Celebration and Happy New Year for 2024
An Overview of My Best Month: December 2023 on Medium
Highlights of key success factors/lessons learned and how they affected my reading, writing, editing, and curating tasks on this platform
While recounting my gaming stories this month, I couldn’t resist a playful nod to the occasional platform glitches — nothing short of routine humor in my gaming chronicles. But, behold! Unlike my adventures over the last 24 months, December 2023 produced a performance that soared beyond my wildest expectations.
In sharing this story, I aim to briefly brush up on the secret ingredients of success — what they signified in my writing, reading, and editing journey and how these valuable lessons might just sprinkle a bit of magic into the narratives of fellow writers.
Here is a brief summary:
Followers and Subscribers
During the bygone December, my following numbered 1573 strong with a mere 23 subscribers. Fast forward to this December, and behold the leap — an impressive surge to 11,686 followers and 79 subscribers.
While I don’t obsess over follower counts, this uptick of 22 new devotees in December 2023 bears immense significance. These aren’t just numbers; they represent a loyal cadre of readers who cherish my content, opting to receive email updates whenever I publish.
In my Medium journey, August was the reigning champ — a time when Medium waved its strategic wand, and lo and behold, my follower count, began its ascent. The whirlwind continued into September, blessing me with 3,625 new followers in just that month.
Being selected in the Who to Follow of Virtual Reality topic
Despite a slight slip in recognition for my gaming contributions — probably a hiccup in the system — I’ve managed to stay within the top 5 contributors in the Virtual Reality topic on Medium.
Internal Views and Reads
Before August, 98% of my views came from external sources. After that, the tables turned — now, almost 90% of my views stem from internal readers, with only 10% from external sources. While I lost some traction in Google’s virality, the increase in internal readership adds greater value to my overall performance.
Earnings
Though money isn’t my primary focus, my earnings have noticeably surged since August, reaching their peak, though they’re still not substantial. However, I’m immensely grateful because this uptick in earnings signifies that more people are reading and engaging with my stories. For me, meaningful engagement and readership hold far more significance than earnings.
Recognition of My Publication for Boost Nomination
Among all the metrics, this particular one held significant meaning for me as it marked my meaningful contributions to the platform by supporting fellow writers, readers, and editors. On 1st December 2023, Medium chose my publication Illumination-Gaming for boost nomination and contracted me as a boost nominator.
As a boost nominator, I daily delved into around 100 stories each day and selected one gem to nominate. I’m grateful that most of my nominations were chosen for a boost, bringing joy to both writers and readers.
Moreover, this process enabled me to collaborate closely with editors, aiding in the editing and formatting of these stories to heighten their chances of getting boosted.
As a byproduct of my reading and editing endeavors, I embarked on curating stories for our publication’s readers. It’s common knowledge that less than 1% of published stories receive boosts despite many being exceptionally valuable.
In an effort to spotlight these hidden gems, I initiated a new project — compiling stories I’ve reviewed as an editor, along with ones I’ve read, and combining them with nominations from other readers to craft curated collections. Over the course of December 2023, I managed to publish 26 such collections.
Here is my latest collection, including the previous ones.
In each collection, I meticulously compiled around 100 stories, culminating in the curation of 2,600 stories for our readers. To make these collections more accessible for sharing across social media, I also crafted lists for each one.
The cherry on top came in the form of a story particularly dear to me — it was selected for a boost on the last day of December, fulfilling my New Year’s wish.
My Boosted Story
Gaming, Fun, and Humor: The Lifelines That Rescued Me From Social Media’s Grip on My Life
Boost Education
I also started featuring writers with high-boost records to provide samples to writers and share my analysis of boosted stories.
Here are two samples.
The Importance of Being a Friend of Medium
Inspired by my mentor, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, I made a decision to become a Friend of Medium in December 2023. Despite the cost being three times higher than my regular membership, the immense satisfaction I derived from contributing to writers’ earnings, having read approximately 2,600 stories in December, was truly gratifying.
Here’s the details of my membership upgrade in the attached story.
Besides his own accounts, Dr Yildiz also upgraded the accounts of ILLUMINATION and ILLUMINATION-Curators in early December as soon as Alex Benzer announced it. ILLUMINATION editors interviewed Dr Yildiz about the value of FoM.
I hope more readers will join this exciting initiative to support writers and add more vibrancy and joy to this platform and community. I like the heart icon in my profile, as it makes me proud.
I’d like to introduce some early adoptors of Friends of Medium and extend my warmest wishes for a Happy New Year to them.
Lanu Pitan🥰, Mike Broadly, DHSc, Annelise Lords, Seda Anbarcı, Elizabeth Emerald, Dawn Ulmer, Lorwen Harris Nagle, PhD, Antonio Segovia, MD., David Mokotoff, MD, Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Dr John Frederick Rose, Dr. Christine Chuckle, Dr. Julian Barkan, Martha Manning, Ph.D., Michael Burg, MD (Satire Sommelier), Wayne Stelk, PhD, Rebecca Romanelli, Sven Vandenberghe, tarun bhatt, David B. Grinberg 🇺🇸, Pernoste & Dahl,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, Jill Ebstein, Libby Shively McAvoy, Lysandros Lysandrou, Alina Pitt, NADINE H, Senetta Diane, Omni Essence, Power of Positivity, Deborah Camp, Misty Rae, ✅ Doc Samurai Sam, Mhstuart, 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, George M Pantazis, Matthew Bamberg, Leon Macfayden, Justiss Goode — 2.0, Marcus aka Gregory Maidman, Scarlet Ibis James 🦩, Frank Ontario | empathy, logic, love., Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe, Joanie Adams — Sightseer; Conjurer Of Words, Oksana Kukurudza’s Sunflowers Rarely Break, Harry Hogg, Jamel Hendley/Greenviool/PawProfits, JD Adams ~ Stories From the Mountain, Pierre. Climate change & solutions. Parenteeny — teenagers can do more, Delaney Patterson, Livia Dabs RN,MSc, The Sturg, Øivind H. Solheim, David Rudder, Nanie Hurley 🌿, Haroon Shauket, Javad Oftadeh, Momentum, Sam writes 🌸, Eiman Fatima, B.R. Shenoy, Sweet Honeylu, Yana Bostongirl, The Daily Updater, Dr.Ramesh Chaurasiya, Saeed Sobhani two, Hammad Ahmad, Sania Haroon, Iqraashraf, Flow-Writer🌻, Alyce, Brian Dickens Barrabee, Nedelcu Alina, Derya Gungor, Ph.D., Tree Langdon
I look forward to delighting these Friends of Medium in 2024 by offering them quality and curated content. I also look forward to my readers becoming Friends of Medium in 2024 to support writers on this platform.
Conclusions
The purpose behind this story was to provide new writers with insight: on Medium, hard work, dedication, and adaptability don’t go unnoticed.
They’re acknowledged and rewarded in various ways, even if the outcomes aren’t instantaneous. Hence, it’s crucial to persist in our efforts with patience and optimism.
Around July, I contemplated leaving Medium due to stagnant stats and minimal progress. My mentor, Dr. Yildiz, wisely advised me that ups and downs are inevitable. He encouraged me to persist in contributing without expecting immediate results. Following his counsel, I remained, and to my surprise, significant changes by Medium in August drastically altered my outcomes.
However, I faced setbacks in Vocal Media. Despite enriching the platform with content and promotion, I didn’t receive the recognition I anticipated, as detailed in one of my stories. This led me to the conclusion that while Medium acknowledges contributions, Vocal Media, for unknown reasons, doesn’t value them as much. While I still hold respect for Vocal and might contribute occasionally, I choose to invest my energy in Medium, where my content shines and where I cultivate meaningful engagements.
Here is my sad story about Vocal Media.
One of the most valuable stories for me was the strategic guidance for Dr Mehmet Yildiz, showing us Medium’s direction for 2024 and inspiring writers to write meaningful and engaging content to delight readers.
And one of the success factors was self-curating my content monthly as of May 2023. Here are the samples. I hope you find some relevant and valuable content from my collection.
I believe this is a valuable investment to support our readers.
You may also enjoy YouTube videos I created to support writers.
Bill Abbate is a top writer, published author, and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Dr. Preeti Singh is a top writer and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Lawson Wallace is a prolific writer and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Dr Michael Heng is a top writer and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Arlo Hennings, Ph.D. is a top writer, published author, and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Carla Woody is the published author of several books.
Julius Evans is a top writer and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Neha Sonney, Author prolific writer on Medium and a published author
Joe Luca Senior Editor and Prolific Writer
Shashi Sastry is a top writer and published author.
Karen Madej is a top writer, published author, and senior editor of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Here’s the latest collection of BOOSTED stories from our publications.
I also recommend exploring the curated collections of my friend Mike Broadly, DHSc. Here is his latest one, which has links to previous ones.
Thank you for reading my stories, engaging in them, and sharing them on your socials. I wish you a happy New Year.
Special thanks to Dr Mehmet Yildiz, ILLUMINATION editors, and ILLUMINATION-Curators, writers, and readers for supporting me dearly in 2023. I am also grateful for Medium Staff giving me the opportunity to contribute to this platform, support writers, and delight readers.
About Me
I write articles in my field covering gaming, film-making, social media, and design. I am also a YouTuber. Thank you for subscribing to my account to get notifications when I post on Medium. I created a new website to share my content for free and promote stories of writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I also have a Substack newsletter. Let’s connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.
I own two publications on Medium. One for video gamers and another for YouTubers and Podcasters. I also support Illumination Integrated Publications as a volunteer editor and participate in collaborative activities in the Slack Workspace.
Writer applications for my publications can be sent via this weblink. Please add your Medium ID. I also enjoy email marketing using Cliqly, which is my affiliate link.
