explore email marketing regularly. Mondelez’s lion’s share still goes to traditional media and Yadav said that message supersedes the medium. “In India, if you have to reach the masses and drive scale, you will have to go to traditional media. When it comes to marketing to GenZ by using traditional media, it depends on your message. Before we select a medium, we invest more in understanding the platform and research on what consumers are doing on that media, what they are sharing and liking. If you compare 2020 to 80s, of course, brands are moving tremendously towards the digital side but traditional media is here to stay. It continues to be the biggest aggregator followed by other properties,” said Yadav. Mondelez further personalises its campaign for GenZ according to their common interests and finds a perfect time slot when they are open to receiving more information. Yadav said, “We believe in personalisation. GenZ in Kerala vs Nashik is very different. So we try to personalise to an extent that we send out 100-150 creatives at different points of time so that we resonate better with that particular consumer cohort. We try to draft distinct messages for different consumer cohorts. We try to target them at a relevant time in the day, personalise it further according to which region they are in and their interests.” Brands can no longer sell to them: Moving away from monologue to dialogue The panelists discussed how GenZ is increasingly becoming more aware of how advertising works and is able to separate grey from black. They view brands as a form of self-expression and to connect with them, panelists said, it is important to include them in the content-making process. On how brands can ensure that GenZ engages with their stories, Stefanyk said that it is important to choose the right issue they would resonate with, include them in the part of the storytelling process, promise action-oriented results and deliver behavioural change. He added, “Marketers targeting GenZ, bear in mind that purpose means action, not words. Decreasing attention span is a myth if people learn how to engage in content that speaks well to them.” Aditya also highlighted why marketers targeting GenZ should follow just one mantra, that is, be real. He said, “Millennials want brands to have a sense of purpose. GenZ has taken that a step ahead. They are not just satisfied with a purpose, they want real action from brands. The understanding of what is real and fake is way more nuanced right now. We also need more representation in-house. We need a 21-year-old cracking ideas for the 21-year-old. 'Millennialsplaining' is not gonna work. You need GenZ themselves working on campaigns for GenZ. ” So, the best way for brands to connect with GenZ is to take a closer look at your brand's value system, speak to the target audience in their language, and engage in a dialogue, not a monologue. Brands need to understand what the audience wants to hear, and involve them in the process and be real. Watch the full conversation here: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="7" retweetcount="2" status="Marketing To GenZ: @docmranney, @wattpad's @cstefanyk &amp; Sameer Yadav. https://t.co/jRpg7ecL2B" createdat="1604399410000" id="1323573174320050179"></div>

Most effective ways to market to GenZ in 2020

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jaxon Human is a full-time male stripper who works for Magic Men Australia.</li><li>He makes up to 6,000 Australian dollars a week, or about $4,000, during peak season.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 29-year-old male stripper in Melbourne, Australia, who goes by Jaxon Human. Insider has verified his income with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I'm a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaxon_human/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">male entertainer</a> with <a href="https://www.magicmen.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magic Men Australia</a>. When I was 16, I was accepted into a program called <a href="https://seda.edu.au/about-seda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sports Education Development Australia</a>, where I studied physiology, well-being, and nutrition fundamentals. I've also completed an <a href="https://www.iapc.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Academy of Physique Conditioning</a> course, which enables me to prepare athletes for bodybuilding competitions. I started working for Tennis Australia in October 2011 and worked there for five years as a senior coach for a variety of player levels.I earned these certifications and got into fitness as a backup plan for when performing isn't an option anymore. Dancing and entertaining have always been my passion. Whenever I had the opportunity to dance and take my top off, I would. I knew being a male entertainer was what I needed to do.In 2012, I started my journey as a male stripper with Magic Men Australia, and I'm now a full-time stripper. During wedding season, from around September to May, I earn up to 6,000 Australian dollars, or about $4,000, a week, after taxes, which includes private bookings, tours, and resident shows. During the offseason, I earn up to AU$3,000. I don't get tipped — I'm paid an average of AU$200 to AU$500 per resident show, depending on travel to the job.<h2>I applied for Magic Men Australia when I was 18</h2><div type="image" title="three male strippers perform on stage" height="800" width="1066" msid="99665191" hostid="261" sizebytes="61254"></div>A few weeks went by, and I didn't hear anything back. I got fed up waiting for a response through email, so I gave them a call, introduced myself, and expressed how keen I was for the job.That same day, I went into Magic Men's resident venue, Love Machine, in Melbourne. I expressed my interest and passion for male entertainment, and I auditioned with a mini stage performance. Then I was given the opportunity to perform the following weekend for the first time.Going into the night, I didn't know what to expect, and my nerves were a 10 out of 10. When I arrived at the venue, I took a deep breath and felt like this was where I was meant to be.Five minutes before my first performance, one of the other Magic Men performers said to me, "Kill it, bro. You got this." I heard this, took a deep breath, and it was showtime.After my first performance, the owner gave me extremely positive feedback. I began to perform at shows and private bookings for occasions like bachelorette parties.Now, 12 years later, I'm one of the main faces of Magic Men Australia, and I tour every week around the country to perform. I'll soon be heading to our first monthlong international tour in Canada.<h2>I've also built a following on social media, and some wild things have happened</h2><div type="image" title="a model takes a photo leaning on a bed" height="6106" width="4071" msid="99665192" hostid="261" sizebytes="2743794"></div>In 2018, my modeling career kicked off. I started shooting with a photographer named Michelle Lancaster as a book-cover model. Lancaster contacted me after I appeared on "Love Island Australia" and asked whether I wanted to shoot.Later that year, I walked my first runway at a department store and was chosen as a cover model for a story on <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wattpad</a>, a social-storytelling platform.I'm not an influencer, and I don't make money from social media, but I post content to keep my following engaged and grow my platform. So one day, when I launch a business, I have the marketing side ready.I've gotten some wild messages. One time the most innocent-looking lady on Instagram offered me $500,000 to go and live with her in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, all expenses covered. A fan also once asked for my toenail.<h2>I start my day by prioritizing nutrients and fitness</h2>I aim to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night so my body feels recovered and fresh for the next day. I typically go to sleep at about 10 p.m. I wake up at 6 a.m. and go for a walk to get my morning coffee and banana bread.After my walk, I hop on my laptop to do some admin work, such as replying to emails, mixing music for future shows, and setting goals to keep myself accountable before eating a pre-workout meal. I make sure I hit the correct macronutrients and follow a training program. About noon, I head to the gym to make sure my physique stays top tier.After the gym, I head home and make something for lunch such as seasoned chicken with potatoes and vegetables or seafood with herbed rice and vegetables. I also prepare dinner so I can kill two birds with one stone.Between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. is my social-media time, which includes filming content and replying to any direct messages.<h2>My shifts at Magic Men Australia vary</h2>The typical length of a shift varies because of many factors. For example, if it's wedding season, we'll have a lot more bachelorette parties.My most requested outfit is "Sons of Anarchy"-themed. I also dress up as a fireman, a character from "Peaky Blinders," a Michael Jackson backup dancer, a "Fifty Shades of Grey" character, and a police officer. The act that I'm the lead dancer for is "Sons of Anarchy"-themed, and all the other outfits are for when I dance backup to other performers. I get a spray tan once a week so the lighting on the stages doesn't make me look washed out.When I'm on tour, my shift begins at 6 a.m. Thursday mornings, when I head to the airport to travel for an interstate performance. The doors open about 6 or 7 p.m., and the shows will end about 11:30 p.m. I perform Thursday and Friday nights. Then we make our way back to the hotel for an early flight back home to Melbourne for our resident show on Saturday night.Five minutes before hopping onstage, all the boys get in a huddle, we put our hands in, and, on the count of three, we say, "Don't forget the choreography." This reminds us why we do what we do and allows us to get into a positive mindset to put on the best performance for the audience. We work hard to maintain our stage performance and always be at our best, so this little huddle reminds us we're in it together.The reason I do this is that I love to perform. I never think of how much money I'm going to make — what I do is my passion.

I'm a full-time male stripper who makes up to $4,000 a week performing around Australia. Fans have asked me some wild things, but this really is my passion.

<ul><li>Luminary has entered into a strategic partnership with <keyword id="4519251" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="times-bridge">Times Bridge</keyword>. </li><li>Times Bridge will enable Luminary to launch, scale and expand its reach in India, the world’s largest open Internet market.</li></ul>Luminary, among the world’s leading subscription platforms for high-quality podcasts, today announced a partnership with Times Bridge to bring its premium audio experience to Indian consumers. Times Bridge, a leading global investments and partnerships firm, will enable Luminary to launch, scale and expand its reach in India, the world’s largest open Internet market. With news of this strategic partnership, Luminary joins Times Bridge’s global portfolio of market-leading, mission-driven partners who see India as essential to their global business: consumer and enterprise businesses alike, including Airbnb, Coursera, Headspace, Houzz, Stack Overflow, Smule, Uber and Wattpad, have all generated outsized global value for themselves in recent years by partnering with Times Bridge in India. Times Bridge is a division of The <keyword id="11125" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Times-Group">Times Group</keyword>, India’s oldest and largest media and digital company. Founded in 2018 and backed by marquee global investors including NEA, Luminary has set out to transform the global podcasting industry by offering an elevated experience for both listeners and creators. The company offers a subscription service for its premium content - which features personalities such as Russell Brand, Lena Dunham, Trevor Noah, and Dave Chappelle - and has amassed a slew of accolades, most recently from The New Yorker, The Webby Awards and Adweek. In April, Luminary announced that its podcasts would be offered on the Luminary channel of Apple Podcasts, making them available globally. <a name="m_-7922449519507527228_m_-469251050635407937_m_6068447029345576171_m_-706644968640035600_m_2072713269564072058_m_6896817252801412630_m_6296800022619968465_m_4879747725434813834_m_-6029213800918870495_m_-8064029617444494804__2iiegcvfk1lq"></a>Luminary’s official launch in the Indian market coincides with exceptional growth in audio consumption across India in recent years. The country is now the world’s third-largest podcast market, after China and the United States, with a monthly listenership of 58 million and expected growth to 200 million by 2024. Luminary aims to meaningfully cater to India’s vibrant cultural, demographic and linguistic diversity with soon-to-be-launched exclusive Indian content. <a name="m_-7922449519507527228_m_-469251050635407937_m_6068447029345576171_m_-706644968640035600_m_2072713269564072058_m_6896817252801412630_m_6296800022619968465_m_4879747725434813834_m_-6029213800918870495_m_-8064029617444494804__z8u3paip9mik"></a>Drawing on Times Bridge’s local know-how, its operational support and the unmatched reach of Times Group assets, Luminary will forge strategic partnerships, launch original Indian content, build a localized brand voice and contextualize its product experience for the Indian market. Times Bridge’s unique influence-and-insight oriented approach and dedicated resources will accelerate the growth of Luminary’s platform and advance its mission in India. Simon Sutton, CEO of Luminary Media, said, “India is an incredibly exciting audio market, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to serve it with Times Bridge. We cannot wait for Indian audiences to experience our unique content offering. Over the course of the next year, we plan on becoming a part of the robust Indian podcast ecosystem. “ <a name="m_-7922449519507527228_m_-469251050635407937_m_6068447029345576171_m_-706644968640035600_m_2072713269564072058_m_6896817252801412630_m_6296800022619968465_m_4879747725434813834_m_-6029213800918870495_m_-8064029617444494804__fgkqux3ldpd4"></a>Rishi Jaitly, CEO of Times Bridge, added: “Times Bridge’s mission is to bring the world’s best ideas to India and share India’s best insights with the world. Luminary is an original idea with proven appeal with audiences who are passionate about high-quality audio experiences. With podcasting as a medium on the rise in India, and with millions of Indians now developing a habit of educating and engaging via audio, we are confident Luminary will delight new audiences in India - and unlock new stories from India for the world.”

Luminary partners with Times Bridge to bring its premium podcast platform to India

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>When Anna Todd started posting&#xa0;<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/5095707-after">fan fiction stories online</a>, she never expected that her love of boy band One Direction would turn her into a sensation with a reported&#xa0;<a href="http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Anna-Todd/474410587">six-figure publishing deal.</a>&#xa0;But it did.Now, Todd is a bona fide best-selling author thanks to a story&#xa0;she wrote mostly&#xa0;on her iPhone.Her&#xa0;five-book "After" series has been published in 29 countries&#xa0;and read over a billion times on <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/home">Wattpad</a>, the digital reading platform where she originally published it. Paramount <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/one-direction-inspired-fan-fic-800189">even recently purchased the rights</a> to turn "<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/5095707-after">After</a>" into a movie.Todd's fanfic success story is far from a fluke. Publishing houses and movie studios are increasingly looking online for fresh stories that have a built-in fan base. "Fifty Shades of Grey"&#xa0;was first published&#xa0;online, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-started-as-twilight-fan-fiction-2015-6">presented as fan fiction based on the "Twilight" books</a>. As writer E.L. James'&#xa0;audience ballooned online, mainstream publishers and movie studios took note. She became a best-selling author and&#xa0;her story was then adapted for the big screen, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-at-the-box-office-2015-2">making millions at the box office</a>.And now, Todd is&#xa0;following in her footsteps. The main difference between their trajectories, though, is that Todd had the added benefit of the digital publishing platform&#xa0;<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/home">Wattpad</a>&#xa0;accelerating the&#xa0;process. So how'd she do it?A few years ago, Todd was working odd jobs and waiting tables after having taken&#xa0;some classes at&#xa0;college but never graduating. She'd married her high school boyfriend at 18 and moved to Texas to follow his Army career.&#xa0;After becoming obsessed with One Direction, she&#xa0;started writing standalone fan fiction short stories about the boy band on an unlikely medium: the photo-sharing app Instagram. "I had no intention of [formally] publishing them," she said of her stories. "I just wrote what I wanted to be reading."Even when restricted to writing her stories as lengthy&#xa0;Instagram captions, though, she started gaining a following. A fellow fan took notice and turned her on to the much more writer-friendly&#xa0;<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/home">Wattpad</a>.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Starting in April 2013, she wrote and published "After" one chapter at a time on Wattpad, without any&#xa0;outlining or planning&#xa0;for the plot. "After" reimagines One Direction's Harry Styles as a bad boy college student with a girlfriend named Tessa Young. And yes, its sex scenes are just as bodice-ripping as those found in any romance novel."After"&#xa0;was&#xa0;written almost entirely from Todd's cell phone.&#xa0;Often, she'd write while standing in line at Target or the grocery store.She dedicated five hours a day to writing "After" and another three hours to promoting it within Wattpad and on social media. Soon, it turned into a 100-chapter, one-million-word juggernaut that was rapidly attracting a fan base in the hundreds of thousands. Todd become famous on Wattpad.The only issue: Wattpad and its writers don't have much name recognition beyond the site's&#xa0;rabid fan base.Wattpad is a platform for reading and self-publishing, and its reach is quietly enormous. The Toronto-based free digital reading site&#xa0;has more than 40 million users, <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140926/dq140926b-eng.htm">more than the entire population of Canada</a>. These numbers are constantly increasing, with over 24 hours of new reading content being uploaded every minute, Wattpad CEO Allen Lau told <keyword id="72550" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="TI">TI</keyword>. So while Todd's fame on Wattpad was growing, her life continued normally. She kept waiting tables in her Texas town.&#xa0;But soon, all that would change.Wattpad had noticed how popular she was. They&#xa0;reached out to Todd&#xa0;and, within six months, helped&#xa0;her score a book deal with Simon and Schuster in April 2014. This was just one year after Todd had shared her first "After" chapter on Wattpad.The&#xa0;"After" now available in stores&#xa0;is an edited version&#xa0;based on Todd's Wattpad writings. The 100-chapter saga has been broken down across <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-The-Series-Anna-Todd/dp/1476792488">four books</a>, while the&#xa0;original version is still available on Wattpad.&#xa0;When she got the book deal,&#xa0;Todd had&#xa0;to change her character's name from Harry Styles to Hardin Scott&#xa0;for legal reasons. This is a common practice when online fan fiction is adapted for print. Since&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-started-out-as-twilight-fan-fiction-2015-2">"Fifty Shades of Grey" started out as 'Twilight" fan fiction</a>, the character names and settings were also changed when the stories were published.&#xa0;Since <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-The-Series-Anna-Todd/dp/1476792488">the first "After" book&#xa0;was published</a> in October 2014, her audience has only continued to grow."At [book] signings, I'll have everyone from 15-year-old girls to 45-year-old women coming up to me," Todd explained.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Todd's&#xa0;success has&#xa0;opened the door&#xa0;for other fanfic authors. Wattpad writers like&#xa0;<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/5449917-body-rock">Doeneseya Bates</a>&#xa0;and <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/1333719-backfire-niall-horan">Bel Watson</a> have gained millions of reads on the platform for stories featuring&#xa0;characters like Justin Bieber and, of course, members of One Direction.&#xa0;Despite their fan fiction origins, there's still one major difference between&#xa0;"Fifty Shades of Grey" and "After."&#xa0;While Todd's&#xa0;books have plenty of sex scenes,&#xa0;the couple isn't suspending each other from the ceiling with&#xa0;rope."If you read 'After,' you won't find any BDSM stuff," Todd said of her characters' sexual encounters.&#xa0;"After" is also&#xa0;inspiring a new generation of readers."A lot of parents have said, 'My daughter never read before your books and now she loves reading," Todd told TI.Not everyone is a huge fan of Todd's writing style. Critics&#xa0;have been brutal, calling her work "<a href="http://jezebel.com/book-is-supposedly-new-50-shades-but-is-really-just-sl-1564444771">sloppy</a>," "<a href="http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1055203/anna-todds-after-is-an-insult-to-intelligent-readers-everywhere">lacking in style</a>," and a "<a href="http://www.sugarscape.com/bookclub/reviews/a1072004/book-review-after-anna-todds-one-direction-fan-fic-turned-novel/">letdown</a>," but Todd and her loyal readers remain unfazed."Love fanfic or hate it, it's getting thousands of people to read and write who otherwise would not have," she told TI. "Reading and writing isn't supposed to be this exclusive club, it's just supposed to be entertaining." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-ashley-madison-client-information-2015-7">Here's the type of info hackers have after breaking into the extramarital hookup site Ashley Madison</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ViaDFkdjqYAnmokhNuwEhJWAd8e5-lu0" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

This woman wrote One Direction fanfic on her phone and ended up with a massive six-figure book deal

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Warner BrothersThese "Harry Potter" fan fiction stories are best read by wand light.</div></div></div>"Harry Potter" fans are an obsessive bunch, so it should come as no shock that thousands of fan fiction chapters have been dedicated to expanding J.K. Rowling's wizarding world.Some of the stories are decidedly anchored in Rowling's original canon - think the James Potter, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape love triangle - while others completely reimagine the series and invent new plot lines.We scoured <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/">FanFiction.net</a>, <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/signup">Wattpad</a>, and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/">Archive of Our Own</a> to find the 11 themes that Harry Potter fan fiction writers love to visit again and again.

11 weird ways fan fiction writers completely reinvent the 'Harry Potter' universe

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>On Thursday night in San Francisco, Cory Levy, co-founder of the One app, held a crazy event for 3,000 20-somethings called "Internapalooza."The fourth floor of the Parc55 hotel was filled with backpacks, body odor, and tech t-shirts, both being worn and being handed out. While some were interns there to catch up with college friends, others ambitiously piled into the middle of the room and spent their networking time circulating résumés, hoping to impress the recruiters on hand from the biggest companies in the Bay Area. (Google being the notable exception).We decided to check out the scene and talked to more than two dozen attendees. Here's what they were talking about:<h2>Their dream internships: Mostly Google</h2>When we asked people what company they would choose as their "dream" tech internship, we got a whole bunch of different answers, including Apple, Facebook, Adobe, VMWare, Uber, and (its rival) Lyft."It's not about a company name, but where you can do something you're passionate about," one rising junior business major said. "Palantir, Uber, Airbnb - any of the unicorns," a 21-year-old college dropout who had interned at Apple and Wattpad told us. One ecstatic Carnegie Mellon student told us that he was down to the final round of interviews for Google, when he got the good news: "I have an internship at Apple this summer - it's been my dream since the fourth grade." However, the one company that got more votes than any other: Google. "They just have the best combination of everything," one rising junior said. "For a technical, computer science person like me, they have such diverse options." "I want to work with big data," one PhD student said, "And they have so much data that you can get your hands dirty with."That same student, who currently has an internship at Genentech, told us he was disappointed that Google hadn't shown up to the intern fair. But he also had a theory as to why: "They have so many candidates, they probably don't feel like they need to come," he said with a wry smile. <h2>Perks: "Dropbox has the best catering"</h2>You can't talk to a bunch of tech interns without asking about the perks. While people raved about product discounts, free food and Uber credits, the most unique story came from a rising senior who had spent a summer at a cloud-based health records company in Boston, Athenahealth. The company let Top Chef film an episode on its campus, and managers brought their interns to taste all the food and be part of the show. "You definitely don't expect your tech internship to get you on TV," he said. "Ask anyone who's been there: Dropbox has the best catering," one intern said. "If you don't work there, you have to get your friends to bring you over for dinner at least once. It's amazing."A former eBay intern said that last summer the company flew everyone in the program from across North America to downtown San Francisco for an "intern conference" where they got to meet the CEO and have a late-night party on the roof of their hotel. Outside that event, the summer was filled with bowling nights, catered lunches, and Q-and-A sessions with execs. This summer, he's working at the eBay subsidiary StubHub. <h2>The crazy-expensive cost of living</h2>We talked to several interns who had either moved to Silicon Valley for the summer or were trying to get settled here permanently. One German masters student said, "Of course, I wanted to move here. It's like Hollywood for tech people." But it's expensive. Several interns received only housing stipends, rather than corporate housing, which can be hard in the tough bay area market. Malika Watler, a rising junior at Spellman College and an intern at EA Games, said she she was surprised at how expensive it was and ended up using her housing stipend towards renting out an Airbnb for the summer. Trushitha Narla, an intern at Uber, first tried living in Berkeley to save on an apartment, but opted to eventually move into the city despite the higher cost of living.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>One Canadian intern wasn't quite as excited about living in Silicon Valley. "I always dreamt of living and working here until I actually started working here," he said. "Or maybe just because I'm in Cupertino. Without a car, it kind of sucks. And you realize we're in an area with a pretty limited world-view."<h2>Diversity: "San Jose is called Man Jose"</h2>A lot of interns said they wished Silicon Valley had a more diverse culture.Elias Ramirez, an intern at Panafold, said there was a lack of "clear lack of culture and diversity" in Silicon Valley tech. Trushitha Narlas, an intern at Uber, mentioned wanting to talk to more non-tech people in her every day life. "They just want to talk about programming," she said.They also want to see diversity outside of the big Ivy League schools. Daniel Diaz, an intern at Uber and a rising senior at Cal State Monterey Bay with Ramirez, said he hopes tech companies start exposing more of these opportunities to smaller schools. (He got hired because Uber came to campus to recruit.)There's also the gender-thing. Gautam Das, an Apple intern, said there's very few girls around and the culture is much more-tech centric compared to Madison, Wisconsin, where he goes to school. "San Jose is called Man Jose," he said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><h2>They had to send out LOTS of applications</h2>Although everyone agreed that tech internships are incredibly competitive, we heard a very wide range for how many applications the hopefuls had sent out. One graduate student sent he sent out 100, while another only completed 5. They were currently working at Salesforce and Apple respectively. The average seemed to be between 20 and 30.Although some of the kids we talked to were still desperately searching for something to do for the summer, two students said they'd had their spots locked down since late last year. One thing interns don't want to talk much about: how much money they are making. Salaries varied between $6,000 and $7,500 a month, but many stayed tight-lipped on how much they're pocketing. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-air-force-one-tour-boeing-private-jet-2015-5">Take a tour of the $367 million jet that will soon be called Air Force One</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="4zNWQ2dTq0SJxfj9SagVkmMxd7YoUovg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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