Computer engineering grad changes the face of storytelling

People standing in line have two choices: They can twiddle their thumbs, or put them to work.

Ivan Yuen wants them to do the latter, flicking through the electronic  pages of a good story discovered on Wattpad.

“Smartphones make it really easy to read wherever you are, whether it’s on your half-hour commute on the train, or five minutes in the line at the bank,’’ says Yuen, a University of Waterloo graduate, Wattpad co-founder and voracious reader. “It’s breaking up what was normally a long activity — sitting on a couch or on a bed, reading — into bite-sized snacks.”

Headquartered in Toronto, Wattpad is an community for readers and writer to discover and share stories. Writers use it to gauge reader response to books, poems or screenplays they have written, building up a fan base that might lead to a paying book deal.

Side-stepping mainstream publishers

Readers comment on such things as plot and character development. Wattpad, Yuen says, short-circuits the traditional publishing path in which writers send material to a publisher and pray that it gets accepted.

"If you have a concept, you can write down the first page, the first chapter — whatever it is — and immediately start to get feedback from readers,” he says. “That can help you shape your story as you go.”

Canadian icon Margaret Atwood is a Wattpadder

Margaret Atwood counts herself among professional writers who like the concept for what it does to encourage reading. In fact, Wattpad was her publishing platform of choice for The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home, a unique collaboration with fellow author Naomi Alderman.

Yuen graduated in 2000 with a degree in computer engineering, and formed Wattpad with Allen Lau in 2006. The concept emerged out of frustration.

Yuen got stuck in line-ups. He had a cell phone. He figured he should be able to read something to kill time.

But in the mid-2000s, e-reading was an awkward, fringe technology, with limited choice in material and devices. Wattpad struggled at first. Yuen and Lau let it simmer while they focused on another project. 

Two years later, the concept got traction. The range of devices with reader apps expanded. Wattpad got submissions, and readers began tuning in. 

Today, Wattpad boasts more than 28 million “Wattpadders” who spend about six billion minutes — per month — on the app. Mobile devices account for 85 percent of that connection. Readers and writers engage across 50+ languages.

Wattpad hires co-op students every term

Last year, the company employed 40. This summer, it will be nearly 80. From its early days, Wattpad has welcomed students from Waterloo’s co-op program.

“It is just so obvious, especially for engineering, that co-op is a really good experience,” says Yuen, who was a co-op student himself. "It prepares you for industry and helps with tuition. The co-op program is just stellar.”