Happy New Year

A Special Welcome to New Writers on New Year’s Day from the Chief Editor

Summary of key success factors on this platform and our 2024 strategy aligning with Medium direction

Non-members can read this story for free using our Medium Friendship link.

Dear new writers, Happy New Year! Today, since our regular admins and editors are off celebrating the New Year joyfully, and I am ahead of them in Australia, I stepped in to add you to our publications. It was a bit of a long haul, spending around six hours while family members were sleeping.

When they woke up and saw me working hard in my study room, as usual, they called me a workaholic affectionately. I had to do this because I couldn’t let you hang tight waiting.

While doing this task, I empathized with our volunteer admins as this tedious and manual task took a long time. Please don’t take the effort and time from our volunteers for granted, as they do this as a giveback activity to support other writers.

I knew you were eager to get started ASAP. So, here we are, all set for your contributions to shine. You may start posting one high-quality story a day. We don’t accept more than one per writer per publication. Welcome aboard! To increase the chance of boosting, please review our checklist. We usually nominate for boosting from ILLUMINATION-Curated, so reading the guidelines can give you a competitive advantage. You can find all updated guidelines in this collection.

I wrote this short piece as a New Year gift to kickstart your writing journey in 2024. I won’t dive into the nitty-gritty of the rules since our volunteers have meticulously documented everything in our master onboarding pack. You may take a peek before sending in your stories. The editorial team will also send a new newsletter with our updates and plans.

However, yesterday, I posted an article to show our strategy aligning with Medium’s direction for 2024. I used myself as an example as I struggled with my performance when Medium changed its strategy around July. This story can give you valuable perspectives as I transparently share my personal experience, our publications’ experience, and Medium’s clear direction in this post. It can save you time and expedite your progress.

In this bulletin, I aim to paint a big-picture view of a writing career and how to make the best use of this platform, drawing from my years of experience. To provide some context, I founded ILLUMINATION on 19 March 2020, when the pandemic started, by inviting approximately 100 writers with whom I had been engaging. Since then, this publication has become a sensation, gathering 25,500+ contributors and publishing more than a million stories due to its immense value.

As ILLUMINATION grew beyond the capacity of our 30 editors, as Medium does not allow more per pub, I took the initiative to establish and integrate multiple publications. We have 12 publications catering to various writer and reader audiences, all made possible with the support of 145 volunteer editors, administrators, and moderators within our Slack Workspace.

I want to highlight that our publications are entirely run by volunteers without financial compensation. Each of us dedicates our time willingly and voluntarily to these tasks. While there are no tangible rewards, the experience offers numerous intangible benefits, including connecting with new individuals, forming meaningful connections, and gaining valuable insights from diverse perspectives.

Medium and my publications act like serendipity machines. I’ve encountered incredible people through this platform, formed lifelong friendships, and found collaborators. I’ve even written a case study delving into the intangible advantages of writing on Medium, aiming to provide new writers with a broader perspective.

My publications strive to be inclusive, diverse, and tolerant. However, our guidelines have been refined to adhere to Medium’s shift toward quality content. As of August 2023, we have updated our rules and now focus on publishing one meticulously crafted story per day from each contributor to ensure excellence over quantity. You may find the rules in our updated submission guidelines.

Our volunteer editors diligently screen every piece to maintain a safe and respectful environment. They ensure that no harmful content, such as hate speech, defamation, conspiracy theories, explicit material, child abuse, illicit drugs, plagiarized content, or AI-generated material, is published.

ILLUMINATION covers a wide array of topics, except for erotica and Medium-centric stories. If you’re a beginner or exploring your voice, our editors might refer lower-impact stories to Readers Hope or ILLUMINATION’s Mirror. Our top-tier stories reside on ILLUMINATION-Curated, a prestigious publication reserved for accomplished writers with proven track records and extended by invitation to advanced writers.

After this quick rundown, here are a few helpful tips to boost your writing success on Medium in 2024.

1 — Writing Focus

Above all, prioritize quality over quantity for your growth. Keep your audience in mind when crafting your stories, ensuring they delight, inform, educate, or entertain your readers. Essentially, aim for stories that captivate and engage, ensuring views and reads, as I detailed in an earlier piece. How to Write Content Guaranteed to Get Views and Reads

Now, Medium awards writers by boosting their stories. As a boost nominator, I provided guidance in an interview. How ILLUMINATION Publications Support the BOOST Program

In addition, I crafted a comprehensive checklist to increase the chance of boosting your stories. New Writers: Enhance the Chance of Boosting By Using This Checklist

Boosted stories might also go viral, but I provided additional guidance for writing viral content based on my research on 25 December 2021 as a Christmas gift to our community. Here’s What I Learned by Reviewing 100+ Viral Articles in 2021.

You may find some boosted stories from this collection compiled by ILLUMINATION-Curators.

2 — Clearing Income Perceptions

Additionally, it’s crucial not to perceive Medium as a quick money-making platform because it isn’t. Despite some claims, earning a six-figure income on Medium is exceedingly rare, reserved for a handful of individuals with over 100K subscribers (not followers). This story shows our position and guidance on earnings and intangible benefits: Medium Isn’t a Money-Making Machine, It Offers Better Benefits for Writers.

Through my observation and interviews with thousands of accomplished writers, I found only three who consistently make over 5K monthly. Regrettably, the earnings of these three accomplished writers even halved after August.

However, you can earn significant supplementary income on Medium by repurposing your content on other platforms, gaining paid subscribers through Substack or Patreon, ghostwriting, turning your stories into books, converting them into educational materials, and exploring numerous other options. I discussed these in an article before. How to Write Content to Generate Steady Income.

3 — The Value and Importance of Meaningful Engagement

In this section, I want to candidly address a sensitive but crucial topic. Upon investigation by our administrators last month, it came to light that 8000 of our writers are non-members. While they don’t financially contribute to writers’ earnings, it’s worth noting. However, there’s a more critical aspect to this that I’d like to openly discuss with you for your growth and success on Medium.

Publications on Medium are built on collaborative principles, aiming to unite writers and readers. Every writer is also a reader. If you’re not a member, it means missing out on reading and engaging with other writers’ stories — a significant missed opportunity. Without engaging with their stories, it’s less likely they’ll engage with yours.

I’ve written about this topic from my secondary account curating tech stories a few weeks back. However, since that account has fewer followers, the story didn’t reach many of our writers. I’ll link it here for your reference. Why I Became a Friend of Medium

If you’re able to afford $5 a month, it can be a fantastic investment for your growth on this platform. It pays dividends — I’m certain of it. I mentor around 500 new writers yearly, and every person I’ve recommended to become a member has gained at least ten times more followers and 50 times more loyal readers. You can do the math yourself.

The Value of Friends of Medium Subscription

As of last month, Medium introduced a new subscription model for readers called Medium Friendship. It offers fantastic benefits for both writers and readers. The key point is that when Friends of Medium members read your stories, you can earn four times more than other members’ reading. You can find all the details about its benefits in this recent story.

I upgraded all my publication accounts to Medium Friends to help our editors read and curate stories, boosting our writers’ earnings.

Additionally, on my Medium anniversary on December 21, I upgraded my main account to support writers’ earnings, as detailed in the attached story. I’ve also connected with early adopters who upgraded to Medium Friendship, and they can share their reasons with you.

Meet Some Early Adopting Friends of Medium

With this opportunity, I want to introduce you to some early adopters of the Friends of Medium so you may connect with them and understand why they upgraded their subscriptions. The more Friends of Medium we have, the more vital and sustainable this platform will be. Happy writers equate to happy readers, creating a win-win position.

Aiden (Illumination Gaming), Dr John Frederick Rose, Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Dr. Christine Chuckle, Dr. Julian Barkan, Mike Broadly, DHSc, Michael Burg, MD (Satire Sommelier), Wayne Stelk, PhD, Seda Anbarcı, Rebecca Romanelli, Sven Vandenberghe, tarun bhatt, David B. Grinberg 🇺🇸, Pernoste & Dahl, Annelise Lords, Elaine Hilides, Bill Abbate, Angie Mangino, Haimish Mead, Rui Alves, Amir Bibi, Marcus Musick, The Bumble Life, Ali Alzahrani, Editor, Zeem, Barbara J. Martin, Luay Rahil, Sherry Atkinson, Jay Squires, Tom Kane, Fiona McDerment, Ammara Hassan, Rick Allen, Akaahan Terungwa, Mariana Busarova, Daniela Dragas, john creed, Meghan E. Gattignolo, Britt H., Shanté Nixon, Darlene López, Arosa Jabein, James Boylan, Ivylockewrites, Jodes Wiltshire, Kashi Writes, Robin Christine Honigsberg, Marcus aka Gregory Maidman, Jill Ebstein, Libby Shively McAvoy, Lysandros Lysandrou, Alina Pitt, Senetta Diane, Omni Essence, Power of Positivity, Deborah Camp, Misty Rae, ✅ Doc Samurai Sam, Wesley van Peer, Hira Chaudhry, Anshul Kummar, Ruby Noir 😈, Memoona Bilal, Charles Davie, Ani Vals, Cancer Husband, Usman Khalid Qureshi, Pete J J, Jake Roper, Gill McCulloch. FranMorelandJohns. Lovely Poems, Sanjay Singhal, Michael Zwierzanski, Patricia Ross, Frank Ontario | empathy, logic, love., Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe, Joanie Adams — Sightseer; Conjurer Of Words, Oksana Kukurudza’s Sunflowers Rarely Break, Jamel Hendley/Greenviool/PawProfits, JD Adams ~ Stories From the Mountain, Pierre. Climate change & solutions. Parenteeny — teenagers can do more, Brian Dickens Barrabee, Lanu Pitan🥰

Dear Friends of Medium, please consider exploring the profiles and stories of new writers and give them a warm welcome. I introduce them at the end of this post. Collaboration is a key success factor on this platform.

Editorial Guidance

Since creating my publications, I have crafted numerous stories to guide new writers. This brief message can’t cover all their insights as there are over 100 stories, so you may check out the relevant ones listed here. These pieces encapsulate my decades of experience in content development and marketing strategy.

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Medium’s communication options are restricted, only offering private messages, which is sometimes impossible as some writers turn them off. So, contacting writers by editors is a challenge. I set up a free, moderated Slack workspace to enhance interaction and collaboration among our writers, editors, and readers. You may learn about Slack from this story: An Introduction to ILLUMINATION Slack Workspace.

Our editor, Aiden (Illumination Gaming), also created a Discord channel for those who cannot use Slack. You may find the instructions in the attached story posted by Aiden. ILLUMINATION Discord: Video Introduction to Beginners

These resources are open to all writers, and there are around 20,000 members who collaborate and share their stories to expand their readership. While I am available for assistance on Slack or Discord, my responses might not be instant.

Managing 12 publications, addressing issues, and overseeing boosts as the owner and chief editor demands a significant portion of my time, along with my editing and writing responsibilities. Please be patient when I can’t respond instantly. I truly care about our writers, but sometimes, when there are too many requests, it takes time to answer all.

We typically tag our new writers for notifications instead of sending emails, as it’s a better practice. Your emails are solely used to invite you to Slack and add you to our Substack library, where we share our monthly updates. You can leave our publications or Subtack anytime without permission if our services do not resonate with you. You may also remove yourself as a writer or transfer your stories to your own or other publications when needed. There is no obligation from our end.

Account Safety and Security

Finally, keep your account safe and secure with vigilance. For example, recently, hackers and scammers cloned my account and tried to deceive my readers by pretending to be me. As a writer and reader, you need to recognize such detrimental behavior. I explained it in a recent story.

Conclusion and Welcome New Writers Joining Us Today

I trust this brief story offers some guidance and a starting point for engaging with our publications, aiding in the growth of your profile on this fantastic platform. For more about my background, you may check out my editorial profile.

Here’s a list of writers that I added to our publications today. Welcome aboard, and I look forward to reading, publishing, and promoting your stories for visibility. I also mentor new writers, so you may contact me on Slack when you need help.

Afifah Mohammed, Hifreequencyvibez, Mike Sansone, William Spivey, Frank Bouc, Starlet★, Khan Writes, Malik Randolph, Allison Allen, Michael Lumpp, Asma Khalid, Ryan Canady, Cleaningselfofself, Alessandro Negro, Hanna Motorina/Ukraine, Writing Bird, Owen Robert McGregor, Gary, Michalis M., Samie Sinclair, Ella de Jong, Prahlad Bajagain, Karthik Seenuvasan, Eduardo Velasquez, The Smoke Shop Alchemist, Arshia Alexander, MeThinks, Arya, Melissa Billeaud, Sarah, Geetanjali Singh, Mario Rozario, Geetanjali Singh, Rita Lara, PixelTree, Mario Rozario, Dr. Lutz Kraushaar, Jamel Hendley/Greenviool/PawProfits, Pei-Lun Xie, Antia & Brody Boyd, Paloma Mejia, Rhonda Grice in Mindset Matters, JANICE BROWN, Kevin L. Hing, Ludiane de Brocéliande, Zoë Van Noppen, VixenWriter, Claire Bleiler, Jay Vaananen, Miguel Feuggin, Denis Misyulya, Eizabeth Reeve, Zahoor Haider, Samantha Lima, Portia T, James, Tamjid Hossain, Zoë Van Noppen, Anouk Uragoda, Saad Benaicha, Morenike Amber, Trinity, Devin Sams, Subha Shrinivasan, Konstantin Dikov, Jill, Paul Is Positive, Sinju Thomas, Viktoriya Simidova, Yasir K., Mimira Smith, Vince Mao, Vineethchandha, Joe Guay — Dispatches From the Guay Life!, Bella Hadad, Basia W., Komal Sabeen, Michael Schneider, Carol Kari, Erika Wallgren, Barb Chappell, Katy Morin, Silver X. Bishop, Mark Wadsley, Natella Shikhiyeva, Hasnain Mustafa, Urvashi Valecha, Chris Nestor, Chizurum Enyinnaya, TheDawnChorus, DeryaSefer @ IdeaMastery, Paul Chatelain, Yanick Andrade, Sam Krämer, — A M, Jason Lim, Danny Wolf, Diksha Sahare, Melanie A. Greene, Bautista Gregorio, MotiSkill, Shalini, Amit Kumar, Yuan VK, Theo Rose, A. Noah, Oyebamiji Taiwo, ᴍɪᴄʜᴇʟᴇ, Abhinav, Macauley hatchet, Samarth Singh, Narmeen, Madiha, Ruchika Mehta, AJ STUDIOS, Akua ntiwaa Anti, kaermorhen97, Phyllis Haynes.

You may also meet new writers I introduced on Chrismas day as, again, administrators and editors were not available.

Other times, new writers receive announcements from the ILLUMINATION account, so you may follow that account, which is also a Friend of Medium.

Welcome aboard, and have a lovely New Year.

Here is how I celebrated New Year yesterday.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

If you are interested in memoir writing to delight your readers, here are sample thematic memoir stories from my collection.

Soulful Connections: Finding Meaning in Mammadou’s Childhood Letters

One Wise Advice from My Grandma That Made Me Wealthy and Happy

How Science Captivated My Childhood Mind, Building the Foundation for Lifelong Research

To inform my new readers, I wrote numerous articles that might inform and inspire you. My topics include brain and cognitive function, significant health conditions, longevity, nutrition/food, valuable nutrients, ketogenic lifestyle, self-healing, weight management, writing/reading, and humor.

100+ Insightful Life Lessons from My Circles for the Last 50+ Years

I publish my health and wellness stories on EUPHORIA. My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness. Be Your Own Therapist in 10 Steps.

Here is a sample impactful story from my collection that might change lives.

If you are a writer, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 25K+ writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. I also have another profile to write and curate tech stories.