Two Decades Typing the Write Stuff
How I went from niche celebrity to community builder
I’ve been so busy editing our beloved authors’ stories on Alchemy Publications and living up to my new motto “serve the servants” that I forgot to celebrate a major milestone last month.
In hindsight, I’ve come a long way in the writing business.
From my days in the blogosphere to my incursions in the Mediumverse and now here on the Substack outer rim, I’ve been doing the write stuff.
Looking back, I’m amazed to see how much I’ve grown as a writer, editor, and publisher.
I’m a better person now than I was yesterday.
Helping others has made me grow where it really matters.
Focusing on building communities explains why I ignore personal achievements and milestones.
Today, I’m more than a writer as I see myself as a community builder.
The journey of a thousand steps begins
From 2010 to 2018, I ran my own writing platform and worked with hundreds of writers, photographers, content marketers, web developers, and creative souls from all corners of the blogosphere.
However, the tides of the Internet were changing, and the Age of the Indie Webzine was coming to an end.
It was the dawn of the new era of large publishing platforms, and running an independent, non-profit became unsustainable and we closed shop in 2018.
This was the beginning of a two-year crossing of the desert.
Out of a sudden, I went from being an online celebrity in my niche to becoming a ghost.
My online presence was in the swamp.
Rebuilding a dream
Then on March 2, 2020, COVID arrived in my country, and everything changed.
I was back in the classroom, teaching, and building a new career as a life and business coach.
Out of a sudden, all my projects went up in smoke.
It took me several months to realign my mindset and pivot.
Winter was gone, and spring gave place to summer, and as September ended and the first days of fall came tapping on the windows with the first drop of rain.
I was scrolling through some ancient emails, and one made me click.
It had the word “Medium.”
Going viral was just the beginning
You can read the rest of this story here. So far, there are 1245 chapters in a never-ending quest for meaning.
This brings me back to the beginning.
On September 24, 2020, I wrote my first story, and it went viral. Thousands and thousands of people have read it worldwide.
When I go back to it, I can barely recognize the author.
The person I was back then had lost faith in the power of community.
I was lost and navel-gazing for a while.
Having your first story go viral can have detrimental effects on your growth.
So, if this happens to you, don’t let yourself be engulfed by vanity.
Don’t chase followers. Build meaningful connections.
Don’t look at your stats. Help others improve theirs.
Don’t burn your bridges. Build new ones.
Don’t chase the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Be the light.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Become an adamant link in the chain.
Serve the servants!
Three months later, on December 10, 2020, I took the first step in a new journey of a thousand miles and launched my first Medium publication.
My indie webzine was revamped on one of those global platforms that once contributed to its demise, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Build bridges, not followers
Four years have come and gone. My webzine is now part of a collective of six publications under the Alchemy umbrella.
I’m no longer working with hundreds of Portuguese-speaking writers, I’m building communities with thousands of writers from all corners of the world, and I’m loving it.
This is not a story to celebrate my Mediumversary or brag about my achievements.
Yesterday, 95 readers generously offered me their time. I’m deeply grateful to every one of them.
I’m back to square one. I’m probably at my lowest point in several years, but you know what?
I couldn’t be happier!
This means I’m not spending time navel-gazing. I’m giving back to the community.
Nowadays, I spend my time helping others grow.
I want to help you grow as well, and the only way to do it is to work together, so I’d like to invite you to join our writer’s guild and start sharing your stories with Alchemy Publications.
With us, your stories come first!
How to join the Alchemy Publications collective:
Engage: Amplifying you and your personal stories
Beloved: Exploring everything relational
Rock n’Heavy: The ultimate music hub
Zenite: your go-to publication for diverse stories
HumanAI: Tech stories by humans for humans
Babel: Stories about all sorts of languages
I Invite You to Join Alchemy Publications
A diverse collective of publications fueled by creative alchemy