And Just Like That…Medium Earnings Rebound For Writers

October earnings are already showing an uptick

The trend of meta Medium articles showing concern about Medium’s algorithm and stability as a platform continues to crowd my feed.

However, it’s the beginning of a new month which means that payout articles are also starting to roll in. And, based on what has been reported so far, Medium is on the rebound.

Although my algorithm still indicates issues with my reader feed, something notable is happening with earnings.

My Data Point

My data point is small but unique because I write fewer articles and have fewer followers, reads, and views overall compared to the top writers. I can easily attribute certain data points directly back to articles since I don’t have as many.

Here are my payouts for the past 3 months:

This is super interesting to me because I entered a 30-day writing challenge in mid-August and completed it in mid-September. That doubled the number of Medium stories to my name. Yet, the higher number of stories created a downturn in earnings in September.

I was flabbergasted when I made less in September than in August. One of the first rules of Medium (as the top writers explain) is to write quantity over quality, although a balance of both is your best strategy. I was disappointed that this did not benefit me as expected. I then reset and scaled back my writing due to a lull in passion and other competing priorities.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I reviewed my October earnings. Somehow I earned more in October but wrote significantly less. In addition, in September my number of views and fans was higher and reads were about the same as in October, yet I earned less.

• Number of articles written in October 2021: 6
• Number of articles written in September 2021: 23
• Number of articles written in August 2021: 14

The Medium earning algorithm runs deep and has many layers.

Other Data Points

After the happy surprise of my October earnings, I then started to scour Medium, YouTube, and other channels for payout reveal information. I came across 2 other data points. One is from a prolific top writer who makes thousands of dollars per month in Medium earnings. Her earnings increased by ~50% from September and now look more like her older, consistent earnings.

Another Medium writer doubled her earnings from September to October and mentioned that September was a dip. She normally makes hundreds of dollars per month on Medium.

What Does This Mean?

I mean, how do we truly know what this means? The Medium algorithms are a tightly guarded secret. My stories might have been better in October. Maybe I wrote better headlines? (doubtful) Maybe my complaints about the algorithm were a hot topic? It’s hard to say.

However, I have to think that the September slump for writers was really just that. Medium most likely changed its algorithm and had to wait out the issues related to the change. October is a trend back to normal.

I think it’s a positive sign that writers from multiple ranges of payouts are indicating an uptick in earnings. I expect not every writer saw an uptick, but I hope most have. After the poor response to the Medium Writer’s Challenge and the September slump, we need some good news.

Now if Medium would just fix their reader algorithm…

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