Does the Paywall Make Medium a Bad Platform for Writers

Not for this writer, but you do you

How do I love thee, Medium? Let me count the ways. First up, instant feedback.

So, I posted my first article in a week. In case you missed it, I described the damage endured by my dashboard after I took a short break for a visit with my family.

If you’re new to the platform and you disappear for a while, people will forget you. No earthshaking newsflash there. But, after several months of publishing here, I got my first antagonistic comment from a reader about that article. It wasn’t a criticism of me personally, but a reaction to my admission that I am here for the money. The writer made the point that Medium was a better platform for writers before they started scrambling for pennies for their work.

This writer took issue with the fact that I (and others) must worry about keeping up with Medium stats while on vacation. And for the money we make, he considered it a waste of my time.

I’ve learned that beauty and time-wasting are in the eye of the beholder. I’ve been writing for almost half a century. I’ve worked very hard at my craft, and I’m among the lucky writers who can list publishing credits and glowing reviews of my books.

I’m also typical of writers who are underwater in terms of financial rewards for time spent on my craft. As any career counselor worth his or her website will tell you, generally speaking, creative work is not the path to a well-padded retirement account.

So when I hear that Medium is bad for writers, I have to wonder about the alternative. In my checkered career, I’ve tried them all. I haven’t done an exhaustive, scientific study on the number of writers who earn nothing for their efforts vs. the writers who earn their keep plying their trade each year. I suspect the scale tips heavily toward writers starving in their local coffee shops, probably working there as the barista rather than a customer. Likely they can’t afford to while away their days ordering fancy coffees while they wait for their muse to find them at the table in the corner.

I dare anyone to tell me writing, especially fiction, is as viable a way of supporting a family as say, computer science, auto repair, or nursing.

I earned my keep during my working life as a secretary, and that isn’t even a job description in most companies anymore. Writing? I couldn’t have picked a more dispiriting career in terms of money. But that’s just it. I didn’t pick it. Most writers don’t. It picks us. We find life goes better with a little self-expression every day. It’s just the way we’re built. Actually, Lady Gaga said it better. We’re born this way.

I spoke to a friend at a dinner party recently, and she asked me if I was still writing my books. I’m not sure if the look on her face was admiration or pity. She has her own very successful business in the real estate space. My friend admitted she could barely write a grocery list, and wondered how I do it. I chose to take that as a compliment. Because, why not? I don’t get paid well in any other currency.

Which brings me back to Medium as a money-making proposition. I’d say the ratio of writers making a decent living on Medium mirrors the rest of the publishing world. A few sit at the top of the hill earning decent money each month. Others have found a way to quit their day jobs. An unknown number count their earnings as a second, third, or fourth income stream. Sadly, most earn nothing.

To get recognition here, writers have to play the marketing game. Reaching out to other writers by reading their work, commenting, following, clapping in the hope they will reciprocate is the Medium way. If you’re smart about the way you pick your writers and spend your time, you will make friends and enjoy some wonderful hours reading great articles that enrich your life and career. If you’re in this for the money, as I am, you hope this also will pay off at the end of the month in your earnings report.

If I didn’t write on Medium, I would depend on selling my 30-something books on Kindle. My books get good reviews, but I’m not the marketer my late brother was, and Kindle/Amazon has changed its game from the early days. In 2014 when I started, I could earn a living just by launching a new book. Now it almost takes a degree in digital ad genius just to break even.

When I started writing fifty years ago, I was a wide-eyed idealist who put writers and writing on a pedestal. It took me years, after my first book was published, to understand that writing was an art and publishing was a business. Back in 1976, when my first book hit the bookstores, getting published meant that you just had to write the damn thing.

Your publisher took care of marketing and sales. They got the book listed as the featured book of the month in the mail order book club that was popular back then. Arranged for TV and radio interviews. Set up reviews in magazines and newspapers.

Times have changed. Writers have to do everything themselves today, with or without a publishing contract. You might try selling your articles to a name publisher who pays good money for timely pieces. But here’s the thing. A writing teacher of mine once worked as an editor at a prestigious magazine and then at a major publishing house.

He told us that no editor would risk his or her career by publishing an unknown writer who might not take off. They had to worry about their own careers, and publishing a failed writer would be a stain on their resume.

So, yeah, if you don’t like the Medium platform as a place to showcase your work for money, try the cutthroat world of magazine publishing. Or start a blog and spend your day trying to monetize it and get readers.

For me, the business of getting eyes on my Medium articles through reaching out and engagement is par for the course. And the money? Why shouldn’t I get paid for what I write? I’ve been at this for more than half my life. I’ve given my life to learning how to write a decent sentence, a descriptive paragraph. So have most of the other writers vying for your attention.

So that’s the money side of Medium. What about the quality? Has it gone downhill since Medium started paying writers?

I could go back in time and read articles posted before the paywall and do a comparison. But it’s not necessary for me to respond to that question. If introducing money to the Medium platform has degraded the quality of writing, then I have some tough love for the writers.

If you are a writer who does better, as my commenter suggested, by writing unfettered by the need to earn money, you need to separate your writing from your need to support yourself. This shrieks of performance issues, which is not a Medium problem.

Now that I’ve offended a good portion of Medium writers, let me say that I fully understand fear of writing; fear of publishing; fear of failure; fear of success. I am at one with every kind of fear the human psyche has invented. My amygdala has funded many a therapist’s second home.

So yes, I understand that writing under ideal conditions is, well, ideal. And if going after claps and fans and followers puts too much pressure on you, then you have to do something about that. And newsflash, the answer isn’t taking money away from the rest of us who are earning money here.

I’m not sure I would have become a writer if my first co-author hadn’t suggested we write a book together. Even after I was published, it took me a long time to summon up the courage to call myself a writer. So I’m not shaming people who struggle with claiming their writer identity.

But shutting down Medium’s paywall as a way of freeing up a writer’s creative spirit is not the way to do it. No one has to write for money or claps on Medium. People can write anything they want. They can write experimental poetry and fiction. They can write to learn their craft, develop confidence, find a tribe. All of that works on Medium. If you are a new or fragile writer (and haven’t we all been one), keep your pieces in draft until you feel strong enough to hit publish.

The beauty of Medium, from my perspective, is that you can do Medium your way. Medium doesn’t work for everyone. I wish the powers that be had come to me and said we love you so much we’ll give you a big box of money and you publish whenever you want instead of having to do it daily, even when your arthritis is kicking up, and you want to stay in bed. But so far they haven’t, and I’m not holding my breath. Maybe you have your own complaints. Please list them in the comments. I’ll read them

But I don’t know any other place where an aging, stumbling, forgetful old writer of middling talent can come and make new friends, have people read and applaud her work, make a bit of money, and feel valued when old people are routinely ignored.

That in itself should give a boost to young writers starting out with a lot of years to learn their craft, make peace with the gremlins and real people who would like nothing more than see them fail, and then go on to mark their own spot in the writing world. Perhaps first here on Medium, and then on to conquer whatever they want.

At the end of the day, we each have to decide whether the amount of time we spend writing and marketing on Medium is worth it. Medium is not a one-size-fits all. Very few things in life are.

Here are some more articles of mine about my experience on Medium.

I’m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status in Writing, Psychology, Advice, Food and Cooking and an editor for the publication, Rogues Gallery. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit fiction and nonfiction for private clients. If you’d to hire me as your editor, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my stories and tips for success on Medium, click here sign up for my newsletter. I’ll make sure you don’t miss a word. Thank you for reading.