The Writing Is On The Wall

In 2020 I came across Medium and it seemed like an oasis in the desert. Joining was a no-brainer. Over the following months, I made good progress and rose to become a Top Writer in various subjects, a Senior Editor for Illumination Publications, an owner of eight of my own publications and a top earner in the top two per cent. In all, I have written and published almost a thousand stories, almost all curated for wider distribution and life was rosy. Then all of a sudden it wasn’t. My stories stopped being curated and my income dived down to single digits. The dream come true was over. It was time to pivot.

I haven’t totally left Medium since I have invested too much in it, but it is only a matter of time before I pack my bags for good, lock, stock and barrel. The switchover has to be done thoughtfully and methodically. There’s nothing to be gained from throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Of course, there is always the possibility

that Medium will see the error of its ways and revert back to being a platform worthwhile investing in, even if it is only time and energy being invested.

And so here I am in Substack, raring to go on the next stage of this writer’s journey I am on. So far I like what I see and what I have heard. I love the idea of having more control of my earnings via monetization and look forward to taking that step in the not-too-distant future. It is comforting to know that I am accompanied by friendly faces I know and love, like Dr Yildiz from Illumination and people like the top writers Tom Kuegler and Tim Denning.

Of course, there is always the possibility that things on Substack won’t work out for me. So I have also created my very own blogging platform using an app that offers me a Medium replica editor and the capability to monetize my creative content. The Opus Connection will host stories by Dr Yildiz and one or two other excellent well-known writers I met on Medium. It will be a subscription site only as I have to cover the cost of creating and running it. However, like on Substack, I can set the monthly fee at a low $5 dollars a month, or $50 dollars a year. A bargain considering the quality of the writing content.

I am excited to have taken these steps and ever so thankful that I finally saw the writing on the wall to reduce my time and output on Medium and ultimately leave altogether. I have to say, I was also inspired by people like Dr Yildiz, Tom and Tim. When people of that calibre up sticks and move to Substack, the new Medium on the block, it really is time to sit up and take notice. I look forward to meeting lots of new people as well as quite a few old friends.

And so to the next step of my journey into the future on Substack and The Opus Connection. The latter I am extremely proud of creating as I am something of a technophobe. And yet despite this flaw in my character, in just fifteen days I created Opusa from scratch to a live and growing platform.

As this is only day four days from going live with The Opus Connection, it is too early to see any significant progress. Of course, it is no threat to the big multi-creator platforms like Vocal Media, Medium, Substack, etc. However, I am hopeful to at the very least cover my hosting costs. We will see.

To check out my new site click on…the-opus-connection-com.ghost.io