How I Earned $74 in 46 Days on Vocal

I joined Vocal on February 4th. Honestly, I had never heard of Vocal until I noticed a Facebook post advertising a short story challenge. The thought of winning a $20,000 prize for a story about a "Little Black Book" lured me in. So, I signed up for the Vocal+ 3 month trial, for $4.99, for the sole purpose of wowing the judges and winning a substantial cash prize. I blew the dust off some old stories and buckled down and wrote several new pieces, submitting a total of a dozen stories to the challenge.

I didn't win nor did I come in the top 13 places. But that's okay.

Several years ago, I wrote short stories for weekly challenges. There were no cash prizes or gift certificates for top entries. In fact, we writers competed for accolades and virtual "pat's on the back." For those who placed in the top tier, their stories were assured a place in a future anthology of short stories written exclusively by all previous winners. The concept sounded intriguing, and some day I expect to see 6 or 8 of my best pieces in this book. However, after writing in these weekly competitions for a year, the appeal to be in a book that would be published "someday," wore off. In fact, I quit writing altogether...until February 4, 2021.

I understood going into the Little Black Book Challenge that I would be up against thousands of entries, and the odds of winning or even placing would be miniscule. However, I liked the idea of earning money for writing. Even if it's only .oo59 cents per read, it's still compensation for my words, my creativity. And since reads pay, I'm learning the importance of tapping into social media for self-promotion. In 47 days, my stories have tallied 923 reads which means to date I have earned $5.54. The obvious next goal for "reads" is to top the 1000 mark. Hopefully, this occurs within the next few days. Then, if I can drum up 34 reads per day, that equals just over 1000 reads per month. I know that's a lofty goal, but I believe certainly attainable if I produce quality stories and put in the work to self-promote.

So, that's $5.54. How have I earned the rest?

I earned a $10 bonus for publishing my tenth story. Then, I received a $5 bonus for reading and liking the stories of 15 fellow creators. Since, I was unfamiliar with Vocal, I didn't know that bonuses were even a possibility. These unexpected funds boosted my drive to produce more stories and shoot for other incentives.

A couple of weeks ago, I noted that another writer posted about earning a $50 bonus for 50 stories. I decided that I was going to shoot for that goal and get that $50 by the time I had been with Vocal for 50 days. I actually achieved that goal in 46 days. For those counting, that's more than one story per day. And yes, that kind of output is exhausting and time consuming, but for the purpose of my experiment, well worth it.

Am I through writing for Vocal?

Absolutely not!

I want to earn a Top Story position and would love to win a challenge at some point. I also hope to learn about and receive future bonuses for attaining other milestones.

Inspiration for stories exist all around us. In fact, a Facebook friend posted a couple of unique historical items this morning, prompting me to comb the Internet for more information. The small blurbs she posted will be turned into future articles, with plans now to submit to the Uncommon Knowledge Challenge. Possibly the greater challenge is to stay motivated in pursuing writing goals. Set a goal, even if it seems impossible. It may not be as hard as you think.