Online writing and reading community Wattpad has acquired the Red Room, an online community originally described as a “Facebook for authors.” The Red Room site will be subsumed into Wattpad and go offline beginning July 8.
Former Red Room authors are invited to create new accounts at Wattpad. A spokesperson for Wattpad said Red Room authors will have to create a Wattpad account and "migrate their stories over themselves." She said that Wattpad has a “dedicated [person] on our Community Team who is helping Red Roomers with this transition.”
Red Room was founded by Ivory Madison, a lawyer, entrepreneur, author and comics writer, who has written graphic novels for DC Comics. She launched Red Room in 2008 as a site where writers could set up their own pages, connect with fans and sell books.
Madison raised more than $2 million in investment capital. By 2009 the site claimed it had 20,000 members and 2,000 authors.
In a prepared statement, Madison noted that the acquisition will give Red Room authors access to the 30 million people that visit Wattpad each month. She wrote: "When I launched Red Room in 2008 I wanted to break down the walls between readers and writers. I’m thrilled Red Room authors have found a new home in a friendly and supportive global community."
