Celebrating My First Successful Milestone on This Platform
Thanks to recent changes, I’m grateful for the first time after 20 months, my stories gained traction internally on Medium in August 2023.
I’m writing this monthly update because I was inspired by an uplifting story from my Aussie friend, Mike Broadly — Healthier Lifestyle, an avid reader, a new writer, and an editor on Medium like me.
Thanks to some changes made at the beginning of August on Medium, just like Mike’s, my statistics (like views, reading ratio, engagement, and earnings) went up a lot.
To give you a quick background, I joined Medium in January 2022 after being invited by Dr Mehmet Yildiz, who is a friend of one of my college supervisors in Australia. Dr. Yildiz believed my media, design, filmmaking, and gaming skills could be valuable to readers on Medium.
Before 2022, I didn’t even know about Medium, and I had no idea that writing on this platform could be so rewarding and bring me so many followers to my account, and some of them turn out to be friends.
I WAS INCREDIBLY NERVOUS when I wrote my first story on January 9, 2022. I had butterflies in my stomach. I made a video about it.
However, after receiving many kind comments and a warm welcome from the Medium community, I felt overjoyed.
In the first month, just a few stories helped me gain 86 followers. By February 2022, I had added another 200 followers.
Since then, my number of followers has grown significantly; now it stands at 3,483. But the first time in August, I gained 516 followers.
This not only makes me very happy but also gives me the confidence that my stories are making a positive impact on this platform.
In addition, views of my stories noticeably increased this week.
I noticed that a substantial portion of the views on my stories originate from external sources. Notably, my first viral article in March 2023 garnered significant attention from Android readers.
It appears that Google played a pivotal role in disseminating this compelling narrative, even though the Medium algorithm may not have fully recognized its potential.
Subsequently, I became aware of Medium’s consideration of monetizing external views, prompting me to write about this development and create a video to motivate our fellow writers.
You can find my detailed thoughts on this matter in the accompanying article and a link to the video presentation.
However, it has recently come to our attention that Medium no longer intends to monetize external reader engagement based on reading times. While this decision may have been disappointing to some, I chose to maintain an optimistic outlook.
Over the past 20 months, I have penned 641 articles and contributed 2370 comments to support fellow writers within the ILLUMINATION Integrated publications.
I wrote many articles on gaming, social media, movies, gaming news, games, and virtual reality. In fact, the Medium algorithm selected my profile as the #1 top writer on the virtual reality topic. I am very grateful for this recognition.
Joining ILLUMINATION’s 100-day writing challenge was the best contributor to becoming a top writer in multiple topics. I became a top writer in multiple topics in my first six months but didn’t get many benefits until this month.
I made a video about being a top writer on Medium using the inspiring story of Dr. Yildiz. Unfortunately, Medium removed top writer status.
Additionally, I have had the privilege of serving as an editor for several publications, including two of my own: Illumination Gaming and Illumination Videos and Podcasts.
These publications have experienced substantial growth. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Dr Mehmet Yildiz and his editorial team for their unwavering support, which continually inspires me to excel as a writer and editor on this platform.
I also wrote for Vocal Media, created a new website to share my content for free, and promoted stories of writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I created a Substack newsletter and Quora Space. I actively share stories on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Here’s Why August Was Special for Me
Now, with this contextual backdrop in mind, I would like to share the progress I have made during the current month.
Surprisingly, I have not made any significant changes to my routine. In August, I continued to post at least one story per day, much like in previous months. To my pleasant surprise, these stories have garnered increased exposure compared to previous periods.
Throughout the last 20 months, my highest earnings reached $56. However, for the first time this month, my earnings have surpassed the $100 mark.
This serves as an encouraging indicator that the changes implemented by Medium on August 1st hold promise, particularly for emerging writers such as myself.
I remain steadfast in my commitment to both personal growth and the flourishing Medium community.
I look forward to the future with optimism, embracing the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Together, we can navigate this evolving landscape and continue to foster a thriving community of writers.
Allow me to clarify that financial motivations do not drive my presence on Medium, as I am currently employed full-time and have a roster of consultancy clients supporting my livelihood.
My primary objective in being part of this platform is to enhance my capabilities in both writing and editing while exploring the potential of establishing an additional online revenue stream through Substack subscriptions.
My content creation revolves around niche subjects within media, design, movies, and gaming topics. Medium provides me with a valuable arena to refine my writing and editing prowess while steadily expanding my audience base.
In light of these considerations, I wish to convey a pivotal message through this story— one that is intended to inspire aspiring writers.
A few final words as an Inspiration for New Writers
I urge you to persist with your writing endeavors, infused with optimism and determination. There exists a genuine prospect that Medium can amplify the visibility of emerging writers by offering them access to a broader and more diverse audience.
However, it is paramount that you invest sincere effort and meaningful engagement to cultivate and expand your audience.
I hope this message encourages and motivates you to continue your creative journey with enthusiasm and dedication.
In doing so, we collectively contribute to elevating the writing community on Medium and beyond.
Invitation to New Writers to ILLUMINATION Integrating Publications
Our publications are designed to support new writers by cross-pollinating them with experienced writers to create serendipity and synergy with collaboration. Illumination has 135 volunteer editors.
Illumination Publications has a community of more than 22,000 writers, a testament to its commitment to the writing and reading community. Now, more than 71,000 readers follow Illumination.
They are all in Slack workspace supporting writers by reviewing their content, publishing, and promoting. Most editors also advise on their growth.
I work with great editors like Bill Abbate, Dr. Preeti Singh, Dr Michael Heng, Dr John Frederick Rose, Joe Luca, Britni Pepper, Maria Rattray, The Sturg, Kurt Dillon, Surekha Chandrasekhar, Lawson Wallace, Joanie Adams, Mr. Jacob Morales, ChloeChing627, Indra Raj Pathak, Josh Balerite Acol, Lanu Pitan, Julius Evans, Patrick OConnell, Brooklyn Muse (editor), Fahaz Hameed, Annelise Lords, Michael Patanella, Nurma Komala-Hadi, Dennis De Silva, Philip Writes, Annie Wegner, Liam Ireland,Neha Sandhir S, tarun bhatt, Abhishek, our wise Mr Luukkonen — your curiosity guide, and our tech wizard Yogesh Haribhau Kulkarni (PhD). They are just a few out of 135 volunteer editors.
ILLUMINATION-Curators keep their bios in a collection.
As of the first of August ILLUMINATION has released new submission guidelines. It was authored by Suzanne E., a senior editor who is really good at what she does. She’s very smart and super kind to writers.
Suzanne articulated our new rules for publishing stories on Illumination. They fit really well with how things are changing on Medium. I believe following these rules can increase the visibility of your stories and improve your stats as they did mine.
If you haven’t seen these new Illumination Submission Guidelines, I recommend them to all new writers. They’re like a roadmap for doing well on Medium.
Because things on Medium have changed, Dr. Yildiz shared some new tips about boosting. Boosting is super important for new writers to get more readers and make money on Medium. If you haven’t seen this helpful and informative article yet, please take a look at it soon because it can make a big difference.
Dr. Yildiz also gave some advice to new writers on how to write content that helps them make money regularly. It’s a complete guide for people who want to make writing their main job.
He also wrote an article called “Why Creating an Audience for New Writers Is Hard and How to Crush Challenges in 7 Steps.” I think these articles can really help new writers start making money steadily while building a big audience quickly and in a way that lasts.
His article about creating mailing lists and newsletters for new writers is outstanding, providing a step-by-step guide.
You can find all his helpful writing tips in the list I’ve attached here, which includes more than 100 inspiring and educational stories.
In addition, our team of volunteers curates, amplifies, and promotes stories of our writers. You may follow ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curators, and ILLUMINATION Amplifiers account to find those lists.
We have a reading club on Slack where you can share links to your stories. The curators pick some of these stories and create collections from them. Here’s the latest collection, and I discovered many fantastic stories in it that have made my reading list even better.
In addition, curators and amplifiers feature new writers and share some selected stories from their collections. The recent I read introduced Omni Essence who is one of my favourite authors on Medium.
In addition, another lovely editor Elin Melaas compiles these introductions in a collection to further amplify them. The series is called Make Invisible Stories Visible initiated by Dr. Yildiz last year due to dropping stats. You can nominate your stories to him on Slack. He will help and guide you.
I enjoy introducing writers on YouTube in my free time. Here are some examples. If you are interested in having such profiles please don’t hesitate to contact me on Illumination’s Slack Workspace. I will be happy to help.
In addition, I introduce a new online email marketing and money-making opportunity for freelancers. If you are interested, you may check out my story and YouTube video.
As a volunteer editor, I started a new initiative to maintain and promote writer bios submitted to ILLUMINATION publications. If you don’t have a writer bio, please consider one for various reasons. If you have one and your bio is not in my new collection please contact me on Slack or leave a comment on the attached story so I can add them. I am passionate and excited about this new initiative.
Here is a lovely open letter my Aussie retired scientist Mike wrote to me recently in an Australian accent. This beautiful letter will stay in my memories forever.
I joined the first Medium Day last month and enjoyed it very much. If you missed updates on new changes on Medium posted by Buster Benson last month, you might find them in a post named New Partner Program Incentives focus on high-quality human writing.
When we enjoy our work with collaboration, time passes quickly. It feels like yesterday when I posted my first article in January 2022.
Here is the latest story that I posted earlier today.
My list for August did not work. I will create a collection for it soon.
Submission Guidelines
You may check all our submission guidelines.
ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023
Publishing and Conduct Guidelines for the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION
Sample Curated Collections that I Created Recently
You may wonder why I stopped writing for Vocal Media.
I enjoy introducing writers on YouTube. So, if you are interested, you may contact me on Slack or Discord.
I also enjoy collecting writer bios, so if you write one, please send me a link on Slack.
Some info about Slack and Discords
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.