Editorial Newsletter
Presenting the Latest Updates, Structure for Better Writing, and Pitfalls to Avoid
News, how we can do better, what to avoid
Dear Writers,
Many of you would have received an email on the extension of the bonus scheme. I have summarized the email in Part 1 of this newsletter, just in case you missed it.
On a separate note, the editorial team at ILLUMINATION has witnessed a sharp increase in story submissions. We are working hard to publish great work from great writers as we speak.
And that brings us to the quality support side of things.
How can the ILLUMINATION editorial team do better to support all writers?
I will demonstrate that by highlighting brilliant stories and breaking them down into pockets of knowledge that you can learn from in Part 2.
And, of course, we do have re-occurring issues requiring formal address. I will cover that in Part 3.
Part 1 — Official Email Received Today (condensed version).
Aldric,
The first bonus was originally planned as a one-time surprise to thank top active writers in April. The response was so enthusiastic that we awarded a second bonus in May, and we’re thrilled to announce that we plan to distribute bonuses in June and July too.
To be eligible to receive a bonus for June and/or July, make sure:
- You are fully enrolled in the Partner Program (including having approved tax documents).
- You publish at least two stories in the calendar month (so two stories in June, two stories in July).
We’re keeping the same tiered structure that we implemented for May. We calculate rankings based on your monthly Partner Program earnings, which is a direct reflection of member reading time, and use the following tiered structure:
- Top 1,000: $500 bonus.
- 1,001–1,500: $100 bonus.
- 1,501–2,000: $50 bonus.
In August, we’ll announce more writer programs and Partner Program updates. In the meantime, thank you for all that you bring to our vibrant community — we can’t wait to see what you write this summer!
Part 2 — How To Write Brilliant Stories.
There is no one standard formula to write great stories. I wish there is.
You know when you read one. Especially those that keep you going from left to right, word to word, top to bottom. At times, intricacies of details can be attention sucking, just like the below: -
Impulsively, she picked up an ice bucket, walked over to his table, and dumped it in his lap. The woman with him gasped. Kate said, “Relax, I’m the ex-wife, not the current wife, but I’m pissed that within a year, this dude cheated on me with her. Now he has enlisted you to cheat on her. It is as if he cheated on me twice.”
You can be so vivid in your description that readers can visualize the entire story passing through. Feel free to read the entire story here.
Toni Crowe | From The Ex-Wife to the New Wife: Your Old Position of Side Chick Has Been Filled
Next, you can work on exposing the dark side of life. Maybe, you are cynical and disagreeable by nature. If so, saying things the way it is will suit you. The story below is a good reference: -
Growing up, I was subjected to many lies — the lie about the existence of tooth fairy, how Einstein failed at Maths, and Newton’s ‘Eureka!’ moment when he discovered gravity after an apple fell on his head. Among all the untrue facts I was told, the alteration of historical facts hurt the most — because they changed the way I look at the world now.
I love how we are fooled by the people around us. And I love how luminaries call them out. Help us shine a beam of light into the darkness.
Fareeha Arshad | 3 Historical Facts You Were Lied About as a Kid
And then, we get to the sales of writing. We write all the time. We sell our writing all the time. But how do we do it? This story explains: -
The main lesson I learned — bearing in mind my novels are not erotica and therefore not about trying to arouse the reader per se — was to, if you’ll forgive me, “sell the sizzle, not the sausage”. I had to sell the desire of the characters, the build-up, the anticipation, the emotional release… I wanted to avoid “breasted boobily” moments.
In other words, if you are a baker, sell the smell of the butter. Let the butter sell your croissant. That is why bakers expose their kitchens to the public walkway. Get it?
Simon Dillon | The Pillars of the Earth: Brilliant Books and Bad Sex
These are 3 fascinating ways of writing leading to 3 different ways of writing success.
I hope you learned something today!
Part 3 — Official Address of Recurring Issues.
We are proud to produce 977,726 minutes of reads for the past 30 days, as well as submissions coming into our editorial queue every 5 minutes.
No kidding. There is 1 story submitted to ILLUMINATION every 5 minutes.
Editors are tasked to publish great work within 24 hours. We are happy to go that extra mile to honor people with great effort.
Disappointment follows. I will cover 3 points we noticed recently.
1. On plagiarism:
A higher volume of plagiarised stories filled our queue. Some of these stories are plagiarized from multiple sources.
Our senior editors, Carol Price & Terry L. Cooper, can smell plagiarized work from a mile away.
Honestly, I won’t bother trying.
What we will do if we detect plagiarism:
We will write to the author, requesting proof of originality via private messages. Our editors will take it down if there are no responses from the writer.
2. On Images:
This one is simple. We support all copyright-free images. We also support images contributed by the authors.
If you do choose to use your own images, please cite them accordingly. Image contributed by the author works for us.
What we will do if we detect citation issues with images:
We will not reject the story. We will write a private note to the writer to cite the images (if not cited) or cite the image appropriately (if the citation is unclear).
3. On the extreme expression of viewpoints:
Senior editors handle such cases, and they may take longer to turn around. They look for the key messages the writer wants to convey and whether it is for the betterment of our readers.
Pointing out a discrepancy in height and weight is okay. Alluding that to aesthetic or fitness superiority is not.
What we will do if we detect extreme expression of viewpoints:
We may request writers to tone it down. We may politely ask writers to re-write parts of the story to ensure the well-intended messages come out appropriately.
Summary
This is a really long newsletter!
Let me end it here so you can read the stories I have brought to your attention.
Happy Writing, People.
Aldric
Toni Crowe Fareeha Arshad Simon Dillon Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Terry L. Cooper Carol Price Dr. Preeti Singh Agnes Laurens The Maverick Files Josh Balerite Acol Britni Pepper Noorain Hassan, BMS Tree Langdon Claire Kelly Esther George Karen Madej
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
