My ‘Not Distributed’ Story on Medium Became a ‘Top Story’ On Vocal

Proof that if your story flops on one platform, you should try another

I recently wrote a story about the latest shortage Americans are facing these days, tampons.

I published the story on Medium, where it currently sits with a whopping eight reads, (earning me 34 cents,) and a current status of, “Not distributed, with status Pending review.”

This message means my story has not even been looked at by Medium curators in the slightly over one week that it has sat on the platform.

(If you’re interested, I get this helpful information from a Chrome extension, Medium Distribution Info, which you can find in the chrome web store.)

You don’t have to give up on a failed article

I published the same article on Vocal, with no changes, where I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email telling me my tampon shortage story was a “top story,” and I had received a $5 bonus.

Now $5 may not be much, but it’s more than the 34 cents the story made on Medium. It will also get more exposure on Vocal since they put top stories on their front page.

Hopefully, I’ll earn something more from those reads than 34 cents.

It’s also validation that my article wasn’t nearly as bad as I began to think it was after publishing it on Medium to an encore of crickets. And it’s nice to think more than a handful of people might read the article.

After all, isn’t that what we are all looking for when we write? For someone to read what we have to say.

If your story flops on one platform, don’t write it off as bad writing. You may find someone else appreciates it a little bit more.

You’ll never know unless you try.

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