Expanding My Writing and Blog.
For some time now, I am already thinking of expanding my writing/blog. I mean, I am thinking of writing in more and different places. Expanding my horizon. Maybe growing?
On December 8, 2019, I decided to announce my blog to the public. I already started writing on there earlier but I never told anyone about it. Until that date. Since then I had posted several posts about my health, religion, and thoughts.
In November 2020, I joined the blogging platform Medium and posted my first post on December 20. This was a new step for me. Something new to explore. Until December 2021, I had posted 16 posts on there. A little bit less than on my own blog, because I don’t want to post too many personal posts there. But maybe this will change in the future.
And this month, I had joined another blogging platform. Called Vocal. I already had read several things about them over the year and had checked out their website several times. But never took the step to join them. Until this month. I joined them on December 5. I thought it was time to expand my blog. Share my writing with more people.
This Blog.
My first place to write is my own blog. This is where I make my first drafts. Write about my health, belief, and thoughts. I can almost write about anything I like.
But on the other side, not too diverse. I know that my blog needs to have its own identity. If people look for my blog, they know what they could read here. They know what topics I write about.
I also could write about my hobby, building scale models. But it feels to me, that maybe people get confused about what they can read here. And still, I would like to share my hobby with others. Show pictures and write some reviews or thoughts about different models or brands.
Maybe it was a crazy idea, but I created another website/blog for that. It is called “The Happy Amateur Builder” and can be found here.
Medium.
Medium is the place where I post some of the posts from my own blog. In a very rare case, I write a new post there and share it later on my own blog.
On Medium, I also can write about whatever I like. But I am still a little bit careful of what I post there. It is a different audience. I need to be a little bit more careful of what I write there. And how I write there. More people can read what I write. The people there already are writing for much longer than me. And some of them already made it into their profession.
Also, Medium has a higher Google authority. This means, that if you are searching for something and there is a blog post about it, Google will most likely show the article on Medium before anything else.
Medium is also using something they call publications. When you register, you will have your own profile page. On there you can post all your posts. But if you want, you also could submit your post to one or more publications, to get more views/reads. The thing with those publications is, that you need to follow their guidelines. If something is not according to their guidelines, it will not be published in their publication. I already had heard that some are complaining that it could take up to several days before their item is curated.
You also have the option to create your own publication. It is almost like having your own blog space/page. You are your own curator. Or you can just publish your item on your profile page. It is up to your what you would like. The advantage of submitting to publications is that more people will read your post.
Vocal.media.
Vocal is different again. On Vocal, you have, what they call, communities. If you write a post, you can choose in what community you would like your post to show up. Each community has its guidelines.
After writing your post and maybe correcting it, you submit it to your chosen community. The editor(s) of Vocal then will check and read your post. If there is something that is not good, they will inform you about it and you can change it. After that, you can submit it again. If the submitted post is good, they then will check if the chosen community is correct or suited for your post. If not, then they will place it in the community of which they think is suitable for your post.
It is not possible, yet, to self-publish your posts. Every post will go through the same process. So it is a little bit harder to get your post published. That’s why I was so happy that they had accepted my post and published it.
If you would like to see and read my post on Vocal, you can find it here. It is my old post, called “A Bacteria Changed My Life.”
Money.
Money. For some writers, it is a source of income. For me, at this moment, I am not so interested in it.
Each blogging platform has its own costs or earning plan.
To join Medium, it costs $ 5,- per month. For that, you can read and write as many posts as you want. When you don’t join, you only can read/write three items per month. I think the price of $5,- is reasonable. You can read as much as you want. I think every day they have hundreds of new posts. You can select what categories have your interest and they will inform you if your favorite writer or category has a new post.
You also can join their partner program. This means that every time a paying Medium member will read your post, you will earn money from it. The more Medium members will read your post, the more money you will earn. So, the better the quality of your writing/post, the more people will want to read it.
For Vocal, it is different again. On Vocal, you can read as much as you want, without becoming a member. You can join Vocal for free. When you join, you will be able to write your own posts and publish them. For every person that reads your post, you will earn a very small amount. If I am right, you will earn something like $ 3,86 per thousand reads.
You also could join the Vocal+ program. This costs $ 9,95 (if I am right) per month. For that, you will earn $ 6,- per thousand reads. The withdrawal minimum amount is also lower.
For now, for both platforms, I am not interested in the earnings. I am just a beginner and I am more interested in writing and sharing my writing with others. And in the process, I hope to improve my writing.
Closing.
With posting on the Vocal blogging platform, I intend to expand my writing/blogging. Bring my writing to the attention of more people.
I am so happy that my first post on Vocal was accepted and published. It is a boost for my ego and morale. It is proof to me that my writing is not that bad.
On Medium, I did not publish anything in a publication yet. I am just afraid of being rejected. So I better keep on posting in my own publication. But who knows, maybe in the future I will give it a go.
The process of Vocal was a little bit scary, to be honest. Because your post only would show up if they thought it was good. Now that I have set the first step there, I think I will post also more on there. I am aware that some of them maybe will not pass the first time, but that’s okay. It gives me more opportunities to grow and get better at writing.
I also found out, after checking with the Vocal editors, that posting religious posts is not without problems. They have some bad experiences with that and have very strict guidelines for it. I need to check that out further and try to find some posts on there and learn from it. And see what is allowed or not. So this is maybe also something for the future.
Right now, I have four places where I could write. It sounds a lot, but so far, I enjoy doing it. And I think most of the posts will be reposts from my blog. All four have their own niche/topics.
While I was writing this post, I suddenly noticed something. Is it coincidence, faith, or did it happen for a reason? I am not sure if you had noticed it. Let me try to show it to you. I made my blog known to the public in December 2019. My first post on Medium was in December 2020. The first post on Vocal was on December 2021. My first post on most of them was about what happened to me from December 2012 until March 2013. And as you maybe already know from reading my posts, the month of December has had a big impact on me. During that month, most of the time something was going on with my health.
Knock on wood, this month so far was okay. I only need to go to the hospital for giving blood and urine for testing and on December 22 to get the results of some more tests. December 22 is not my favorite date, and I need to go there in person. But I will try to see if I can move that appointment to a telephone consult. I think it would be safer.
I hope you had liked this post. If you maybe have some questions, just let me know and I will try to answer them.
As always, I hope you will take care and stay safe in this difficult time.
God Bless
