What I Spend My Vocal Earnings On

Here’s one that I don’t think I’ve ever seen on Vocal before. It’s what we spend our earnings on. Not long ago, I asked one of the Vocal Facebook groups: “What do you spend your earnings on?”

The first response I got was a screenshot of somebody that had just over a dollar in their account. And I wish good luck to the person who’s gonna spend their money on gum. I hope it’s a nice flavour! The fact of the matter is a lot of people don’t have enough in their account to properly answer this question.

A lot of Vocal writers are still trying to reach their first threshold. Starting out is the hardest part. This is why I am always aiming to write new content everyday. Once you’re used to it, Vocal can be a fun place to write for. Contest winners may use their money towards college debt, bills or even a holiday.

Winning a contest is rare though, but if you win one contest, you’re ten times likely to win another. If you are friends with the contest makers and judges, you’re almost certain to place, or at least be short-listed. I remember entering a short story contest and the winner turned out to be one of the judges friends... the winning story had nothing to do with the theme. I’ll take part in Vocal entries if they interest me, but I know I will never win. By accepting the fact I will never win a Vocal contest, I avoid disappointment. Sometimes the winner has already been chosen before my entry has been submitted.

I’ve entered many writing contests but never won. There was one writing contest I entered years ago when they extended the deadline so the contest maker’s friend could enter. It was extended for until the friend entered. Guess what? The friend and the admins on the site won! The ones that submitted on time got nothing. There’s a lot of writing contests where you have to pay to enter, but I just see it as a waste of money. Some you have to pay extra for feedback, and the feedback is generic, full of industry jargon that makes no sense. Vocal feels different to that. Lately the only contests I ever enter is the Vocal challenges. You get money for the reads you get anyway. I asked Vocal if it was possible to give feedback on my story: How To Be Invisible.

Getting lots of reads takes time. One of my stories once got only 30 reads on its first year on Vocal. Now it’s spiked up in my top ten most reads. Harry Potter has made a big impact on the world and is still one of the best loved franchises out there. I’m expecting a lot of my Pokémon articles will eventually have the same fate.

Vocal is another outlet for me to express myself whilst being another source of income other than work. I can say what I want, write what I want and still get paid for it.

Other than winning challenges and getting lots of reads, there’s also tipping. A combination of all three of these means that I’ve make more money through Vocal than with my published books. I’ve made no money on Lulu Press, Medium and Webnovel.

I’ve got several goals for my Vocal account. The first is to write and publish 500 stories and the second is to reach 50,000 reads. So far I’m at 37k, and I often get a thousand reads a month, but I noticed that since joining Vocal Plus, that views have sky-rocketed. Vocal even gifted me three months premium for being here for such a long time. Maybe I might be able to achieve both goals by the end of the year. Only time will tell.

To answer the question what I spend my vocal earnings from, it’s hard to say. It all goes directly to my main bank account. Over the years of writing for Vocal, I’ve noticed I’ve been making more withdrawals over time. I think this is a platform that rewards kindness and patience.

I’ve still thought I could show a list of things that I’ve spent my Vocal earnings on, or at least what they’ve contributed to.

It’s safe to say for sure that Vocal has funded my coffee fund. Not quite my alcohol fund as that’s more expensive, but I’ve been cutting it down since the pandemic so I guess that’s a win for me too. I will never forget the time I found this bar in London that was doing coffees for 90p. Thanks Vocal! It seems fitting that my most viewed article on Vocal with nearly 4 thousand reads is a review of one of Starbucks’ drinks.

I guess my vocal earnings have gone towards my old book hauls. I still have lots of them that I should actually read, but it’s always a nice feeling when you’re coming home with lots of books to buy. I love buying books from charity shops cause I know I’m making a difference to communities less fortunate than me. Though I still think corporations, governments and world leaders can do more. There was one time I bought 20 books from a thrift store and they were only £5 all together. Though I’ve been known to spend over £100 on books.

I had a big tip in November which meant I had free Netflix that month! It’s my family that use my account more than me, but I like to binge watch Ru Paul’s Drag Race from time to time.

Other streaming sites I use other than Netflix are Spotify and Apple Music. I have the free Spotify as I don’t mind shuffled music and never skip tracks. Premium memberships are also a big chunk out of my monthly budget other than bills. I’ve had to cancel a few during the pandemic because I wasn’t using them. The vocal cashouts really make a difference even if they’re not always that big.