Not A Top Story
My Life On Vocal Is Getting More Difficult Every Day
Introduction
This is the last Top Story and any kind of non-read reward from Vocal.
That was in October 2025.
November 2025 was the last time I was able to produce a brand-new story on this account.
Vocal has given me a year's V+ as recompense and says they are working on the system, but I only got that when I closed the account, and have had nothing since then.
Now this is what I get in my drafts, making it more difficult to reuse stories. It's been like that for two days. I know why, but Vocal have not done anything about it, though I told them of the issue.
Why?
I have maintained that Vocal have a list of creators to whom they dispense Top Stories. Some only have to post a story to see it in the Top Story listings very often within hours of posting.
I am not on that list and feel that I am on a blocked list.
When I read the comments, I know that my work is excellent.
Some creators have explicitly told me that my work must not be very good, but I know that is just them being spiteful, but that's how I feel the Vocal moderators are being with me.
One of the problems with not getting Top Stories is that people stop seeing you, and that sends your reads down, so it is a lose/lose situation, though, since I worked out the workaround and started reusing stories on here, I have increased my reads in 30 days from the low of 600 to 944, that is a 50% increase.
It is Vocal's platform, so they can do what they want.
But it does hurt seeing my peers get their fourth Top Story since I last got anything.
I have had sizeable tips from a few friends who appreciate my works, and in the last two months have received far more from my Pixabay site than Vocal, and that is just based on tips:
Conclusion
I will keep on going because of the support I receive from my audience, but at the moment, I cannot recommend Vocal, but I really do hope things change.
I should not have to write these things, but if I don;t everyone will think everything is OK.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your support
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
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Creationati
Call Me Les ♥ Gina ♥ Heather ♥ Caroline ♥
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More stories from Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred and writers in Writers and other communities.
Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH5 days ago in Critique
Comments (8)
At least your reads are increasing. Maybe this will now make them pay more attention to you 🫶🫶🫶 sending love and hugs.
I'm glad that your reads have increased significantly. Hope they find a solution to this eventually
I believe in you brother. Don’t let others keep you down & Vocal isn’t the be all end all to critique and judgement for writing
Thanks for bringing this up! I would have thought that they would have fixed everything.by now
Criticism accelerates progress, mikeydred. You are performing a valuable service, even if it is largely unacknowledged. I hope the new year will be more rewarding for you!
Nice article, Mike! Well, like with any other social network, you get what you put in. And while many people chase numbers, the same can be said of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. I have been using the platform for many years, and that's where I receive the most engagement and views for my content. I love how interactive people can be. As far as sales are concerned, unless someone tells you they have purchased your book, it will be almost impossible to know the source. Unless of course, you have access to sales info from the stores where your books are available. The point of using social media is to have fun. If you engage with others, they will engage back. Great things will happen in due time. :-)
There's a noticeable uptick in reads when I post to Twitter. I think it depends on whom you post to. Your friends won't read your stuff. They aren't there for that. Posting to certain hashtags at certain times and to OTHER AUTHORS is usually the way it works. Those are people who are interested in books/reading/stories. I'm not saying you'll get thousands or even tens of reads, but you'll get more than you did before. Follow me on Twitter, and I will introduce you to the hashtags. → @bzwriting
I didn't get much engagement from Twitter either. Twitter users are more keen on chasing followers as you said