Wattpad Partners with ViacomCBS to Adapt Stories to Streaming
Wattpad, a platform used to host both fan fiction and original fiction, has announced a new partnership with ViacomCBS. Viacom will adapt original stories from Wattpad as well as the webcomic platform WEBTOON into series to stream on Paramount+. Wattpad was purchased this year by Naver, the parent company of WEBTOON, for $600 million dollars.
This isn’t Wattpad’s first venture into streaming adaptations: The Kissing Booth and After on Netflix both began as Wattpad stories. (After was a One Direction fan fiction.) Wattpad states that its stories come with “built-in Gen Z and millennial global fandoms” and that they hold a lot of data about the browsing habits of users, making it easier to spot stories that would perform will in an adaptation.
The statement does not contain any details about how the authors will be compensated for their work if it is chosen to be adapted.*
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
*Editor’s Note/Correction: The Wattpad/ViacomCBS partnership is to develop original fiction. Fan fiction is not a part of this deal. All writers are compensated for their work when selected for adaptation.
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