High Reads, Low Earnings on Medium? This Is the Sad Reason Why!

Did this happen to you?

Medium is on fire after the recent change in algorithm and distribution system. Writers are either loudly leaving, quietly quitting, or trying to grasp what on earth is going on. Is Medium still worth it?

Ever since I joined the platform, but much more often these past few days, I read quite a few articles and comments from writers saying that even when their views and read times were higher, their income was lower.

I’ve also seen the opposite, but to a much smaller extent.

I didn’t understand how that was possible until this very month when something similar happened to me.

Just like everybody else on the platform, my views dropped dramatically.

Look!

My views haven’t been so low since July. When I had almost half the followers (and the experience) I have now.

The truth is I expected my earnings to drop compared to the previous month, because in September I had 4 viral stories, and they did make a huge difference in my earnings.

But I also expected them to have the steady monthly increase that I was used to month after month, regardless of viral stories, which I don’t count on anyway because they’re so random.

Of course, I didn’t factor in any algorithm changes.

But despite the sudden drop in views, my earnings didn’t go lower than I expected.

That was more confusing than any algorithm!

So I studied my stats.

The income per hour vary massively from story to story!

How come?

There is only one possible explanation: the difference between the readers.

The monthly $5 each of us pays is split between Medium, the writer from whose page we registered (if the case), and all the articles we read.

The fewer articles a month someone reads, the more beneficial it is for the writers of those articles because the sum is split between fewer beneficiaries.

If someone only reads 1 article a month and it happens to be mine, I get all the remainder of his subscription fee.

But if someone reads 300 articles a month (like I do), the sum awarded to each writer from my reading his article will be very small. Extremely small.

And guess who reads that much? The writers themselves!

Us writers all formed a happy little community reading each other’s articles and that’s great for our souls. But not for our wallets.

The sad truth is that if most of your readers are other writers, your earnings are going to be lower than if your readers were the same number made of the regular readers of Medium.

Medium is all about the readers, not so much about the writers: offering value to the readers, finding new ones, getting them to subscribe, and offering them what they’re looking for through your writing.

That’s where your big earnings will be coming from, not from the community.

Am I saying read for read doesn’t work? Absolutely not! I said it before and I will say it again: reading and engaging with other writers is a key component of growing your account and your earnings. It’s also a great way to get the algorithm to notice your article by getting claps, comments, and reads.

But it has limited power.

It’s vital for the beginner, but it doesn’t do much once you go over a certain status.

The same goes for articles about Medium. Useful in the beginning, low paying in later months.

I know it’s not great news and I’m not happy to be the one who delivers it. But I believe in the truth and knowing it exactly the way it is.

However, a question still remains.

If views are so low for everybody, it means readers no longer read me and they no longer read anybody else whose articles I read, and that’s a lot of writers. Who exactly are they reading, then? Where do all the views go?

Is it to the big established writers who have a huge following? Not so sure, because I hear their stats are dropping like hot potatoes as well.

Where are all the readers, people?!

If anybody knows, please share in the comments, I’d really like to know and I know everybody else does.