Freelancing and Writing
What Is Simily and How Can Writers Benefit from This New Writing Platform?
An interview with Dr Mehmet Yildiz to obtain his initial assessment of Simily, a new writing platform
Purpose of this post
Illumination Integrated Publications encourage writers to share their content on multiple platforms to gain visibility, increase their income, and gain new readers. We constantly check other platforms and inform our writers.
We reviewed and published several articles mentioning Simily, a new writing platforming, submitted to our publications. We also received some inquiries from contributing writers who want to learn about this platform.
To respond to inquiries, we asked Dr Mehmet Yildiz, our chief editor, top writer, and content marketing strategist, to review the platform for our writers and provide us with his informed feedback. In this post, we share our interview script with Dr Yildiz, who provide valuable input to our writers.
Interview Questions and Answers Introducing Simily, a New Writing Platform
1 — Hi Dr Yildiz, thank you for reviewing Simily for us. What is your first impression of this new platform?
Thank you for the opportunity. I reviewed the platform from reading, writing, editing, and markeing perspectives. My first impression is positive. Let me share my perspectives as a reader, writer, editor, and content marketing strategist.
As a reader, it was a bit challenging for me to find stories in my interest areas. However, browsing through categories helped me find content related to my interest.
Unfortunately, I believe the categories are minimal and fiction-oriented. For example, I wanted to search for health, fitness, lifestyle, technology, design, leadership, relationships, spirituality, and similar topics, but I couldn’t find any of these important topics for many readers. So the platform needs to improve readability.
I found it easy to compile and submit my first article as a writer. I repurposed one of my Medium stories, so I copied and pasted it. Unfortunately, formatting was not easy for my first attempt.
The formatting widget glitched and did not allow me to use headings, subheadings, and other important formatting features. It might be a browser issue, so I will try it from different browsers. However, I enjoyed the number of tags we can add. It is also great to add a story to multiple categories.
As an editor, I did not get a feel as it is a self-publishing platform. So I assume editors don’t screen materials as it is on other platforms.
From content marketing perspective, I haven’t seen any editorial bulletins or guidance. I am not sure whether they have an editorial team. I will share my findings when I get a response from the platform.
2 — You previously reviewed Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal Media for our writers. How similar or different Simily from these platforms.
I created an account on Simily a few weeks ago. From my initial review, it looks like Medium, more than the other two. Writers can self-publish follow other writers. They can leave comments, like articles, and share them on social media.
Simily is not moderated like Vocal Media or NewsBreak. There is no strike or rejection as it happens in NewsBreak. I believe they don’t use artificial intelligence monitoring.
There are no writing prompts or challenges similar to Vocal Media yet. It has no concept of publications like Medium. The only additional features I found are posting like Twitter to connect with the community and adding groups.
By the way here is my first story that I published on Simily. I’d be delighted to connect with readers and writers.
3 — How can writers start with this new platform?
The first thing is to go to the site https://simily.co/. Then read the terms and conditions at this link. They are standard T&Cs.
My only concern was they could suspend a writer anytime with no explanation. So there seems to be no appeal process, and it is concerning. I do not like this uncaring approach in content platforms. Without giving an opportunity to explain an incident, it is not fair to suspend writers’ accounts. There may be misunderstandings and situations beyond the writers’ control.
This article explained how abusive AI systems are detrimental in some content platforms. I hope Simily can create a better statement for this situation caring for their creators.
4 — Do writers own the copyright for their content?
Yes, T&Cs clearly point out that content copyright belongs to writers. I am delighted Medium, Vocal Media, and NewsBreak also have the same approach.
However, a few writing platforms that I don’t want to mention names here take ownership of writers’ copyrights, and they don’t allow them to repurpose their content on other platforms.
I refrain from writing on those platforms even if they pay well. Flexibility for copyright is an important value for freelance writers. I enjoy repurposing my content which brings me many great intangible benefits.
5 — Do you need to be a member to write and read?
You don’t need to be a member to write, but you need to sign up and create an account. However, to be able to read, you need to be a member as they allow only a few stories to read, similar to Medium for non-members.
6 — Can writers monetize their content?
Yes, they can. They pay monthly based on unique views such as 1,000 views earn $20, 10,000 views $200, and 100,000 $2,000.
7 — Which payment method does Simily use?
They use PayPal. So writers can add their PayPal email addresses to their profiles. It is a hidden field, so the public cannot see the email address.
8 — Can writers and readers follow each other?
Yes, all members can follow other members, whether writer or reader.
When I joined, I noticed that several of my readers from other platforms found my account and followed me. I enjoyed following back and exploring their content.
It is important to engage with writers and readers meaningfully on all content platforms. Simily is very similar to Medium from a collaboration aspect.
9 — Can readers leave comments and leave reactions?
Yes, they can leave comments and like stories by clicking on the Snap button. This button serves as a recommendation to readers. In addition, readers can bookmark stories. It is similar to Medium’s list feature.
10 — To which social Media sites can readers share stories that they read?
I only noticed Twitter and Facebook. I tried both, and they worked well.
11 — What are Simily’s publishing guidelines.
This platform accepts both fiction and nonfiction writing.
Simily expects all stories to be free from grammatical errors. There is no word limit. However, if a story is longer than a 15 minute read time, they recommend breaking it into smaller chapters.
Simily recommends adding a photo, but I couldn’t find citing the image as we do on Medium. I don’t know how they determine copyright for images yet. It looks like a blindspot from my perspective wearing my editorial hat.
12 — Does Simily restrict or censor content?
From my understanding reading their guidelines, due to their agreements with Stripe as a payment processor, they are unable to publish erotica on Simily now. This confused me as they use PayPal for payment, not Stripe, but maybe they plan to use Stripe in the future, so they restrict erotica.
The platform reserves the right to remove any content that violates Terms of Service or goes against their community guidelines. I haven’t seen the community guidelines yet.
I assume it includes restricted content like hate speech, defamation, conspiracy theories similar to Medium, Vocal Media, and NewsBreak.
13 — How can writers and readers connect with you on Simily?
My account ID is https://simily.co/members/digitalmehmet/profile/
14 — Does Simily have an affiliate program similar to Medium referring members? Do they allow affiliate links?
I am not sure. I have not come across an affiliate program offering yet. I also did not read anything related to affiliate links in their short publishing guidelines. I assume they allow affiliate links like Medium and Vocal. As you may now NewsBreak does not. However, as a best practice to remain ethical, I recommend declaring affiliate links as we do on Medium.
15. Can you please comment about the stats on Simily?
I am glad you asked as there are no stats on Simily writer dashboard like Medium, Vocal or NewsBreak. I checked my profile and did not see the option. I am not sure how writers see the number of views and read times for their stories. Maybe it is not available to me as I am a new paid member. I will inform when I learn more.
16 — How much is membership fee for Simily platform?
I paid $1.99 to be a member for the fee of the first month. After that, they will charge me $6.99 monthly. It is a little more expensive than Medium even though they have fewer writers and stories in the platform. They accept only credit cards. I prefer paying via PayPal as I do for Medium but there was no option.
17 — Do you think Simily might replace Medium or Vocal Media?
I don’t think this small platform has such a capability to replace large and established platforms like Medium or Vocal Media.
I have been contributing to both Medium and Vocal Media. I am aware of their value to thousands of writers. I don’t perceive platforms as competing, but I see them as complementing. I know a platform depicts competitive behavior, and I see it as detrimental to their growth. Competition is not a valuable business proposition, but collaboration is.
I also use collaboration as a strategy for my publication on Medium hence never competing with other publications. I see them as collaborators. In my opinion, Simily is another alternative platform for freelance writers to repurpose their content, earn additional income, and increase their audience.
18 — Thank you Dr Yildiz. Do you have final comments before we end the interview?
Yes, I recommend writers to take this advantage and give a chance to this new platform. It looks legitimate to me. Without trying, we will not know.
I am big fan of repurposing content, as I mentioned in several articles on Medium highlighting the importance of tripling income. By repurposing their content, freelance writers can significantly increase their income and expose their content to a broader audience.
I will be glad to support Medium writers to repurpose their stories on Simily if they contact me on our Slack workspace. Thank you for this opportunity, and I wish all writers and readers the best in engaging in this new platform. I hope it will make writers happy.
Based on my initial review of the platform, I am optimistic about this platform. So, I will share my findings as I explore and learn more in the future.
I also read introductions from Kristina God and Burk, who submitted informative articles about Simily to Illumination. I am grateful for their contributions to our writers and readers. I recommend ILLUMINATION to compile these useful stories in a collection and add it to our meta-collection so that our writers and readers can easily access them.
We appreciate your recent story on improving reading times on Medium.
We also appreciated your guidance and inspiration on being a prolific writer despite our hectic lifestyle.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this interview with Dr Mehmet Yildiz. You can follow him on Simily as he supports his followers. You can learn more about his background from this post. Dr Yildiz write on eclectic topics. In addition to Illumination Integrated Publications, he also shares his personal stories on his publication Euphoria on Medium. You can subscribe to his content at this link.
If you liked this story, you may also check reviews of Dr Yildiz on Vocal Media.
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Helpful References for New Writers
Improving the Quality of Writing Using an Editorial Checklist
Copyright Matters: Zero tolerance to plagiarism on ILLUMINATION
The Joy of Selling 1,000+ Books In A Month With Minimal Investment
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Curated Writer Bios
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