My Thoughts on Exclusive Stories
Writers Deserve to be Paid for their Work
THE LOW DOWN
I'm sure if you've been on Vocal in the last 24 hours you've become aware of the new "exclusive stories" feature that the Vocal team has launched on the site. It's something the community has been asking for for years: an update on the "pledges" feature that had little to no value for readers, nor the writers besides a very kind and generous monthly tip.
Now that an update is here, however, I've noticed a divide among creators on the platform. Some, like me, are excited by this new first step toward giving readers rewards for their monetary support, and giving writers another avenue to make money. On the other end, people are unwilling to put their work behind a paywall, and ask why this feature is here if we can already get paid through reads?
Well, I'm here to break this down from a writer's perspective, a long-time vocal writer, and to express my own personal views on how and why writers deserve to be paid for fair work.
______________________. . .________________________
VOCAL IS NOT MEDIUM
Let's clear one of the biggest fears out of the way: VOCAL IS NOTHING LIKE MEDIUM.
The cultures, communities, content, and top writers are a whole different brand from each other. I get it. The fear of seeing a bunch of content behind paywalls is very real and understandable, but Vocal is a platform made for writers, funded by writers, and is made great by writers! ( We were literally invited by the CEO to invest in Vocal. Who does that? It's awesome! ) There is a reason many of us barely use Medium anymore after coming to Vocal, and we should remember why that is.
On top of that ( and I may be biased here ) Vocal is more receptive to their creators compared to Medium. Yes, that is a low bar, but I truly do believe that the Vocal Team wants to put it's creators first, because when you fund ARTISTS over COMPANIES, incredible things are accomplished.
______________________. . .________________________
WHEN TO MAKE CONTENT EXCLUSIVE
Of all the things I will say on this article, this is the section I hope most people will pay attention to and take to heart. Exclusive content should NOT be the majority of your work.
Exclusivity should be just that, exclusive - something special that you wouldn't normally post whether that be because a general audience who doesn't know you wouldn't care, or because of the word count limit Vocal imposes on it's communities.
Putting all your advice or 'how to' articles behind a pay wall will not make you any friends, let alone readers, on Vocal. That kind of predatory marketing is rampant on Medium, and it's why many of us left that website.
We want community. We want connectivity. We want to lift each other up. Do not put those things behind exclusive content barriers!
So, what should you make exclusive, and how should you go about it?
When you want to write a long term project ( let's say, a poetry collection for example ) make your first, or several first poems FREE! Let the community know you are working on this new project, show it off, and then put the rest in exclusive content.
This is what published ( traditional and indie ) author's do all the time for their work. It's very common, and nothing about it is predatory. Your not hiding opinionated, market driven advice or 'get rich quick' schemes behind a paywall, targeting desperate creators. No, this is you recognizing the VALUE OF YOUR WORK! And you deserve to be paid, no matter what anyone tells you.
Other content that would work well is behind the scenes articles talking about how or why you come up with your ideas. As a reader, I LOVE reading about my favorite author's thoughts about their work, and how they came to write their stories.
If you have a big connected world between a lot of your stories, you could have character profiles, world histories, religions, and other content that otherwise wouldn't be shown off in your one-off stories behind exclusive content. ( think World Anvil! )
There are a lot of fun ideas out there for writers to jump on. At the end of the day, this is about rewarding your most generous readers, and enticing those who are able to to support you!
______________________. . .________________________
WHY DO ANY OF THIS WHEN WE ALREADY GET PAID BY READS?
When I saw this question pop up in the discussions...I was a bit dumbfounded. I don't know about anyone else, but I've never made more than a dollar a month on this platform from reads. ( My highest earning month? 80 cents. And this is WITH vocal+. )
If you are making more than $2.99/month off of Vocal with reads alone, then yes, you could argue there is no point in this, but thankfully this is an OPTIONAL feature that you do not have to engage with.
As far as tips, I have gotten a few over the years, but it is sporadic and unsustainable. Just ask any waiter in the United States. You can't live off of tips.
Monthly payments come with security, and while $2.99 is nothing to get excited about, it's still something for us independent writers to build off of. It's something to give us dreamers hope.
______________________. . .________________________
WRITERS DESERVE TO BE PAID FOR HONEST WORK
At the end of the day, this optional feature is not going to destroy this platform. Could it use improvements? Of course! I saw one idea that introduced Vocal+ members being able to give free subscriptions to others on the platform, much like Twitch does with their Prime subscriptions. ( I really, really like this idea, and hope Vocal will at least consider it. )
Writers, like any other profession, deserve fair pay for fair work. We already struggle in the publishing industry with big companies taking the largest pay cuts for our hard work, and having to pay out of pocket if we want to avoid going through those same companies. The arts have been pushed to the side for favor of quick, easy content that's easily replicated and regurgitated.
So, let's take this feature as a sign of better things to come for the Vocal platform, for writers, and for those careers and stories that have yet to blossom.
______________________. . .________________________
A Promise from Me:
As for my content, it won't change. Works centered on mental health, writing advice, one-off poems or free writes, short stories, community led projects and contest entries will all remain free.
The only content that I will put behind exclusivity will be long-form, multi-chapter projects and fun dives into my novel projects. RE:SURGENCE is a good example of what to expect.
The first poems or chapters of these projects will always be free, so that you can at least decide for yourself if you want to pay that monthly subscription fee to read the rest. And remember, you can always cancel if you just want access to one particular piece. ( I have done this for creators on Patreon! )
Thank you for listening to me ramble. <3 I hope everyone continues to share their amazing work with the world, and continues to foster a great community going forward!
Much love,
Amanda S.
About the Creator
Amanda Starks
Fantasy writer, poet, and hopefully soon-to-be novelist who wants to create safe spaces to talk about mental health. Subscribe to my free newsletter at www.amandastarks.com for updates!
RE:SURGENCE now available for download!
Reader insights
Nice work
Very well written. Keep up the good work!
Top insights
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Keep reading
More stories from Amanda Starks and writers in Writers and other communities.
The Role of Community Behaviour in Crypto Market Movements
Crypto markets are unpredictable, loud, and full of people convinced they have tomorrow figured out. Beginners often mistake chaos for meaning. But most of the time the noise is just that. The community behind a coin drives a huge amount of market motion. That means anyone trying to read prices without reading people is flying half blind.
By Abbasi Publisher5 days ago in Writers
Comments (34)
I don't think anyone would disagree with you that writers deserve to be paid. The sticking point for me is basic economics. Who will pay, when there is so much content for free? 🤷♂️
I was wondering if people would share their thoughts on the Exclusive Stories feature in a post, and I think you’ve summarised it quite well overall Amanda. Would love to see how many people take it up over the next 6-12 months, and the response they get in terms of subscribers. It’s not perfect, but it’s an improvement on Pledges and Tips. It’ll be an interesting one to keep an eye on!
Excellent review. Congratulations on the Top Story.
I was unaware of this feature and now thanks to you i know more. Still not everything I will have to review it for myself. Thank you and congratulations on your placement
Congratulations on winning second placed for the "Most Discussed Stories" with this piece this week on the leaderboard. Well done!
Great breakdown and ideas. Congratulations on the TS🎉⭐️⭐️
If I had enough followers in Chapters, which I don't, it would make sense/cents. But, I barely get noticed there. We shall see as we go along I suppose.
Congratulations on your top story!!🎉🎉🎉
After reading Amanda's article twice, I find this flow emphasized => The Freemium model - offer a basic version of our writing for free and charge for the advanced feature-rich version. Or have I missed the point?
Some awesome thoughts here, Amanda I probably won't engage with the paywall myself, but I totally get your points with regard to it! Especially the ones about bonus content for longer running stories! Campfire publishing has released something similar where creators can sell access to their world-building and character notes as a bonus if people like the book originally sold. (also it's like an 80-20 split creator to company. Which is neat. But ebook only) I hadn't considered what you said about those extras and it's giving me something to think about. I only had the one pledge because a friend was determined to do it as a way of showing love and support. I'd rather she just read the stories and tell me what she thinks, but her life is too busy so this is how she chooses to show support. It's nice, don't get me wrong. Just not the whole reason I'm here. You're right with the description of the importance of the Vocal community, also. Most of us aren't here because we're trying to make Vocal a career. It's possible, but not a really attainable goal yet. Hopefully that will change and people are able to, if not live off of it, then at least get the subscription fees covered through these new subscriptions. One thing I would love to see from Vocal is a faster withdrawal system. I don't know what exactly takes so long, but I've had a $79USD one pending for like two weeks now. Darned inconvenient.
Good point, I don't want to make my stories exclusive, because I want to get it out there as much as possible. The highest earning I got from an article was about $900, and that was one of my best performing articles from MoviePilot, too. It took about 2 years to even get there. I still subscribe to Vocal+ every year partly for the challenges.
Some great thoughts. Nothing I have written recently would benefit from a pay wall, either from my perspective as a creator or from the reader's perspective. Plenty of academic publishers use pay walls quite effectively but this is work that has been thoroughly researched and peer reviewed and is specific to the research needs of a very small number of readers. Thanks again for providing this useful insight. In the distant past when I was a journalist and subsequently a technical/business writer I earned a (not very lavish) living from content creation. These days it is mostly a hobby. Congrats on the TS
I suppose I feel like I don't view vocal as work I should be paid for, but a hobby I get to indulge in. I'd love to be paid to write, but can't quite view this as a means to do that.
Interesting article. I am considering trying this new feature using my 20,000-word novella, but I am confused about how to make it work. Is the novella too long for the site? Should I break it up into sections and post it at intervals? Should I make part of it accessible?
I pledged to a creator on here. We are not offline friends, nor are we close friends online. I was pledging way before Vocal brought out exclusive content. I did it because I liked his reviews and wanted to support his mission. His content is what I like to call 'worthy reading content.' It offers value, it's entertaining, and you can see he is passionate about what he does. I've never had anyone pay to read my content, but I don't expect it either. People pay for what they want to read. However, we do have a choice. It's a great idea to give back to readers, though be selective because if you pledge to everyone, it will cost, especially if you don't make a lot here like me. As for your comments on Medium, there are negatives and positives. No matter what I write, I tend to earn more there than I do here, but Vocal is what I call my 'creative baby,' like you, I have been here for a long time.
It sounds like a way to say, make a Novella and have it paid for here.
I really enjoyed this and found it helpful :) I've been trying to figure out how I could use this feature for myself, and this definitely gives me some food for thought! 🤗
I just found out about exclusive articles on Vocal from reading this piece now.
You're absolutely right. Writers should be paid realistically for their work. I've been debating about Vocal vs Medium but I think Vocal's model is actually much better for writers - and this new feature supports that.
I have a few questions for food for thought. How many people on Vocal have more than one or two pledges? If you don't have a substantial amount of pledges does anybody really think that writing something exclusive is going to attract that many paid subscribers? Are you getting very many tips right now for what you write? If you're not getting many tips now why would people want to put out a monthly recurring tip for exclusive articles? I don't mean to be pessimistic, just throwing some thoughts out there.
I appreciated your thoughts and insights here, Amanda :) I'm not sure how this new feature fits into my writing goals, but it's nice to have the option. Great article!
Good advice, Amanda. Congrats on the TS.
Add me to the list of those who appreciate your insights on this. I'm not sure where my thoughts are on the idea, but it does provide some food for thought, especially since my first paperback poetry collection should come out of review and be published this weekend. Something to ponder...
Quite insightful! I agree that writers deserve the payments for sure, I just don’t know how often the feature will realistically be utilized. But I hope it will!
I don't know how I feel about it but I think your article goes some way to explaining its benefits, Amanda. There are always differing views about change.