Congratulations, New Medium Member!

If you've recently transitioned to being a Medium paying member, have you remembered to do something important?

Joining Medium

I joined Medium as a free member in 2018 because I'd come across a nifty story or article from time to time in my Google searches. That was great, but I frequently used my three free stories and hit the paywall. After hitting this wall several months in a row, I joined as a paying member. I could read all the stories I wanted, with no caps.

In the fall of 2019, I joined the Medium Partner Program to see if I could make money from my writing. I needed just enough to cover my membership fee.

I felt accepted as a writer.

That was a neat feeling to get acceptance as a writer. But I forgot to do something that may have impeded my growth as a writer and presence on the platform. I forgot to let writers I follow know I was a new paying, full member.

The algorithm changed.

The primary factors of writer compensation are based on reading time and reader membership status. If a paying member reads a story, the article's writer receives x money. If a free member reads the same story, the article's writer receives zero money.

That's great!

Now that you are a Medium paying member, a part of your monthly membership fee goes to the writers you read. You are now a member of the family that supports each other.

The option to subscribe

There's another improvement to the Medium platform that occurred recently. That improvement is the ability for readers to subscribe to authors and receive copies of stories directly into their email inbox. If you were a free member when I first followed you, I followed, but I didn't subscribe. Now that you are a paying member, if you haven't told me your status changed, there is a strong probability I'm not reading your stories. You are losing my reading time because I don't know you've transitioned to paying member.

We need to take care of each other.

If you are a paying member, I want to support you, and I want you to help me.

So, what am I asking you to do?

If I am one of your followers, you are a paying member, and I haven't read, clapped, highlighted, or commented on your stories recently, please respond to this story so that I can subscribe to receive your stories in my email inbox.

If I'm not one of your followers but you'd like me to follow, let me know in the responses. I respond best to pleasant invitations to read your work.

Are you skeptical? I would be if I were you.

You may wonder how I can manage to read so many stories? Look at my links at the bottom. "8 Ways To Boost Your Writing Presence" and "Wait! Don't Unsubscribe" will explain my system of building a writing presence and how to manage the flood of stories I receive.

I wish you the best in your writing endeavors. In the words of Zig Ziglar, "See you at the top!"

Copyright 2022 Harold Zeitung All Rights Reserved

Disclosure: This story has been edited by Grammarly.com

If you haven't joined Medium as a full member yet, please consider doing so. A portion of your membership fee supports the Medium authors you read at no additional cost and gives you full access to every story. You can use this [link].

Click this [link] if you would like to receive my stories by email.

Editors, don't hesitate to contact me if you feel my writing style would be a good fit for your publication.