Updates from ILLUMINATION Editorial Team: January 2023
Essential information summarizing achievements and plans for writers and readers
Here is the link to To Become a Writer for ILLUMINATION.
Dear Writers and Readers,
Happy New Year!
We hope your New Year has begun positively and that you are filled with hope, joy, optimism, and inspiration for all that is to come. May each day bring new opportunities for you to pursue your passions and make a meaningful impact. We wish you a bright and fulfilling year.
We are sorry not to be able to send newsletters since last November. We had remarkable growth last year. Reviewing and publishing stories of additional writers kept our volunteer editors and administrators extremely busy. We enjoy challenges and serve our contributors to the best ability.
Since November 2022, more than 1,500 new writers have joined our publications. We now have 17,800+ contributors at all levels, including beginners and accomplished writers. Managing this growing workload with 111 volunteers is incredibly challenging.
Most of our energies go to publishing activities. However, we still create curated collections to increase reading times. Our largest publication, ILLUMINATION, receives hundreds of submissions daily, and Medium restricts publications to keep only 30 editors. Therefore, we must juggle our volunteer resources to meet supply and demand.
Each day many more writers join ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications as we deliver value to writers. As a result, our followers and subscribers significantly increase each month. We are grateful for the contributions of our writers and the support of valued readers.
Please note that since the number of writers substantially increased and we cannot add more than 30 editors to ILLUMINATION, we decided to allow only one story per writer within 24 hours.
To address this constraint, you may submit more than one story to our other publications to balance the load. We listed the publication below in another section.
Administrative work such as adding writers, informing them, and responding to their inquiries takes significant time for our editors. To reduce the administrative workload for 17K+ writers with new additions daily, we add a small editorial bulletin in a daily curated list posted by our ILLUMINATION Amplifier account to introduce new writers joining our publications.
We created a master copy of the onboarding pack and will not create individual packs weekly. Instead, we add a master pack and tag new writers in the daily curated collections to inform them. Since last year, this arrangement has worked well.
We respond to writer inquiries on the Slack workspace. Joining Slack is an optional tool for our contributors. All writers are welcome to join. It brings many values, such as easy access to the editorial team, collaboration with other writers, and promotion of your stories in several channels.
Invitation to a free education session offered by Ayodeji Awosika.
As reading times matter on Medium, we asked our top writer Ayodeji Awosika to guide new writers to increase their income. He kindly volunteered to offer a webinar on Wed, 11 Jan 2023, at 12:00 PM.
In this webinar, you’ll learn…
How to Avoid the Rookie Mistakes That Keep You Stuck and Broke
The Secrets to Becoming a Top Writer
The Biggest Myths About Medium
How to Become a Prolific Writer and Defeat Writer’s Block For Good
His goal is to explain “How to Make Hundreds (Or Thousands) of Dollars On Medium in as Little As 30 Days”.
You can register for this webinar and learn from Ayodeji’s experience and insights. He earned $400K+ on Medium and is followed by 94K readers.
He walks his talk.
Dr. Yildiz interviewed Ayodeji recently, who provided insights from his life and valuable info about his success on Medium.
An Interview with Ayodeji Awosika: Ayodeji is an educator, digital marketer, and inspiring top writer, followed by 94K readers on Medium, and actively participates in multiple social media platforms.
ILLUMINATION editors posted an invitation recently in a story titled An Invitation to a Webinar by Ayodeji Awosika on 11 January 2023:
Ayodeji will explain “How to make money writing with Medium.com in 30 Days or Less.”
Update on Stats
Overall stats slightly dropped in December, but they started increasing again. Many writers had a significant drop in last September when Medium made some changes to the distribution system, but we noticed some improvements in October, as we noted in this story.
Here are our 90-day stats covering reading times, visitors, and views.
Reading times
Reading time performance is over 6.7+ million minutes. This is our gold standard for writers’ income.
The average of unique daily visitors
Since last November, the average of unique visitors has increased from 43135 to 47812. As you can see from the graph, there has been an increase this week, passing 50 thousand plus unique visitors daily.
Views
We don’t pay much attention to views as they are not as important as reading times. However, they indicate new traffic; hence it is still a useful metric. Illumination stories received over five million views in the last three months.
Followers
We are pleased that now 64176 readers follow Illumination.
Our Publications Need More Volunteer Editors
We constantly need more volunteer editors for our editorial team as our publications keep growing. Some volunteer editors go on vacation, need a break, or sometimes they get unwell.
If you have time and are interested in supporting our publications as an editor, you may contact Dr Mehmet Yildiz on our Slack workspace.
You may find the eligibility criteria to serve as an editor for our publications outlined in this article.
Our Slack group is open to all our contributors. We have around 14,000 members on Slack. If you don’t have access to Slack or haven’t received the previous invitation, you can request it via this online web form. It is a useful tool to communicate and collaborate comfortably and safely as it is a moderated platform. It is open to all contributors as a free service.
Connecting Writers with Editors
Editors play an essential role in the success of our writers. They review your content, publish them in a timely, and promote your stories to our readers using various methods.
These volunteer editors are also writers. Therefore, they understand the needs of writers. Currently, 111 volunteer editors support our 17K+ writers using the Slack workspace. This is a massive workload for them.
We thought that meeting our editors could be valuable for writers. Therefore, we started an initiative to introduce our editors’ backgrounds and writing styles. We add new editor profiles as our time allows. They usually use the same account on Slack, so you can contact them directly when needed.
Writer Introductions and Featuring
We feature our writers’ profiles via the Illumination YouTube channel and blog the transcripts. For example, our volunteer YouTube coordinator Aiden (Illumination Gaming), features writers on our channel. You can contact him on our Slack workspace if you want to be featured.
You might find some sample YouTube videos featuring our top writers in this collection titled Meet Top Writers of Medium on YouTube.
We also started a new initiative titled make invisible stories visible to increase the views and read times of our contributors.
Here are some samples:
Meet Psychologist Cedric Johnson, Ph.D. on ILLUMINATION Cedric Johnson, PhD
Chosen Stories from Melinda Blau’s Unique Collection Melinda Blau
Chosen Stories from Sufyan Maan’s Collection Sufyan Maan, M.Eng
Photo Handling Policy Update
Handling photos is still a concerning issue in our publications. We updated our image copyrights policy, adding clarity to the fair use issue. Our purpose is to protect our writers from breaching copyright rules on Medium articles.
We read horror stories about Medium writers who had legal issues due to misuse issues. For example, our top writer Susie Kearley posted an article to Illumination curated titled These Medium Writers Ran Into Legal Problems When Using Images.
You may check our updated policy from this post titled: Why Image Copyrights Matter for Writers and Editors: Update to handling story photos policy for Illumination Integrated Publications on Medium.
We also added extra steps to improve image handling as documented in the attached editor bulletin: Not Captioning and Using Copyright Photos Will Lead to Rejection of Stories: If writers, after rejection, continue breaking photo handing rules, we will remove them from our publications. It is their choice. Our editors do their duty of call.
Amplifying Stories
One of our achievements last year was featuring great stories of our inspiring writers regularly. We posted 280 collections from the ILLUMINATION Amplifier account. The Illumination team posted 138 collections, and ILLUMINATION-Curator posted around ten collections featuring outstanding stories from experienced writers.
We curated thousands of well-written pieces out of 400,000+ published stories on Illumination and our other publications.
Many thanks to valuable feedback from readers and writers on the value of featuring stories that create significant visibility for the content of our writers and provide curated content to our readers.
Even though we value every story and don’t censor content, readers desire stories on specific topics written with reasonable quality standards. It is impossible to curate all stories for various reasons. Every published story remains in the publication unless writers remove them. We allow writers to remove their stories as they wish.
We compile featured stories in a master collection to make it easy for readers. You can bookmark this valuable asset titled Meta Collection of Featured Stories: Easy access to daily selected stories from engaging writers of ILLUMINATION: Volume 3–2022. We will update this collection and start indexing 2023 collections for easy access soon.
Introduction to New Publications
We added two new publications to our integrated portfolio in 2022. They are ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts and ILLUMINATION Gaming. Our volunteer editor Aiden (Illumination Gaming), coordinates these publications. He aims to become a catalyst for Medium writers, YouTube creators, and online gamers. These publications accept both regular and short-form stories.
Update on ILLUMINATION-Curated Publication
Experienced and accomplished writers have been contributing to Illumination-Curated publications and gaining several benefits. To create a better bridge among our publications, we assigned ILLUMINATION-Curated editors to select outstanding stories. This approach allows content published in our other publications to find a new audience. We also created a reading club on our Slack workspace. Details are on this post. ILLUMINATION-Curator coordinates these activities.
New Look of ILLUMINATION Front Page and All Publication Banners and Logos for consistency
We improved the ILLUMINATION front page based on feedback from readers and writers. We removed publication-related articles and transferred them to the ILLUMINATION Blog pub.
In addition, we created several featured pages for readers. Featured pages show stories to readers interested in specific topics. We continue improving our front page to create more visibility for stories to readers.
Our volunteer editor Gareth Willey used his design skills to update the banners and logos of our integrated publications. You may provide your feedback to Gareth on our Slack workspace.
Writer Biographies in a Collection
Our readers asked to learn about writers’ backgrounds. We encouraged our writers to submit a bio to Illumination. The ILLUMINATION Amplifier team volunteered to maintain this collection titled Curated Writer Bios. Dr Mehmet Yildiz articulated why writers need bios in an article titled: Six Reasons Writers Need Bios.
Update on the Progress of Writers
Many new writers gained over 100 followers and became eligible for Medium Partner Program (MPP). If you are a new writer on Medium and want to increase your followers, readers, and subscribers meaningfully, you may check these guiding articles.
8 Proven Tips to Build a Rock-Solid Reading Audience
6 Easy & Proven Tips to Increase Followers
How To Become A Top Writer In Three Months
Subscribers Can Produce 50 Times Better Results Than Followers for Freelance Writers
Writing Challenges and Prompts
Several writers completed writing challenges. For example, the 100-Day Writing Challenge is a desired one among writers. Some writers attempted to 1000 short forms in 100 days too.
Participating in these writing challenges for new MPP contributors might be valuable for progress. You may consider sharing your story links, concerns, and aspirations in this unique challenge. And many readers enjoyed the Challenge called “The Proust Questionnaire.”
These challenges might bring new readers to your stories. We look forward to reading your stories about these challenges. We also feature those who complete challenges in our curated collections.
Topic Collections
We create collections selecting exciting stories from many writers who write on popular topics. Here are some examples.
The Power of Freelancing for Writers
Business Collection: A Mini MBA Bundle
Do You Want to Become A Sexy Entrepreneur?
The World Needs Passionate & Compassionate Leaders
Education and Learning From Many Aspects
Featured Stories About “Writing” From The Top Writers of SYNERGY
NFT Story Collection on ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications
How Storytellers Articulate Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Top Stories About Artificial Intelligence
Top AI Stories on Technology Hits
Collection of Featured Stories
Stories on ILLUMINATION-Curated — All Volumes
Technology, Business, Leadership, & Self-Improvement Stories
Reading List #3 — Technology Hits
Top 100 Trending Stories: at ILLUMINATION-Curated
Sample Book Chapters: Discover 70+ published authors on ILLUMINATION Book Chapters
Essential Resources for New Writers
We compiled our essential guides in a post titled Starter Kit for Writers of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications. This collection might serve as a one-stop shop for new writers to learn more about writing on this platform.
Access to archived onboarding packs for new writers
New writers want to connect with previous writers. To achieve this goal, we provide links to only recent onboarding packs to easily find registered writers, follow them, and explore their content.
If you need, you may search for ILLUMINATION, and ILLUMINATION Amplifier accounts for older versions of onboarding packs. It is only possible to link some of them here. Members can follow up to 150 accounts on Medium within 24 hours. Here are a few samples:
Introduction to New Writers, Welcome: New Writers Introduction, Onboarding Pack for New Writers, Welcome New Writers, Welcome New Writers, Onboarding New Writers, Welcome New Writers, Onboarding New Writers, Welcome New Writers, Onboarding New Writers,
New writer accounts are kept for a week in the master copy of the onboarding pack. So, you may check and follow news writers weekly through the onboarding pack.
Guidance on Writing Viral Stories
One of the best ways to gain more readers and income on Medium is to create viral stories. It has a substantial luck factor, but it seems to be possible to increase the chance.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz compiled a post with critical items for creating viral stories based on my experience, observations, and reviews of over 100 viral stories in 2021. What I Learned by Reviewing 100+ Viral Articles in 2021. He will shortly post a new article summarizing his findings in 2022. We had many viral stories last year. We hope some of your stories go viral soon. Keep posting high-quality, informative, and engaging stories.
Summary of Our Publications
1 — ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION is followed by 64,000+ readers and visited by around 43,000 unique members daily. As a generic publication, we accept every ethical topic meeting Medium’s guidelines. Link to publication.
2 — ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR
This pub is for prolific writers who need to submit multiple stories in a day. You can submit up to three stories to ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR within 24 hours. Link to publication.
3 — ILLUMINATION-Curated
This unique publication is for experienced and accomplished writers. Senior editors select the contributors for this publication using stringent criteria. If you are an experienced writer, we allow you to write for this publication upon your request directly. Link to publication
4 — Technology Hits
We designed this publication for writers and readers interested in technical topics and tech-related stories. You can also submit science fiction in this pub. More info about Technology Hits Value Propositions of Technology Hits. Introduction to Technology Hits. Inviting Storytellers From All Aspects of Technology. Here is a collection including some sample stories from this publication. Link to publication.
5 — SYNERGY
This specialized publication serves freelance writers who want to share writing, blogging, and editing content. It connects writers, editors, and bloggers through their stories. We invite freelance writers from other platforms, such as Vocal Media. Here is the purpose of Synergy. Besides, you may find a sample collection to get an idea of the type of stories we publish on Synergy. Link to publication.
6 — ILLUMINATION Book Chapters
This pub is for published and indie authors. We help new writers to get published and become authors. Details about this publication are in this story: ILLUMINATION Book Chapters. The following articles provide additional information about ILLUMINATION Book Chapters: How Can Published Authors Create Visibility? Here is a sample editorial bulletin to promote ILLUMINATION Book Chapters to readers. And here is the Index of Published Book Chapters. You can find some sample book chapters in this collection. Link to publication.
7 — Reader's Hope
This publication serves absolute beginners. You may submit raw content to this new pub. We don’t edit content submitted to Readers Hope. But, our editors provide valuable and helpful guidance via private notes or in our Slack workspace to members. Here is a story introducing the purpose of Readers Hope. Here is the Vision and Mission of “Readers Hope”. Link to publication.
8 — ILLUMINATION Gaming
This new publication aims to bring gamers to one place, inspire them, and create collaboration among gamers. More info: Invitation: Join ILLUMINATION Gaming Publication as a Writer: Your gaming stories have a new home on Medium now. Link to publication.
9 — ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts
Our new publication is introduced in this article. You can submit your YouTube videos in long or short-form stories. Link to publication:
10 — ILLUMINATION Blog and Euphoria
We keep all publications-related stories in separate publications called ILLUMINATION’s Blog. This publication can be helpful for new writers to find guiding articles. This publication is not for writers. It is for editorial purposes. Link to publication.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz hosts his personal stories in his publication called Euphoria. If you enjoy health and fitness type of stories, you may check his personal publication. Link to publication.
Dr. Yildiz helped several writers to create their own publications and gain visibility. Publication owners made significant progress in gaining loyal readers. Here is a guiding story: Compelling Benefits of Personal Publications on Medium.
ILLUMINATION collected the publications of our contributors in a post titled: Why Writers Need Personal Publications: Invitation to introduce your own publication to the audience of Illumination Integrated Publications.
Diversify Content on Vocal Media, Simily, and NewsBreak
Diversifying content can bring more readers and income to freelance writers. We introduce three options in this post. We keep our writers updated with new writing challenges introduced by Vocal Media. If you are not a writer with Vocal Media yet, you can join at the link in this article.
In addition, repurposing your Medium articles on Vocal may bring additional income to freelance writers. Aiden introduced Vocal recently in a story titled I Finally Joined Vocal+ and Reaped Immediate Benefits.
We also introduced another writing platform, Simily. What Is Simily and How Can Writers Benefit from This New Writing Platform?
Some of our new writers also contribute to NewsBreak. Our editors informed us that this platform has strict rules and doesn’t allow self-publishing like Medium. If you are interested, you can access the application form via this referral link. All writers can create referral links on NewsBreak and Vocal, similar to Medium as affiliate links.
Invitation to Potential Writers and Members
To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link. We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a writer on Medium. Please mention the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request.
If you are new to Medium, you can join via this link. Readers can read thousands of stories, and writers can monetize self-published content.
You can subscribe to our editorial team to receive newsletters and curated lists. Here is the link https://medium.com/subscribe/@illumination
Thank you for your support and contributions.
On behalf of the editorial team, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, owner and chief editor of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications and Euphoria on Medium.
Writers can contact Dr. Yildiz and other editors directly on the ILLUMINATION Slack workspace when they need help.
To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link.
ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications include:
ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION-Curated
ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR
ILLUMINATION Book Chapters
Technology Hits
SYNERGY
Readers Hope
Illumination on YouTube
Illumination Gaming
ILLUMINATION’s Blog
EUPHORIA by Dr Mehmet Yildiz