The Illumination Publication

My Story Of Being Freed From The Rut

Recently, there have been new and refreshing realizations that I have had the privilege of experiencing. The subject for this piece today, is not quite like others that I have written about through these years. It entails a new and adventurous introduction to reality that I quickly realized was right up my ally, and the perfect moment for me. That was what the Publication of ILLUMINATION has brought to me.

I have been writing for a few years here on Medium. It has been a progressive journey, in levels and ways I never thought imaginable. I joined here in early 2018 with an intention to write, but I never for the life of me would have thought that come today, I would have almost 600 quality articles, stories and memoirs here on my medium portfolio.

There are countless publishers on this platform that I am forever grateful. Many have offered total faith and trust in my words, and have allowed my stories to represent them and their own missions. Some have been with me since the beginning, some I’ve joined along the way, and one or two are rather new.

I wish no ill will or a negative thought to any publisher out there. The editors of them have gone above and beyond to get my articles to as many readers as possible. But unfortunately, I was starting to find myself in what they call a rut. I wasn’t doing a bad job, and I wasn’t really moving forward either.

As my own skills as an author improved greatly, I sometimes still found it hard to find as much success as I wanted to find here on medium. It was a lesson of patience, but I also found myself afraid of change. Sticking with my ol’ reliable habits because that was what I was used to. I rarely reached out to new publishers. I worked with an assumption that change would be bad.

I convinced myself that I would have to start all over from scratch, if I put my vulnerability out there in the hands of someone new. Who I may not even really know.

Writing was a life that found the rare couple of publishers who would publish my work, maybe it took 3 or 4 days, but eventually it would be accepted. Or, I had publishers that would take 30, or 45 days to actually approve and publish one piece. I had those phantom publishers too, who to this day, have still not answered any submission I’ve ever sent. Nor have they even taken the time to at least deny it either.

One of the sources of my awakening came from a publication I had since the beginning. A large platform with tens of thousands or readers. A publisher that at one time, had my work reaching several hundred readers a day. Accepting 100% of my work for two years.

I slowly started to see a change with them 6 months ago. My work kept getting bounced back to me, denied, usually a generic reason that the submission just wasn’t quite on their “new level.”

At first, I was disappointed, but I tried to look at it as a motivator to work even harder, and improve even more. As the months went on, it became all in vain. 0% of my work was now getting approved, with the same generic reasons. My inquiries for more detailed reasons or constructive criticism were met with brick walls. I was simply being told that my work has never improved with the times, and it was my own stubbornness that was to blame.

Soon after that, I was removed from the publication, and rudely advised that they never have enjoyed working with me.

That right there was the guiding light that shown over me, making me realize just how much of a gift and blessing it was that I found this publication here called Illumination.

Illumination encourages. They support. They trust, they give me a chance, the embrace my work. They give everything a chance.

All of those qualities has made the publication, and me as a writer stronger, more improved, more prolific, and better versed. Unlike the recent struggle I had where I was being told that my subpar work would hurt the publication, Illumination has accepted all my work. And since that day, I have gained more readers, than I have ever had in my entire writing career.

If you find yourself in a similar struggle, and you feel like you are begging a publisher to publish what you feel is your best work ever, just move on. There is no publisher on medium who is perfect, nor are any of them royalty. You are not a peasant writer. You’re a human being, with a story.

These type of negative platforms won’t notice if you leave anyway. Move on, and you will feel better, when you put your trust in Illumination, and our great and fair Editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz.

By MICHAEL PATANELLA

Michael Patanella

is a Trenton, New Jersey Author, Publisher, Columnist, Editor, Advocate, and recovering addict, covering topics of mental health, addiction, sobriety, mindfulness, self-help, faith, spirituality, Smart Recovery, social advocacy, and countless other nonfiction topics. His articles, publications, memoirs, and stories are geared towards being a voice for the voiceless. Hoping to reach others out there still struggling.