I just poured a cuppa tea and the STEEM is rising.
Just what I need. Another media platform to add another task to my ever lengthening to-do list.
This is what happens when your writer's critique group gets on fire for a new writing platform opportunity that actually pays its writers! With something called "steem."
The first post you make is an introduction to the Steemit blogging community. There are all manner of writers posting Steem, as it's referred to, and readers find their areas of interest through post tags. The Christian community may be found via such tags as "steemchurch" and "christian-trail." I'm just stepping onto the steem train and will also be looking for books and literary posts, and writing craft posts.
If you have a Steemit account, you can comment, but most importantly, you can UPVOTE a post. When you do that, the post earns "steem," a crypto-currency that accumulates with post exposure and can be transferred into dollars at any time.
This is a ground floor platform at present, seeking to allow content providers cash for their efforts. The writer who introduced it to me is already earning dollars on his many posts just since August.
The Idea of Earning Money for the Words You Write
This is an interesting topic among bloggers who spend hours crafting content for their blogs and promoting it, filling social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with information and entertainment. Those platforms make tons of money, but the authors filling them with content make little to no remuneration unless their blogs are monetized. That means they allow third party advertisers to clog up their blogs with ads. Sometimes, those ads do not blend with the purpose of the blog. And, as we've all experienced, are annoying. Especially the pop-ups!
I have chosen not to monetize my blog beyond a couple of select Amazon ads in my sidebar and affiliate links related to the purchase of books and on the topic of literacy and/or the writer's craft. My posts are content driven and connect to other blogs within writer and Christian circles to provide value to readers on literacy, language arts, Christian discipleship, writing, and publishing.
Now that I'm also posting on Steemit, I can reach new readers. All my posts from here at The Writer's Reverie and on the Family Literacy Lifestyles blog at Pageant Wagon Publishing will post automatically to Steemit using a plugin called SteemPress. I'm working on an exclusive series, though, that will only be available on Steemit. Hope to launch that in October sometime. Stay tuned for details on that coming soon!
ATTENTION WRITERS and CONTENT CREATORS:
I jumped onboard and you can, too! Go to Steemit and create an account. You'll have to wait through a vetting process--about a week--before you'll receive notification that you are an accepted Steemit author with your super-valuable password that you must guard with utmost care.
Once you are in Steemit, you can create your blog feed page and post. Be aware, there are not as many design and formatting choices as in WordPress, unless you are good with coding. But posting is easy and there are simple shortcuts to making headlines, boldface, and italics. Images copy and paste easily. Watch the terrific tutorials on YouTube and read through the comprehensive answers to frequently asked questions.
I'll be working on a Steemit Tips post once I work out a few more kinks in my own understanding.
Yeah--I probably didn't need another platform to fuss with. But there are many new and competitive online products and software rising up lately, much like steam from my teacup when I first pour it out. This Steem is similar. Facebook and Twitter were once brand new, too. And now there's a lot of concern and controversy regarding how they make content available these days. It's no wonder innovation is at work.
Steemit may be just the steeming hot cuppa tea poured fresh for this new season that is worth the sip.
