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Abstract

 <div><h3>The game is simple, people sit in a circle, someone spins a bottle.</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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    </div><p id="7ca1"><b>4-How do you measure success on Medium?</b></p><p id="7da1">If you are here chasing coins, you measure your success by your monthly earnings report. That is not me. I wrote for free for over a decade on Blogger, so coins are not my motivation. I measure my success here by the number of incredibly supportive and encouraging friendships I have developed in the past year. That to me is priceless. You cannot buy that.</p><p id="58ca"><b>5-How do you choose your publisher(s)? Any secret recipes?</b></p><p id="4979">I tend to gravitate to smaller publications where I can get to know the editors and develop a relationship with them. I choose where to publish based on the theme of the story.</p><p id="e3a4"><b>The Memoirist</b> is great for personal stories from the past. <b>Writers Blokke</b> is good for a broad range of subjects. <b>Plethora of Pop</b> welcomes stories about music. And of course, our own pub: <b>Full Frame</b>, is where my photography stories go.</p><p id="eb79"><b>6-What is your strategy: a big publisher leads to more visibility, or a small publisher leads to more focus and real interaction?</b></p><p id="9fd9">I see no difference in terms of engagement between big or small pubs, or even self-publishing — once you have developed a healthy number of followers it makes no difference. Last week one of my stories — published on Illumination — which is a huge pub, had the same number of reads as a self-published story. They were both four minutes long and had a similar feel. Go figure.</p><p id="1592"><b>7-If you could give one single piece of advice to a newcomer to Medium, what would it be</b>?</p><p id="955c">Show your genuine self. Full stop. Readers can smell a phony, greedy, needy ca

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ricature of a person a mile away.8-What is the most pleasant experience you have had on Medium?There have been comments on my stories that have brought me to tears. Being at the receiving end of a genuine, sincere compliment about a story is such a privilege. That is indeed the most pleasant experience(s) I’ve had on Medium. I am deeply grateful for those touching gestures.9-What is the least pleasant experience you have had on Medium?A thoughtless skimmer left a nasty comment on one of my stories. It was baseless, ugly, and unwarranted. She obviously had not read the whole story and was just there to pick a fight. That was an unpleasant experience.10-In one word, how do you describe the experience with Medium and why?Fertile. I think Medium offers the right environment to grow and develop as a writer. Let’s not forget that it comes with a built-in audience. My experience here has surpassed all my expectations. I feel that I have grown as a writer and gained perspective from reading amazing stories.11-You write on Medium because writing provides you with something special. Could you share the fruits of your experience so far?Where to begin?.. I write to leave footprints of who I am for my descendants to find when I’m no longer here. I’m as old as dirt, so I don’t want my crappy stories to be left untold. Sometime in the future, should one of my grandchildren find these stories in cyberspace it would delight me. That, to me, feels special and worth all the effort.I am pretty sure that most of us who write on Medium share many of the same feelings about why we are here. Yes, there are those who are here just chasing coins, I get that too, but from what I read, I believe what we want most is for our stories to be read, to be shared, and to survive.<figure id="f761"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*r7PbpXPY87x70Mc3hExF9Q.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></article></body>

PROMPT RESPONSE

Deep Dive Into The Medium Sphere

Let’s be honest…

Responding to a prompt initiated by Subhi Najar about our experience on Medium. I read a couple of responses from other writers and I was inspired to share my trek through this creative landscape.

So, please come along for the ride.

1-How did you hear about Medium? If there is an interesting story behind it, please share it.

Sorry, it is not the most interesting story. It is rather common. It was a total fluke. I was looking for an alternative to Blogger where I had published my writing for eleven years. That blogging platform was dying, so I searched for an alternative. Google helped… I considered Substack, but ultimately I ended up here.

2-How long have you been writing on Medium?

I joined the platform in January 2022. I joined the Medium Partner Program a month later. I was one of the writers who started Full Frame — a publication about the Art of Photography in January of 2023.

3- If you have to choose one of the articles you wrote on Medium, which one will it be and why? ( Please don’t forget to share the link.)

I am very connected to a story that blends my birthplace, nostalgia, unique experiences, and young love. I wrote it shortly after I started on Medium, so it didn’t get a lot of traction. I had not developed a following yet. Also, the story is eleven minutes long, which can be a deterrent for some, but I think it’s a sweet story worth the time investment. Curious? Have a peek:

Have You Ever Played Spin the Bottle?

The game is simple, people sit in a circle, someone spins a bottle.

medium.com

4-How do you measure success on Medium?

If you are here chasing coins, you measure your success by your monthly earnings report. That is not me. I wrote for free for over a decade on Blogger, so coins are not my motivation. I measure my success here by the number of incredibly supportive and encouraging friendships I have developed in the past year. That to me is priceless. You cannot buy that.

5-How do you choose your publisher(s)? Any secret recipes?

I tend to gravitate to smaller publications where I can get to know the editors and develop a relationship with them. I choose where to publish based on the theme of the story.

The Memoirist is great for personal stories from the past. Writers Blokke is good for a broad range of subjects. Plethora of Pop welcomes stories about music. And of course, our own pub: Full Frame, is where my photography stories go.

6-What is your strategy: a big publisher leads to more visibility, or a small publisher leads to more focus and real interaction?

I see no difference in terms of engagement between big or small pubs, or even self-publishing — once you have developed a healthy number of followers it makes no difference. Last week one of my stories — published on Illumination — which is a huge pub, had the same number of reads as a self-published story. They were both four minutes long and had a similar feel. Go figure.

7-If you could give one single piece of advice to a newcomer to Medium, what would it be?

Show your genuine self. Full stop. Readers can smell a phony, greedy, needy caricature of a person a mile away.

8-What is the most pleasant experience you have had on Medium?

There have been comments on my stories that have brought me to tears. Being at the receiving end of a genuine, sincere compliment about a story is such a privilege. That is indeed the most pleasant experience(s) I’ve had on Medium. I am deeply grateful for those touching gestures.

9-What is the least pleasant experience you have had on Medium?

A thoughtless skimmer left a nasty comment on one of my stories. It was baseless, ugly, and unwarranted. She obviously had not read the whole story and was just there to pick a fight. That was an unpleasant experience.

10-In one word, how do you describe the experience with Medium and why?

Fertile. I think Medium offers the right environment to grow and develop as a writer. Let’s not forget that it comes with a built-in audience. My experience here has surpassed all my expectations. I feel that I have grown as a writer and gained perspective from reading amazing stories.

11-You write on Medium because writing provides you with something special. Could you share the fruits of your experience so far?

Where to begin?.. I write to leave footprints of who I am for my descendants to find when I’m no longer here. I’m as old as dirt, so I don’t want my crappy stories to be left untold. Sometime in the future, should one of my grandchildren find these stories in cyberspace it would delight me. That, to me, feels special and worth all the effort.

I am pretty sure that most of us who write on Medium share many of the same feelings about why we are here. Yes, there are those who are here just chasing coins, I get that too, but from what I read, I believe what we want most is for our stories to be read, to be shared, and to survive.