Celebration
Happy Birthday ILLUMINATION
And many more successful returns
As soon as I learned that it was the second birthday of ILLUMINATION, I prepared a short video to inform our readers on Medium and subscribers on YouTube.
I hope you enjoy this short video.
I also added the the transcript of the video below for those who don’t have access to YouTube.
Transcript of the Video
In March 2020, when pandemic just lurked its ugly head, Dr Mehmet Yildiz announced a publication called ILLUMINATION.
He invited around 100 writers to join his mission setting a clear vision, enticing strategy, and a facilitation model which appealed to these collaborators and resonated with them. They embraced the idea and convened as a team daily using Slack.
Dr Yildiz established Illumination based on four core values.
Let me introduce them.
Diversity empowers the community members by appreciating what makes each member different. This value includes any age, educational background, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, professional background, and political views.
Synergy is to produce a combined effect, more significant than the sum of the separate effects to produce more profound results.
We create serendipity intentionally by using universal rules and synchronicity principles.
We create a fusion with inclusiveness for the desired collaboration. This happens by integrating, blending, merging, amalgamating, and bonding.
These four values are interrelated to create a culture appealing to all stakeholders as Dr Yildiz sees his integrated publications as a scalable enterprise.
These fundamentals worked so well that Illumination scaled appealing various types of creators and audiences within a year using eight different publications. More than 50 thousand readers have started visiting the publication daily.
The most significant result Illumination achieved is writers at all levels and cross-pollinate them for mutual growth. Illumination supports from the absolute beginners to the most accomplished writers. This diversity is a critical value proposition for the success of publication.
After several months when Illumination started growing, some readers of the requested curated collection from experienced writers.
Dr Yildiz established Illumination Curated to bring around a thousand accomplished writers using stringent editorial criteria to meet this demand. The publication gained thousands of followers in a few months.
Another group of readers wanted specific content in writing, editing, freelancing, digital marketing, and overall entrepreneurial content development and distribution activities. To meet this demand, Dr Yildiz, created a publication called Synergy.
To meet the needs of prolific writers and balance the heavy workload of Illumination, he created a mirror version of the publication called Illumination’s Mirror.
Many writers wanted to write about technology-related topics such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and blockchain. Many readers wanted to read about such specialized content. To meet these needs, Dr Yildiz established Technology Hits.
Interestingly, Dr Yildiz identified a new niche on Medium. There were hundreds of published and indie authors. He established a publication called Illumination Book Chapters to bring them to one place, allowing writers to share chapters of their published books in story format.
As more than 14 thousand writers, almost one-third of active Medium writers joined these integrated publications, Dr Yildiz identified a need for absolute beginners to jumpstart their writing career. To this end, he established Readers Hope.
And finally, I joined this team as a volunteer member to help with Illumination’s YouTube channel. Dr Yildiz encouraged me to establish a publication to bring YouTubers and Medium writers to one place. We now have a new publication called Illumination on Youtube.
Today, Illumination is two years old. Within the last 24 months, Illumination Integrated publications published more than 500 thousand stories contributed by over 14 thousand writers.
These stories received millions of views causing reading times for thousands of hours, bringing writers over a million-dollar income. Hundreds of stories went viral. For example, just a single story published on Illumination recently earned 19 thousand dollars for a writer.
Illumination is one of the fastest-growing publications on Medium for two reasons. Dr Yildiz pays significant attention to reader requirements and strongly supports creators by giving them flexibility and essential tools to create visibility.
Another power of Illumination Integrated publication is the support by 87 volunteer editors who screen submissions, remove harmful materials, and publish desirable content timely.
Enhancing features of Medium, Dr Yildiz, brought over 11 thousand writers in a single place using Slack, where writers collaborate, share content, and gain guidance from editors.
Many prominent publications had to close their shop due to a lack of funding on Medium. But Illumination shined and grew even bigger because our service does not depend on money but the collaborative spirit of volunteers who donate their precious time to benefit all stakeholders.
With the support of readers and writers within the last two years, illumination grew from 80 writers to 14 thousand. From a few hundred to thousands of readers. And it will continue its service to empower writers and readers to create synergy and fusion with diversity, inclusion, and serendipity.
Thank you for joining us in this exciting journey, and we wish Illumination a happy birthday.
Have a great day, and stay safe.
Helpful Resources for Writers
New writers can access the onboarding pack from the following link.
A majority of publication related articles are in the starter kit.
You may also check a publication called ILLUMINATION’s Blog.
Featured Stores are indexed in a collection.
You may check writer profiles in this curated collection.
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
medium.com
Meet ILLUMINATION Editors
Meet Dr Mehmet Yildiz — Dr Mehmet Yildiz — Chief Editor
ILLUMINATION-Curator compiled them in a collection which you might bookmark: Collection of Editor Bios: Meet Editors of Illumination Integrated Publications. Thank you for reading profiles of our editors.
I volunteer to coordinate the activities of Illumination’s YouTube channel. I introduced several writers on YouTube. You may check some sample videos from the following link.
Many thanks to Dr. Preeti Singh, Shashi Sastry, Lawson Wallace, Bill Abbate, Karen Madej, Julius Evans, Arlo Hennings, Ph.D., Dr Michael Heng, Carla Woody, and Neha Sonney, Author for their participation in the YouTube initiative. I feel privileged to meet them.
You might join our channel and share your videos if you are a YouTuber. Furthermore, you may introduce your videos to my new publication. I will create visibility for your videos and stories.
If you are interested to become a top writer on Medium and increasing the chance of writing viral articles, you may check these two videos I posted to Illumination’s YouTube channel.
I outlined two trending stories of Dr Mehmet Yildiz in videos and would like to do it for other writers who want me to highlight special stories on YouTube.
Why Is Magnesium Not Just Another Mineral?
The Critical Role of Addressing Insulin Resistance on Fat Loss and Decreasing the Waistline
If you want me to create a video for your Medium profile or a special story, you may provide some background information with a few attractive photos. I’d be glad to add you to my collaboration list. It is a giveback activity for me. I am a new writer on Medium and paid member and would like to meet many writers and readers.
You might contact me on Illumination’s Slack workspace. If you don’t have access to Illumination Slack and my publication yet, you might send a request via this link. I look forward to collaborating with you. Here is more information about my publication.
I also write about gaming and video games. Here is a sample story to show my interest in this topic.
Sample Gaming Stories In My Collection
High on Life: The Upcoming Game Set in the Rick & Morty Universe
Recent Stories on Other Topics
Here is an inspiring article about Illumination’s birthday posted by Dr. Preeti Singh earlier today.
Invitation to my Gaming and YouTube Publications
I am editor of two publications on Medium.
One is for YouTubers and another one for gamers.
If you are interested in these topics, I look forward to hosting your stories and promoting them.
Here are the invitations providing the scope of publications and details to join.
1 — Invitation to Write for ILLUMINATION on YouTube Publication
2 — Invitation: Join ILLUMINATION Gaming Publication as a Writer
Writer applications can be sent via this weblink.
Here is a collection including my videos introducing our top writers.
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 also created a new website to share my content for free and promote stories of writers contributing to my publications on Medium. 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.
If you are new to Medium, you may join via my referral link. You may also consider being a Vocal+ member to monetize your content. I write for both platforms and repurpose my content to reach a larger audience. Here is more information about Vocal Media.
This post includes my Medium and Vocal Media referral links.
