What I Learned From Publishing a Story Every Day

Observations, analysis, and takeaways after two weeks. No, I am not a guru.

Today marks two weeks since I started the new tradition of publishing at least one story daily. So far, so good.

I experimented with writing ahead of time, so I can review and edit if needed after distancing myself from the content. It improves your craft. I learned from those who have done it; I have to agree with them.

I did find some challenges following this idea, but they are more particular to the way I am, and I see an opportunity to grow from it.

I have, more or less, followed the same routine every day of getting the story up before 10 A.M. and then promoting it on various (but the same) social media outlets. The results have been pretty consistent with views ranging between 22 and 35. There have been a couple of lows and a couple of highs.

I had stories with 3 and 5 views, and I had stories with 58 and 78 views.

The story with 58 views is about Toastmasters, and I promoted it on my Toastmasters District’s Facebook Group. So I can see the impact there.

The story with 78 views was published in The Ascent, and it was also curated. That is three times the average views I received on the others, so I am sold on the value of submitting to popular/more prominent publications. It was the only one that was curated in the two weeks.

I am totally lost as to why the two stories had practically no views. (I do not directly control who views it.) The one with just three views had a 100% read rate, and 33% of the readers clapping. One with five reads had a 40% read rate, and 50% of the readers clapping. So I am not overly concerned because what this tells me is that I have taken care of what I can control.

My piece that was curated is about doing what you control 100%. I will embed that one at the end.

I feel that I am on the write track (pun intended). It is wise to write/publish every day and learn from it as you go.

It is imperative to build a following. When I first decided to publish on Medium, I researched how to do that. One “guru” recommended following as many people as you can because about 20 to 30% will follow you back. I found that to be true. I discovered that these followers mean nothing because they are blindly following you, not your writing.

The current MPP rewards according to reading time. If they’re not reading what you write, what is the use of having followers? It is just a vanity matrix. Obviously, Medium is not showing your work to every single one of your followers.

The best way I have found so far to build a readership is to read and interact with other writers whose work you enjoy, or those who write in the area that you write in. It will enable you to connect with like-minded people. I have built a small following of people whom I recognize as they consistently show up on the list of people who highlight and clap for my stories. This list is growing.

What about you? What do you infer from my observations? Do you have any insight that I or others can benefit from? What have you learned from your experiences? Are they similar or different?

I would love to hear from you.

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”

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