Showing posts with label Simily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simily. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

I've Had Enough Fun With Simily


Just a reminder: It’s okay to leave comments!

I think it's time to end my experiment with Simily


via GIPHY


I received this email from Simily this morning (June 14, 2023):

Wednesday June 13, 2023

Important Changes to the Simily Platform

To Our Fellow Similians,

Simily’s mission has always been to build a place where creative writers and readers can thrive online. As the platform has grown, we noticed a shift in the quality of content and engagement on the site which took us further away from this mission. Over the past few months, our small team has spent countless hours and resources defending the site from bad actors focused on driving spam and bot traffic. (If you’ve been with us for a while, you understand the bumps in the road and we can’t thank you enough for sticking with us!) 

It’s time we bring our focus back to creating a social platform that allows creators to share high-quality writing with an engaged audience.  

We’ve spoken to hundreds of you and based on your feedback, we are excited to announce a series of changes to the Simily platform. Each decision was made in an effort to make Simily a home for creative writing and foster an engaging community of readers and writers. These changes were designed to set our Similians up for long-term success and we can’t wait to continue this journey with you all! 

So, what’s different?

Social settings are changing. In an effort to support meaningful interactions on Simily, the ability to direct message other writers, create groups, and post in groups on Simily will now only be available to paid users.

There is an application process to become a Simily Writer. As of now, members will need to apply to become a writer on Simily. We will no longer allow anyone to publish whatever content they want. By curating the content on Simily, we hope to create a better, higher-quality experience for our writers and build a library of incredible stories for our readers.

I have stories on Simily, what happens now? If you posted on Simily before this change took effect, all of your stories will be reverted to drafts. We encourage you to apply to be a Simily Writer through our application process! If your application is not accepted (or you decline to apply) you have until August 1, 2023 to download your drafts from the site before they are deleted permanently. If you are approved as a Simily Writer, your content will be published live on the platform. All new writers will be required to apply for the ability to post content on our site.

Can I apply to be a Simily Writer? Absolutely! Submit your application through our application process!

What about my earnings? When an author is approved as a Simily Writer, all earnings from previous stories will be maintained. If you have a current balance above the minimum earnings threshold, you can request a payout by emailing hello@simily.co.

The following countries are eligible to be paid out through Simily: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

For additional information, please view our Community Guidelines and FAQs.

We know these are big changes for Simily! If you have any questions or would like to share feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to hello@simily.co. 

Thank you!

Allegra, Katie, and Shannon Signature

Simily Co-Founders



When I checked my Simily page this morning, I found that six of my stories had reverted to draft. Everything I have there has been posted before the changes took place. They said all would be reverted, but it seems they couldn't get that right, either. Did they forget? Are they not done? Who knows? And the posts that went back to draft were all my most recent posts. What they said and what they did don't match.

UPDATE June 14, 2023: All of my posts have been reverted to draft. END OF UPDATE

They also said we'd keep our earnings. That didn't quite work out either. I know others have complained about losing earnings previously. 

And if you've followed my posts in other places, you'll know I wasn't happy about the repeated outages lasting for days with little (or no) information as to what was going on.

These statements worry me: "We will no longer allow anyone to publish whatever content they want. By curating the content on Simily, we hope to create a better, higher-quality experience for our writers and build a library of incredible stories for our readers." It doesn't say who will be "curating" or if there could be a discussion about it if a post is denied. It's just another form of censorship. I seldom (ever?) post anything controversial, but it doesn't sit well.

They do give an address for Simily in their e-mail. It's 4387 W Swamp Rd # 4718902 Doylestown, PA 18902-1039. 4387 W Swamp Rd Doylestown, PA 18902 is a Parcel Place, so they are using that as a mail drop. This brings up the possibility it is being run out of someone's basement/home office. Not necessarily bad thing, but not confidence inspiring—especially considering the other problems I've mentioned.

I really don't think the Simily folks are malicious. I think they're incompetent. Or perhaps less competent than they need to be. Just an opinion. Anyway, I'll be leaving Simily. Might take a few days to copy stuff and all, but it's time...



© 2023 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Monday, May 1, 2023

Grand Finale: National Poetry Month


Just a reminder: It’s okay to leave comments!

National Poetry Month has come and gone, but my poems, for better or worse, are here to stay—on Simily. Well, until I get enough to shove into a book and publish. Then I'll pull out those worth the effort (probably only about a quarter of them are worth a second editing) and add them to the others that are waiting to be placed into print. They're all first-draft quality for now, but that's what you get when you do one per day for a month. 

Image of a old-fashioned quill pen and ink bottle.

I'll get back to finish this someday...

If you wish to read the poems I've done, an updated list follows. You do need a membership to Simily to read them, but a basic membership is free. All of these links will redirect you to the Simily sign-up/sign-in page unless you're already logged into Simily.



Goodbye On A Rainy Day April 29, 2023

Rainy Daze April 28, 2023

Night Of The Full Moon April 27, 2023

Level Playing Field April 26, 2023

Forgotten Places April 25, 2023

A Yarn About A Cat April 24, 2023

Spinning Wheels April 23, 2023

Bad Delivery April 22, 2023


Butterfly Dinners April 20, 2023

Summer Fashionista April 19, 2023

Words In A Bottle April 18, 2023

Morning Fog April 17, 2023

Sweet Mystery Of Likes April 16, 2023

A Mid-April Night's Dream     April 15, 2023

There Is No Poem Today    April 14, 2023


It Is Almost Summer    April 12, 2023


What A Tree Is Not     April 10, 2023

Cat-O’-Nine Tales     April 9, 2023

There’s No Business Like Snow Business     April 8, 2023

Swamped     April 7, 2023

City Rain     April 6, 2023

Cherry Blossom Time     April 5, 2023

Morning Haiku     April 4, 2023

Wistful Thinking     April 4, 2023

The Moon Gate     April 2, 2023

2023 National Poetry Month Kickoff!     April 1, 2023


That's all for my 2023 National Poetry Month efforts! I know some of you are saying it's too much. You do, however, have eleven months to recover from my pun-infested titles and a few of my sillier efforts until I do this all over again next year!



© 2023 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Saturday, April 15, 2023

An Update To Neither Rhyme Nor Reason


Just a reminder: It’s okay to leave comments!

I had written a post here 5 days ago about my efforts on Simily to write a poem each day for National Poetry Month. It was an experiment to determine if Simily was worth the effort and to put out consistent content for potential readers. Sadly, I hadn't had much in the way of readers—until 2 days ago. That's when people started reading one particular post.




It was the April 8th post titled There's No Business Like Snow Business. I have no idea why, but it must have been highlighted by Simily or some member of Simily. In the last 3 days, it has received 111 views. There's nothing special about it. I mean, it's just a haiku. It's nice enough, but probably the last one I'd pick of my posts as a shining example of poetry.

I've had a few other posts viewed, too, but nothing like that one. I'm not sure what to make of it.

Anyway...

If you wish to read the poems I've done, an updated list follows. You do have to have a membership to Simily to read them, but a basic membership is free. All of these links will take you to the sign-up page unless you're already logged into Simily.

A Mid-April Night's Dream     April 15, 2023

There Is No Poem Today    April 14, 2023


It Is Almost Summer    April 12, 2023


What A Tree Is Not     April 10, 2023

Cat-O’-Nine Tales     April 9, 2023

There’s No Business Like Snow Business     April 8, 2023

Swamped     April 7, 2023

City Rain     April 6, 2023

Cherry Blossom Time     April 5, 2023

Morning Haiku     April 4, 2023

Wistful Thinking     April 4, 2023

The Moon Gate     April 2, 2023

2023 National Poetry Month Kickoff!     April 1, 2023


And so, the great experiment continues to continue!  


© 2023 K. R. Smith All rights reserved