Vocal Update: New Communities, Merch, Bonuses, Discord & More
An update on what's coming...
Two months ago, we launched the Vocal Creator Chat and Raise Your Voice Threads, and the response has been truly overwhelming. We're beyond impressed by the depth of engagement and the richness of insights you've shared.
Your invaluable feedback has ignited sparks of inspiration within our team, leading to intense brainstorming sessions and walls covered in post-it notes.
But we didn't stop at listening; we've transformed your suggestions into action. Our team has been diligently working behind the scenes, sculpting your ideas into exciting updates. So, without further ado, here's a glimpse into what we've been crafting...
💬 The Official Vocal Discord
During our recent Vocal Creator Chats, Cendrine Marrouat, Donna Renee, and R. J. Rani voiced a great idea - the need for an Official Vocal group.
We've talked about this for a while internally, and we really see the value in this based off the success of the community powered Facebook Groups. While our plan is to add a community chat feature directly into Vocal, we want to get this to you all as fast as possible. So, we're excited to announce that we're launching the Official Vocal Creators Discord today.
Join the Official Vocal Creators Discord here: https://discord.gg/vocalcreators
Additionally, we'll be inviting key Vocal members to be moderators and curators for the Discord. You will receive an invitation email over the next few days from the Vocal team if you have been selected as a moderator.
👕 The Official Vocal Store
Tiffany Gordon is excited for some new Vocal merch, and so are we.
We are excited to announce that our Official Vocal Merch Store will be opening on June 15, 2023. The store will feature various Vocal-themed merchandise; think tees, sweatshirts, hats, and more. You can sign up to the store's mailing list to keep updated on the launch here:
ICYMI in last week's Vocal Creator Chat, Judey Kalchik had a great question about the release of The Vocal+ Fiction Awards Anthology book.
We're super excited to let you know this will be available when the store opens, in both hardcover and paperback editions.
🤝 Four New Communities
Babs Iverson and Scott Wade have been championing the cause for new communities, and we couldn't agree more. It's been too long and we want to introduce some fresh spaces for your stories.
Over the next few weeks, we're launching four vibrant new communities: History, Humor, Art, and based on your feedback, a dedicated space for men (similar to the VIVA community).
We know you're eager to start populating these communities with your amazing stories and we can't wait to see what you create.
💡 Vocal Creator Chat Feature Requests
The incredible feedback from the Creator Chat has spurred us to share some exciting updates to our product roadmap. These include:
- Ability to filter notifications by type (📢 Mike Singleton - Mikeydred)
- Badges for Top Stories (📢 Donna Renee)
- A chronological feed of all Latest Stories (📢 Sonia Heidi Unruh)
- Quick edit for images, title, and subtitle (📢 CJ Miller)
- Ability to delete a story (📢 Oneg In The Arctic)
- Ability to edit comments (📢 Kristen Balyeat)
These improvements are in no specific order, and we're still working on how best to implement them. We look forward to hearing more of your thoughts and suggestions in our Creator Chats on Tuesdays @ 12PM ET.
🏆 Summer Challenge Series
Summer's almost here, and we're excited to announce a new series of Challenges. We've been reading through all of your ideas from the Share Your Ideas to Shape the Future of Vocal Challenges resource article, and we're putting together a slate of challenges that will inspire you and reward your creativity. Look out for more information on these challenges, launching on the first day of summer, June 21, 2023.
📚 Resources By Creators, For Creators
We believe in the power of collective wisdom, which is why we're creating a new resource section on Vocal, created by you, the creators. This section will showcase the best articles featuring writing tips and resources. If you've written an article offering tips and helpful guides for Vocal, we encourage you to submit your drafts through this Google Form:
To sweeten the deal, accepted articles will get a bonus, so start sharing your knowledge today.
Bonuses, Bonuses, and More Bonuses
Speaking of bonuses, we've heard your feedback and we're committed to being more transparent about how you can earn them.
We'll be launching timely bonus campaigns, such as publishing a story in each of our new communities for a $10 bonus. Stay tuned for a resource article next week outlining the first round of bonus opportunities. Our goal is to reward positive behavior on the platform, helping you to continue growing as a writer and expanding your audience.
An Update on Exclusive Stories
We appreciate your patience regarding our anticipated Exclusive Stories feature. We're dedicated to ensuring the best possible experience for our creators while adhering to the Apple App Store's policies regarding peer-to-peer payments. Our aim is to protect our creators from incurring 30% revenue loss due to fees.
We're diligently working on this feature to ensure its success, and we're excited to announce its anticipated launch this summer. Stay tuned for updates.
As we continue to evolve, our focus remains on you - the creators. Your thoughts, suggestions, and creativity drive Vocal's growth and we look forward to what the future holds.
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
About the Creator
Justin @ Vocal
Founder of Vocal. COO/President of Creatd ($VOCL), the parent company of the Vocal platform.
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More stories from Justin @ Vocal and writers in Vocal and other communities.
Tackling Spam and Inauthentic Behavior
Some of you have shared your frustrations lately about link-bombing, spammers soliciting sketchy websites, and bot/AI-generated comments and stories on Vocal. We know how hard you all work to create stories and we want all creators to get support and feedback from real users.
By Justin @ Vocal2 months ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: Chop Chop by AJ Nelson
Grief and resentment coil around one another in this dark fantasy from AJ Nelson. “Chop Chop” luxuriates in language, transforming seemingly routine moments into a feast for the imagination. All of these familiar details add up to an ending that is anything but ordinary.
By Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal Podcast3 days ago in Resources
Comments (65)
I'm excited for the new categories especially history. Will it also include historical fiction in this category?
You said NOTHING about what the company is planning to do to protect Creators from Plagiarists. Over the past weekend the collective Vocal Community had to flag 5 plagiarists. 2 have been taken down, but 3 still remain. Mubarak Abdulsalam: https://vocal.media/authors/mubarak-abdulsalam This creator took down all their work when Vocal Creators called them out on their plagiarism. Muhammad Nadeem https://vocal.media/authors/muhammad-nadeem-y1na0u65 They plagiarized Dharrsheena's Top Story of the same name, though fudged around with the wording to make it seem original. Tabish Malik: https://vocal.media/authors/tabish-malik They plagiarized Em's Top Story and retitled it as "Embracing the Power of No: Mastering the Art of Rejection." Like Muhammad did with Dharrsheena, Tabish fudged around with Em's original wording to make it look like they did not blatantly plagiarize them. Today's Creator Chat needs to address the problem of plagiarists and what the company is doing to protect their creators' work.
Is there option for trigger warnings?
When you say draft, does that mean that articles already published can’t be added? Because I have one that might be useful, “on inspiration” but it’s already published and thus no longer in the “drafts”
Exciting! I agree with everything said by Dharrsheena! https://vocal.media/authors/dharrsheena-raja-segarran Pauline 🌸
This is very nice I hope it gets to african so we could be able to participate
AMAZING GREAT INFORMATION THANKS !!!
I like the upgrade and all the good things vocal is bringing to the community but unfortunately is not for African as there is no payment method currently for Africa or where African can get some coins from vocal. I hope vocal will touch on that one next time so that we can start participating too.
I like what I see, I like what I read. It is always a little bit more difficult for me to write in English because I am German and English is my second language. But I am eager to get better, and this platform is just perfect for me. Thanks Dagmar
Cezanne ~ Such a 'Girlie' - How Un-Trans of you ~ Jay Kantor, Chatsworth, California 'Senior' Vocal Author - Vocal Author Community -
Hey [email protected], since I've seen that new tags have been added recently (like Microfiction), could we please get at least a generic "Content Warning" tag in all communities so that those of us willing to use them can do so easily? Or a few of the common specific ones like "Content Warning - Suicide", "Content Warning - Pregnancy/Pregnancy Loss", "Content Warning - Drug/Alcohol Use", "Content Warning - Domestic Violence", "Content Warning - Graphic Violence", "Content Warning - Sexual Assault", "Content Warning- Not Suitable for Minors"... I know Vocal is discussing ways to filter/rate etc but this would at least help a little for now. I've been totally blindsided by several stories lately and I've also seen more younger members here participating on Vocal recently.
Great things coming in Vocal!!! Thank you all so much!!
Is there any update on making it possible to tip people directly from our vocal accounts/stripe $? I am really hoping for that.
Wow, thank you so much for the updates, let's hope for the best.
Thank you for asking and for listening! Grateful for all of these amazing updates to come, new communities, merch, and for this awesome platform! So happy to be here! 🙏🏽💫
Great!! I will be submitting my helpful guides soon.
Wow it will be great we are waiting for it to be lauche
Awesome idea to give us a bonus for writing in each of the categories, but I'm going to feel weird posting a story in the men's community when I'm a girl lol. It's like walking into the men's bathroom.
This made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. Thank you for providing all the treats for us to devour and anticipate. It almost feels like being a part of the staff, knowing that our words matter. And I truly feel like I belong here with so many amazing creative personalities. Thank you.
I know nothing about Discord 😅 I clicked that link, created an account, saw that I was invited to the group, clicked accept, changed my pic, read some comments and then I came out, lol. Awesomeeee! I've joined the mailing list for the Merch! Pretty excited for the new communities, especially the one for Men! Badges for Top Stories are awesome! Would it only be given for future Top Stories or the ones in the past as well?
This is exciting! Thank you for listening to the creators and taking action to improve the platform. And thank you to the creators who made the suggestions!
I'm thrilled to see all the exciting updates and improvements coming to Vocal! Can't wait to dive in and write about the new communities and challenges.
Great that we will be able to remove a story from our profile soon. Thanks for making this happen. I've had stories that didn't win or place in Vocal Challenges that went on to be published in literary mags or produced as plays so this is a feature that's really helpful to anyone seeking to submit their stories elsewhere.
What do I think? I think the Vocal leadership team ROCKS! Writers love to be heard. And I do feel heard. Thank you for taking our feedback seriously enough to make changes.
This is so exciting! Excited for the men's community that's been championed on the Facebook groups, and for badges for top stories