Do You Want to Crack Medium’s $100 Club?
Writer-friendly news you can use
Bunches of you are making tons of money writing and posting on Medium. I hear from some of you occasionally. Your advice pops up in my “daily read.”
This story isn’t about your group. Nor is it for your group. You don’t need me.
This story is about the group trying to claw their way upwards and become 8%-ers. That is, the 8% or so of Medium writers earning more than $100 a month.*
As of this writing, I’m two-thirds of the way there. If May 2020 at $2.35, June 2020 at $30.19, and July 2020 at $68.26 are any predictors, then August will be my breakthrough month.
Seems like a good time to take a breather from my climb upwards, gaze over the landscape and reflect. And, share some of those reflections with you.
Full transparency here — I don’t write for money.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’ll take it if you send it to me. But I do write for the three reasons outlined in my story — shamelessly self-promoted below — reader reaction, creative community and joy.
So how did a “pure-as-the-driven-snow,” self-aggrandizing boaster like me arrive at eternal stardom’s edge, the $100/month club?
Enjoy these bits of advice for free.
- Write, just write
- Experiment
- Listen
- Don’t curation quest
Write, just write … then write some more.
A writer friend of mine, one who has published two books and many award-winning articles, has been banging on the side of my head with this message for a long time. “Write, just write” she keeps telling me. Finally I listened. (Thanks SB)
It turns out that “write, just write” is sage advice and the right thing to do.
Now she, my writer friend, writes like it’s part of her religion. I’ve seen her do it, and it’s a little eerie. She disappears into the pages of her handwritten journal and only emerges when the spirit that moved her has departed. Until the next time.
Me, faithless pagan that I am, I daven differently.
During my second cup of early morning coffee I sit at the computer, open up Medium’s “new story” tab and begin to peck away. Sometimes I’ll work on the germ of an idea I’ve previously started, adding paragraphs as ideas fly into and about my head. Sometimes I’ll work on a new piece or two, stopping only when ideas run dry. Occasionally, I’ll just add fragments of half-baked ideas to stories in process.
I let the morning’s writing evolve organically. It goes where it wants to go.
“Essay” derives from Middle French for “trial, attempt, endeavor.”
There are no goals and I arduously resist the temptation to self edit or self censor.
Editing occurs later and under different circumstances. Self censorship rarely occurs and I’ve yet to get spanked for the ideas I’ve translated into words and posted.
Your takeaway — figure out a writing scheme that works for you and adhere to it. Your writing will only improve as a result. Practice makes perfect, trite but true.
Experiment
I’m a doctor and used to write only what I know well, doctor stuff. That was OK, but lately I’ve decided to branch out by exploring the other parts of me through writing.
“You should do stand-up” friends and family have occasionally mentioned to me. Does that mean that in their opinion “I’m a little bit funny” or are they just trying to get me out of the house in the evenings? Hard to tell, but I did decide to explore the funny, sardonic, satiric, sarcastic parts of who I am.
That turned out to be a good thing. Not only do I not have to confront my near-paralyzing stage fright by doing stand-up, my funny writing stuff is working. Curators have recommended my stories in “humor” and “satire.” Readers comment that they’ve LOL’d or even occasionally FOF’d (fallen on floor) as they read my stuff. I dig it. Medium allows, even encourages, experimentation. My mad scientist side enjoys that.
At various times in my life I’ve been: a concerned citizen, a teacher, a traveler, a dancer, a hitchhiker, homeless, a long-haired hippy kid, a laborer, a teen, a son, a husband and a father, and so on and so forth. All those bits and pieces of me inform my writing, either primarily or tangentially.
Your takeaway — ask yourself, what else is in you aside from your primary being? Use that to trigger some experiments in writing. Pull the different pieces of you out, play, experiment, write, and see where it leads.
Listen to editors
Wisdom from an old writing instructor.
Nothing good is ever written, only rewritten.
For me, having my writing messed with is akin to having my child kicked down a flight of stairs. So, I understand that editing, feedback, proposed changes and so forth may be incredibly painful to accept. But life, and writing, is sometimes pain. What’s the saying? What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Or, is it “Life’s a bitch and then you die.”
In my experience, editors have always had my best interests at heart. They may butcher and bloody my work with their red pens, skewer my ideas, submarine my cherished prose and torpedo my best laid plans. But, it’s all for the good, and ultimately I accept it. After all, editors went to editing school, and I didn’t.
Your takeaway — get over yourself and accept input from editors. Debate, kick and scream, moan and wail if you must, but ultimately give in and realize that often the person with the 10,000-foot view who reads hundreds of pages a week with a critical eye and really wants you to do the right thing, is right, almost 100% of the time. Listen.
Listen to fellow writers
There are lots of ways to “listen.” Only some involve hearing.
So, if they, your fellow writers and readers, are not reading your stuff … post different stuff.
This is a tough one, I know. Tough for me and tough for you too. We’ve all heard stories, often famous ones, of geniuses who were unappreciated during their entire creative careers. Picasso, Tesla, Turing, others. But my overlooked-genius list is running pretty dry pretty quick. Reason … geniuses are rare! If you’re one of them, that is truly awesome. Continue on the path you’ve set for yourself and don’t worry, we’ll all appreciate ya later.
However, most of us are good but not great. With effort, attention, motivation, perseverance and other fine qualities, we can succeed and thrive, often to an amazing degree.
So, if your stories are often viewed but rarely read or your fan base is nearly nonexistent, consider changing up the material you are presenting to the world. Maybe the winning ticket is to attract a loyal fan base with some new material, new topics or new slants on your interests, then challenge readers with your unique stories.
Your takeaway — try new stuff, particularly if the old stuff isn’t helping you reach your writing goals.
Don’t curation quest
Curation is a wonderful validation of one’s work, but getting curated shouldn’t be a goal, in my humble opinion. Curation does not ensure that your curated story will garner more views or reads. Many on Medium have noted this.
Your takeaway — write and post the best quality stories you possibly can. Curation and other accolades will take care of themselves.
I’m not holding myself out as an authority on Medium success. Others are far more qualified for this role.
I am though a fellow writer who has a certain experience, going from a complete unknown to a serially-curated writer to a top writer in a couple of categories to someone about to crack into the > $100/month club. I’m not skilled in social media, marketing, self-promotion or even many of Medium’s rules and regs. My modest personal climb has been achieved through the five highlighted helpful hints outlined below and written about above.
- write, write and write some more
- experiment — it’s a good thing
- listen to editors
- listen to your audience
- don’t curation quest, just write and post good stuff
Adopt them, and adapt them to your needs if they resonate with you. All the best!
*According to the most recent Medium publication on stats, a mere 5.8% of active Medium writers earned more than $100 in July.