Notice Me: Phase 2

Last week I moved on to another area of my writing career--Medium. This is still a relatively new addition to my portfolio, so I wasn't expected a lot to change with this situation. I didn't write any new pieces to promote, so I selected a few previously published works to promote online. I did manage to get more eyes on my articles, poems, and stories. I promoted four pieces and received six views--and sadly, that's a significant increase from me doing absolutely no promotion. Out of those six views, I only received four reads (and I think it goes without saying, no earnings from the partner program). What's the difference and how does Medium distinguish the two? I don't know. A read could be time spent on the page. A read could mean scrolling all the way to the bottom of the article. It's not clear to me how they determine whether a piece has been read or not.

Another key piece of data that I don't have access to was insights into the type of person looking at my work. On my article details pages, there is a place for these insights, but Medium has declared that my readers' interests can't be determined until I get more views. I do get traffic sources of clicks, but without getting more insight into the readers that browse my work for free, how can I start to create a picture of those who pay for a subscription and would be interested in my work?

I also know because none of my pieces have been published into or curated for a Medium publication, it doesn't get a lot of views without taking the time to promote it. It doesn't end up in the daily emails Medium sends out, and the stats page has informed me on every piece that:

"Our curators were not able to review this story for distribution in topics due to high volume."

Which I interpret to mean "Get a truckload of reviews, then we'll take a look." Not really beneficial when I haven't cracked 35 views a month yet. But this doesn't phase me. I'm going to keep my work here, add more work, and try to craft the right pieces I can submit to the publications I've technically already signed up for, but have yet to submit. 

Now I'm off to the last task of the month--getting new patrons on Patreon. This will be the biggest challenge out of the three, but I'll figure it out.

Notice Me: Phase 1

I promised that I would use February for this task, but I'm already dreading it. As a lifelong introvert, I don't like talking about myself. I don't like to brag, and without that urge to make my accomplishments known to the world, imposter syndrome sometimes settles into those quiet spaces.

But I'm fighting the urge to hide with all I've got. I started this morning by looking through vast lists of free/bargain email lists. There are quite a few out there that are really affordable (under $25 for a listing), and some sites even have a free option. The problem? Even the sites that seem to take almost anything still don't list poetry as a  specific category when filling out the submission form. I know that I can always sneak it in through others like literary fiction or women's fiction, but I don't like doing that when I don't have to. I've never been rejected before when listing in an alternate category, but there's a first for everything.

The hitch with the "free" offerings on some of these sites is that they are provided by a lottery system, which means you aren't guaranteed a spot. That's okay--filling out all of the forms for the chance at a free promo is totally worth it.

This week's challenge? Increased views on Medium. Let's do this.