Why ILLUMINATION Publications Resign from the Boost Program on Medium & How to Serve Our Writers Better

Sharing the editorial decision explained by our owner and chief editor, Dr Mehmet Yildiz

ILLUMINATION

Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Aiden MC

, and 11 others

Jul 31, 2024

Dear community members, in this post, we decided to share the story of

Dr Mehmet Yildiz

, published on Medium, with his permission to inform you about our collective decision. As the editorial team, we believe that this decision will serve our community better, as articulated by our chief editor in his words. Friend Link for Non-Members of Medium

I Withdraw from the Pilot Boost Program Intentionally to Create Better Outcomes for the Community by
Dr Mehmet Yildiz

After weighing the pros and cons, I will return ILLUMINATION-Curated to its initial purpose by sacrificing the privileges of the boost program.

Dear Readers,

At a fundamental level, I see no good or bad in life within the context of our existence as living beings. Every living being strives for survival and desires thriving. This universal rule also applies to business organizations, communities, and societies. In this process, some win, some barely survive, and some lose.

Understanding the big picture in life and using my internal sources helped me gain my sanity and achieve my dreams without depending on external sources and circumstances. Practicing this awareness allowed me to use my internal resources to find a better version of myself and help others more effectively.

Life is all about trade-offs with its ups and downs. We need to take calculated risks to achieve our goals and live in better zones. Our decisions and choices to make trade-offs determine our success or failure. While emotions play a critical role, I choose to make my decisions with intellect, data, and intuition to live and lead better.

What does this philosophy mean to publication services?

Translating this philosophical perspective into practical life within the context of a writing and reading community means different things to writers, readers, and platforms.

Writers express themselves and share their thoughts while earning income. Readers learn from writers' insights, gaining new perspectives that can increase the quality of their lives. Writing platforms facilitate this communication by giving writers tools to write and distribute their content for readers to use.

However, in this dynamic process, many conflicts arise. For example, writers face visibility concerns due to competition, readers face issues not getting their desired content, and platforms face losing contributors or paying customers.

This conflict is inevitable, and finding the right balance can be extremely challenging. As it is an art form, there is no science or mathematical formula for achieving this.

During this process, many negative emotions arise, like ambition, disappointment, anger, frustration, envy, and dissatisfaction at a large scale. And, of course, some positive ones, like victory, celebration, joy, and satisfaction, happen on a smaller scale.

When we move past these emotions and instincts, we can logically examine the situation and make sense of this complex dynamic. This notion is the primary reason I wrote this short story.

I wrote this personal story to give valuable perspectives to all stakeholders of my special publication ILLUMINATION-Curated. This is only a heads-up at this initial stage, and I will elaborate on details in follow-up posts with new and clearer submission guidelines.

I’d like to give a high-level perspective to make my points and justify my decision by looking at the pros and cons.

My Ambitious Goal to Create a Writing and Reading Community

In February 2020, when the Covid pandemic started and when preparing for my retirement from corporate work, I decided to establish a writing and reading community as a giveback activity.

As a writer, I found Medium to be an ideal platform to achieve this goal. Therefore, I established ILLUMINATION in March 2020, based on diversity, inclusion, and equality principles, to create a collaborative writing and reading community. The concept was well-received, and the publication grew rapidly, now supporting 31K writers and 103K readers.

As I touched on the philosophical opening, a new conflicting requirement emerged. Some readers wanted to read only high-quality and impactful stories from accomplished writers. Some accomplished writers did not want their stories to be lost in the crowd with the overwhelming stories of aspiring writers.

As these concerns were valid and widespread, I analyzed the requirements towards the end of 2020 and designed a new publication. I called it ILLUMINATION-Curated.

My collaborative editors helped me implement this based on proprietary selection criteria, leveraging Medium’s further distribution guidelines and the expectations of our discerning readers.

Like the original ILLUMINATION, this new and special publication also started growing as it satisfied the needs of its readers and the aspirations of its writers. For example, hundreds of stories gained significant visibility, and some even went viral in November 2020.

ILLUMINATION-Curated, too, grew quickly and became an educational tool for aspiring writers to learn from accomplished ones, giving them a goal to be part of a unique community. It also became a knowledge and entertainment source for its dedicated readers.

A Milestone Which Changed the Landscape of this Special Pub

Fast-forward to October 2023, the publication was chosen to participate in the pilot boost program. I had the privilege of being a boost nominator. I was grateful for the opportunity.

With this enthusiasm, I quickly redesigned the submission guidelines to give the publication's contributors an opportunity. I also created a comprehensive boost education program to guide writers to benefit from this new offering. I answered frequently asked questions.

Many writers showed interest as the platform changed the monetization rules, rewarding boosted stories with more money. More importantly, boosted stories allowed more visibility through extended distribution, which made it very attractive to writers.

The Unintended Consequences of the Boost Program

In theory, this new opportunity sounded good, as it would inspire writers to write higher-quality stories that would reach a broader audience and earn better income.

However, the program's scope and limited capability created a new issue. Only a very tiny group of these accomplished writers could benefit from this privilege. This meant that less than 1% could, and more than 99% couldn’t, even if they met or exceeded the criteria.

So, this initiative, designed with the best intentions, has inadvertently created a race-like atmosphere among our writers and editors who support them. Some editors even faced burnout and quit editing. The focus shifted from writing to make an impact to writing to win, causing unnecessary stress and anxiety for all stakeholders.

So, this initiative, designed with the best intentions, has inadvertently created a race-like atmosphere among our writers and editors who support them. The focus shifted from writing to make an impact to writing to win, causing unnecessary stress and anxiety for all stakeholders.

Therefore, after nine months of trial, I decided to revert to our original mission: to publish stories that educate, inspire, and allow writers to express themselves freely without concerns for extra visibility and monetary gain.

I have no regrets for the temporary divergence from the initial goal, as it was an excellent learning experience for me. I am now wiser and more capable, and I have more knowledge and experience to lead my community.

Reaffirming Our Commitment and Returning to Our Roots

I am reverting now because ILLUMINATION-Curated was founded on supporting accomplished writers and providing a platform for aspiring ones to create and use to achieve their growth goals using diversity, equality, and inclusion principles. Not to make 1% of contributors richer to the point of causing struggles for 99%.

After nine months of trial, by sacrificing my privilege, I decided to revert to our original goal of nurturing a supportive community where writers can express themselves without the pressure of competition.

My mission is to provide discerning readers with high-quality and impactful content from accomplished writers while offering aspiring writers the opportunity to learn from accomplished authors using my publications as a collaboration, education, and growth tool.

By removing the boost nomination process from our strategy, I aim to lower stress and encourage writers to focus on what truly matters: creating educational, inspiring, and impactful content for our readers.

Summary of Key Factors Behind My Decision

As a seasoned writer, I even found myself participating in this poignant and stressful race to the extent of betting to win. I shared one case to give perspectives from my personal experience with humility for education and inspiration purposes.

The Work Behind Earning $10,000 & a $154.28 Bonus by Designing a Life-Saving Boosted Story
This was a good case for one time only. However, I did not want it to become an addiction as I knew its side effects and emotional toll on my life. Unfortunately, the allure of the boost program became an addiction for writers. When I lost my organic boost privilege two months ago, I felt the effects of addiction for a short while.

However, by resetting my deltafosb, I got rid of addiction quickly and spent my creative energy with intention and focus on achieving better outcomes like gaining over 20000 subscribers in Substack in two months, giving me more joy and life satisfaction. I am grateful for the insights and encouragement of my wise mentors.

My writer friends, mentors, and editors supported my new decision to withdraw from the pilot boost nomination program as they noticed that the pros were much bigger than the cons. One caring editor thought we might be killing our darling by losing our privilege, yet after articulating the pros, she was satisfied.

Some may wonder how I felt personally about losing my privilege through this radical decision, which might sound like a disadvantage to some.

Yes, losing a privilege can hurt on a personal level, especially as it upsets the ego’s survival instincts. However, for me to become a fully functioning human being, I have to prioritize my higher self to make a greater impact.

When I assessed the detailed pros and cons logically, intuitively, and statistically using data and feedback, I noticed that I was making only 1% of the population happy and not contributing to the needs of the 99%.

I made this decision to relinquish my privilege to enable me to support the larger group, which will give me more sustainable satisfaction in the long term. So, I made a conscious choice to abandon my short-term privilege and use my natural capability to make a long-term, bigger, and everlasting impact.

A Helpful Perspective on Financial Impact for Aspiring Pub Owners

As you may know, publications don’t earn income from the platform. However, Medium offered an incentive to boost nominations to support their additional efforts. It is $45 per successful story, and there is no payment for unsuccessful ones, wasting the investing time of nominators, writers, and editors.

This offering from the Medium equated to a maximum of $900 for 20 successful nominations, which became impossible after June 2024 for unknown reasons, making the offering less attractive and productive.

When I decided to withdraw from the Boost pilot program, one of my trusted advisors, a Boost nominator of his own smaller pub and a consultant editor for my publications, asked me about the adverse impact of losing income from the platform.

Answering this question was not complicated for me from a financial perspective. To give you an idea from my time and effort perspectives, in some months, I could earn this $900 by dedicating at least 40 hours of effort. This created additional stress for me and lowered my productivity in other areas of my life.

I explained that through my earning capability as a semi-retired consultant, I could make the same $900 in just 2 hours rather than 40 hours with less stress and less emotional burden. So, financially, it is not a loss for me since I could gain 38 extra hours to focus on other income-generating activities which can even support my giveback activities better.

For example, this extra time can support the administrative expenses of my publications and help them grow on a new platform I am building, as I mentioned in a previous story.

How I Architected a Charity Organization & Why I Will Run It Like a Business
Outline of my draft plan for creators, freelancers, and entrepreneurs empowered by the Substack network

I touch on this financial aspect because this privileged income can be crucial for new writers who want to create non-commercial public publications but lack the same earning potential.

Therefore, although the benefits of the pilot boost program did not align with my position and personal values, I encourage new writers to participate in this emerging program to take advantage of this additional income to grow their publications.

By stepping back from the boost program, I will also open up an opportunity for another publication owner to benefit from it, which brings me joy and satisfaction.

Besides, I no longer want to grow my publications on this platform; the more they grow, the fewer benefits our writers will gain. Therefore, I plan to grow my publications on a more scaleable platform like Substack.

I will create an education program to achieve this transition effectively by communicating through our community newsletter on Substack and my personal newsletter, Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights, which I will use as a training tool for freelance writers.

Conclusions and Takeaways

My personal decision to withdraw from the Boost pilot program was not easy, and I needed an intellectual and intuitive assessment to remove my emotions or egoistic instincts.

Although I will lose the privilege of serving 1% of lucky people with 40 extra hours of monthly struggle, I now can support 99% of disadvantaged writers and empower them by allocating my 40 hours of precious time. This will give me more joy and life satisfaction.

More specifically, with this new decision, removing the boost nomination process from my publications will alleviate the pressure on volunteer editors to meet stringent/subjective criteria, which is not even guaranteed if met or exceeded, allowing them to focus more effectively and productively on curating quality content to support writers and readers.

In the first seven months, the criteria worked well, and my acceptance rate was around 70%. However, after June, the same or higher-quality stories I nominated were usually rejected for unknown reasons. The pilot boost program does not provide feedback, so nominators work in the dark. This concerned me and my editors as it wasted our precious time and disappointed writers who made extra effort.

Writers can concentrate on creating educational, inspiring, and impactful content rather than competing for boosts and external validation. Editors can guide them in finding their voices better. This approach will reduce stress and anxiety, encouraging genuine self-expression and creativity.

Readers will benefit from content crafted to educate and inspire rather than content driven by competition. This shift will ensure that the stories they read are authentic and meaningful, not manufactured.

So, my decision to withdraw from the boost program and revert to the original mission of my publications aims to create a healthier, more productive environment for everyone involved.

My publications’ primary goal is to serve as a tool for learning and inspiration, providing value to writers and readers. I have no goal of earning income from publication services, as they are economically unviable. There are better and easier ways to earn income for professionals.

As writers and editors, we can thrive more balanced and fulfilling by focusing on internal motivation rather than non-guaranteed external rewards. Life is all about trade-offs with its ups and downs. We must take calculated risks to achieve our goals and live in better zones. Winning and losing are two sides of the same coin.

From my perspective, we don’t need to chase external privileges to live a joyful life. Our very existence on this planet and every breath we take is a privilege given to us to enjoy life.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

I wrote several stories like this for writers and readers and linked them to a list titled Writing, Content Development & Marketing Strategies. I also distill them on my Substack newsletter Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights.

If you are a new reader, you may check out some of my topics, including the brain, mental health, cognitive function, significant health conditions, longevity, nutrition/food, valuable nutrients, ketogenic lifestyle, self-healing, weight management, writing/reading, including 100+ Insightful Life Lessons from My Circles for the Last 50+ Years.

I publish my health and wellness stories on EUPHORIA and share distilled versions on SUBSTACK. My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.

If you are a writer, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 31K writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. You can contact me via my website. I also have another profile to write and curate tech stories. Friend Links to My Sample Boosted Stories for Non-Members of Medium. You can read this story on Substack for free.

Get an email whenever Dr Mehmet Yildiz publishes. He is a top writer and editor on Medium. dr-mehmet-yildiz.medium.com

Importance and Value of Medium Friendship for Writers and Readers

You are welcome to join the ILLUMINATION Community on Medium and Substack.

Dr Yildiz also has his own 3 newsletters on Substack supporting our writers and his readers. You may subscribe to relevant ones that might benefit you.

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