The Medium Quick Reference Guide®
Chapter 1: What Is Medium
Find out why people are publishing 47,000 new stories daily.

What Is Medium?
I gathered some facts about Medium.com to give you an idea of the size and scope of the blogging platform and the types of writers that show up daily if you’re unfamiliar with the site.
Medium is an American online publishing platform founded by Evan “Ev” Williams. He launched it in 2012, with 179 employees as of June 2022. Tony Stubblebine is the current Chief Executive Officer at the helm. There are 47,000 new stories published daily, with 328,000 by week’s end. You should be able to find a community of writers that love to write about what you love. Medium currently has over 60 million monthly active users.
The types of stories published on Medium are vast, from Life, Startup, Blockchain, Poetry, Politics, Health, History, Love, Horror, Travel, Technology, you name it.
Much of Medium’s content is free to peruse; some remain behind a paywall. Medium has 700,000 subscribers paying either $5 per month or $60 per year. You can either create a free account and read up to three stories per month, or you can subscribe.
Medium has a Partner Program where writers like you earn money each month. Medium has paid out over 28 million dollars since its beginning.
Once you join the Partner Program, Medium pays authors monthly based on a reading-time algorithm (which includes scrolling and moving the pointer) plus bonuses for the best stories. The Top 1,000 writers receive $500, the Top 1,001–1,500 receive $100, and the Top 1,501–2,000 receive $50.
Medium’s largest payout was in 2020 when a writer earned over $49,000 for the year. The amount you can earn depends on the effort you’re willing to expend.
Thanks to BloggingGuide.com and others for compiling these stats.
Let’s talk about why you might want to use Medium, whether to read or to write.
Why Use Medium?
The reasons to venture over to Medium.com are limitless. You may love to write, or you may enjoy reading. You may want to collaborate or converse with writers in your genre.
Here are reasons why readers/writers come:
- Medium is an excellent place for new writers to come and discover their tone and voice.
- Writers are always looking for ways to polish their craft, and Medium is the perfect platform.
- Sharing your inner thoughts can be scary; some writers come to Medium for emotional reinforcement.
- Some come to the platform to get into the habit of writing daily.
- Medium can be a great place to find inspiration.
- Others come to earn an income freelancing or signing with a publisher, or some come to earn mad money.
- Publishers and marketing agencies are always looking to hire the best copy or content writers.
- Some writers come to engage with like-minded wordsmiths and chat about their craft.
- Some writers come to gain a new audience.
- A vast group of closet poets also inhabit the platform.
- Some people join because they want to write what they want when they want.
- Some writers join Medium to syndicate their blogs.
- Other writers come to boost their SEO position.
- Experienced writers use the platform as a testbed for their new manuscript idea. Floating a new manuscript brought me to Medium.
Whatever the reason for stopping by, you won’t be disappointed. Sharpen your craft, enjoy writing, converse with writing colleagues, build lasting relationships, get published, and earn money.
The book chapters are hyperlinked for easy access. Click on the title that interests you most.
Table of Contents, Foreword, Introduction, 1: What is Medium, 2: Navigating Your Homepage, 3: Getting to Know Your Homepage, 4: Exploring the Profile Picture Drop-down, 5: Searching for Stories from Your Homepage, 6: Navigating Your Story Homepage, 7: Writing/Editing Great Stories, 8: Jazzing Your Stories with Images & Embeds (Sf), 9: Publishing Great Stories (Sf), 10: Managing Your Stories (Sf), 11: Tunning Your Account Settings & Preferences (Sf), 12: Getting More Email Subscribers (Sf), 13: Using the Help Center to Get Answers (Sf), 14: Gaining Your First 100 Followers (Sf), 15: Building a Following with Publications (Sf), 16: Earning Money at Medium (Sf), 17: Continuing to Gain Followers (Sf), 18: Boosting Your Brand with a Newsletter (Sf), Appendix A: Locate Commands Fast, Appendix B: Top70 Most Popular Topics, Appendix C: Top 50 Medium Publications, Appendix D: Keyboard Shortcuts, Glossary.
You might check my recent interview conducted by Dr Mehmet Yildiz, chief editor of Illumination Integrated Publications, on Medium, introducing me and my book to the writing and reading community.