There comes a time in most young people’s lives where they discover the joys of Wattpad. A social platform where users can read and publish original fiction and fanfiction.

The site is a place for young people to channel their creative energy into profitable art. Although most users do it for the love of the game, over the years Wattpad has given users different opportunities for financial compensation, but it’s selective.

As a original Wattpad user, I can tell you most people didn’t make a profit off of their stories, unless they were published in print. Some people self-published, while others experienced such massive success on the site they were able to sign publishing deals. Wattpad has joined sites like Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net as the birth place for media that we still consume today.

A lot of rom-coms and romance novels have origins that lead back to Wattpad. Books like After, The Kissing Booth, and The QB Bad Boy and Me have not only become bestsellers, but have also become available on screen. If you grew up on Wattpad and want to see the stories you used to read on the big screen, check out this list of Wattpad originals that will have you reminiscing.

1. Who can forget when Jacob Elordi became a household name? The Kissing Booth was written on Wattpad by author Beth Reekles when she was 15 years old. The novel accumulated over 19 million reads before being published two years later and becoming a bestseller. Netflix acquired the rights to the book and thus the movie, staring Elordi and Joey King, was born and became one of Netflix’s biggest original movies with two follow up movies. The film has your typical secret relationship as Elle’s (Joey King) life-long crush on her best friend’s brother Noah (Jacob Elordi) turns romantic after the two share a kiss at the school sponsored kissing booth. The film series follows the ups and downs of their relationships as well as Elle’s relationship with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney).

3. Oh, Wattpad, the home of many fanfictions about a certain British pop star. When author Anna Todd original posted After on Wattpad in 2013 — which now has over a billion reads — fans probably didn’t expect for it to become a box office hit. The fanfic was picked up for publishing and resulted in a five book series. In 2019 the first After movie was released and we got to see Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) and Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) in theaters for the first time. The series follows the two’s toxic, turbulent relationship that will have you on the edge of your seats. Did we mention their relationship started out as a bet from Hardin’s frat brother Zed (Samuel Larson)?

4. The My Fault (Culpa Mía) series was originally published in Spanish on Wattpad in 2015. Two years later author Merceds Ron secured a book deal and published the series with the English translation being released later in 2023. The trilogy is a fiery enemies-to-lovers story between main characters Noah and Nick. The series has two adaptations. Culpa Mía, the original Spanish adaptation starring Nicole Wallace and Gabriel Guevara, and a recent English adaptation My Fault: London, that stars Asha Banks and Matthew Broome. Both adaptations were massively popular when released on Prime Video, and the third movie, Our Fault: London, is on it’s way.

5. If you did not know the hit Netflix original series, My Life with the Walter Boys was a Wattpad staple, you’re missing out. Written by Ali Novak in 2010, the book was officially published in print in 2014. The two book series follows teenager Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez), who is forced to move from Manhattan to rural Colorado with her mother’s best friend and her twelve kids. Of course there is a love triangle between Jackie, Alex Walter (Ashby Gentry), and Cole Walter (Noah LaLonde). The third season of the series is set to release in August, but if you want to find out who Jackie ends up with read the print book or find the original sample still on Wattpad.

6. Perfect Addiction by Claudia Tan was a massive hit on Wattpad. The Perfect series is a two-time Watty award winner, which — if you don’t know what that is — is Wattpad’s premiere writing competition that has launched many writers into the spotlight. Claudia Tan’s MMA romance has everything a good YA needs. When professional MMA trainer Sienna Lane (Kiana Madeira) find out her champion boyfriend Jax (Matthew Noszka) is cheating on her with her sister, she is out for revenge. She decides to find Jax’s arch-nemesis and underground fighter, Kayden (Ross Butler), and offers to train him in exchange for a place to stay. Of course the forced proximity trope does its job and the two fall into a steamy romance. The original series is still available on Wattpad, as well as the updated version.

7. Sidelined: The QB and Me is probably the most Wattpad story to ever be put on screen. For starters, the original title is The QB Bad Boy and Me, and if you know anything about Wattpad, every story had to have a bad boy character. Before it was a Tubi original, Tay Marley had a hit original work with over 30 million reads. Now, the movie series was the number 5 most watched original films during it’s debut. The story follows Dallas (Siena Agudong) a dancer who dreams of escaping her small town and moving to California and her whirlwind romance with star quarterback Drayton (Noah Beck). The film has a sequel with a third, and final, movie on the way, but are people ready to say goodbye to Dallas and Drayton?

8. If someone said years ago that Disney stars Paris Berelc and Asher Angel would eventually star in a steamy Wattpad original series, it would have been hard to believe them. Kissing Is the Easy Part has some of the classic teen fiction tropes like “opposites attract” and “fake dating.” The original series was published on Wattpad in 2015, and Wattpad published the print edition in 2025. The series follows popular girl Flora Morgan (Paris Berelc) who’s parents are worried about their aspirations in life. After learning she adopts the interest of whoever she’s dating, they hire star-student Sean Foster (Asher Angel) to fake date their daughter so she will want to take the SATs. In exchange, they will write him a glorious recommendation for MIT.

Whether you’re reading or watching romance, Wattpad’s influence is everywhere.