Platform Paranoia - Why I'm Hosting My Own Instead

Platform Paranoia: Why I'm Hosting My Serialized Stories On My Own Indie Author Website

Boy, howdy, has putting this website together been a lot of work. It's been months of learning, brainstorming, trial and error -- and duck tape. Yeah, it might be a little out there, but it's mine. And I'm so proud I could cry.

I have cried. Several times.

But I digress.

I wanted to vent a little bit about where the decision to put myself through all this came from.

I'm calling it Platform Paranoia.

Did you know that Medium.com removed their three free reads per month for non-paying members? 😢

So, if you were hoping to use that feature to drive interest before introducing a subscription (like I was), that plan's gonna need a little revision.

Screenshot from a post by Toni Crowe on Medium.com

(I had to screenshot this post about it because it's a members-only post and I wanted to make sure everyone could see the reference 😅)

And sure, there's the friend link which allows you to share the work, but at what point do you stop making chapters free? You'd then need to micromanage how the link was used and how long it stayed in circulation -- I was going to use Medium to make my life easier, not harder.

There's also this cool "publications" feature. Kind of like an online magazine that you could run, which I would have used as my base of operations, much like this site is now. 🥂

Did you know that Kindle Vella will be shut down come February of 2025? 🤬

It's news like this that makes me cling to my decision to publish my stories here on my author website, despite the learning curve.

Now, I didn't actually end up posting anything significant on Kindle Vella, but the platform paranoia remains.

It's awful news for all the writers who poured all of that time and energy into uploading chapter by chapter, the marketing surrounding it, and building an audience that they might now have to scramble to keep hold of!

It pains me to keep seeing platforms that writers rely on for both exposure and possibly income, disappear or change policies to negatively impact them - sometimes overnight.

I've thought about places like Radish and even just going back to sites like Wattpad or Tapas, but all of this has really left me ... well, paranoid. But more than that, it's left me thinking -- if I could do it there, then why not here, for myself?

With sites like Wix, Weebly, Wordpress, and other no-code sites, it's possible now to make a platform for your own work, so that's what I'm trying to do.

We all remember the Patreon scare, right?

Let's not forget them!😩

Well, there might be more. This time, Apple's involved and they want more money.

I'm not even going to get into social media -- I simply don't have the energy to go through the algorithms.

I'm frustrated.

I'm tired.

Tired of giving my all to other platforms when I could be doing it to my own.

I've known I've needed an author website for a while now, and this honestly turned into the push I needed to bring mine to life in a way I felt fit the stories I'm going to tell - as well as the community I want to nurture.

And I'm not trying to slight anyone who has made their chosen platform(s) work for them, or is able to keep up with the platform pivots - I still can, to some extent. There's nothing wrong with hosting your work on a platform that does everything you want it to do. They just didn't do that for me, and I've come to terms with that.

So, this is my solution to getting back to that "just-a-girl-writing-on-the-internet" feeling, writing the stories I love to write at/in a pace and environment where I feel secure to do so.

And hey, maybe I'll make a living out of it somehow!

I know it's going to take a lot of work and patience without the traction and in-house browsing that is so valuable with those platforms, but I'm in this for the long haul, and I've made my space very comfortable. 😏

Alright, that's my little rant. Thanks for listening.

Hopefully, this news is at least able to reach others that needed to hear it who are working on those platforms.

Now I've got a home for my work to live in, and I would love to invite you all to take a peek inside and enjoy your stay.

P.S. - If you're an indie author or online writer and you'd like me to help you build a home for your work, or want to follow the journey, please get in touch. 💖