Finding Followers
How Medium Can Fix the “New Writers” Dilemma
Medium’s 100 follower minimum for payout creates a problem. It’s easy to fix w/o a rule change & improves service for writers and readers.
Synopsis
From Medium’s Terms of Service: “Thanks for using Medium. Our mission is to deepen people’s understanding of the world and spread ideas that matter.”
Medium provides a platform for writers to publish well-written stories and a location for interested readers to easily find and read them.
The membership fee is low for unlimited reading and writing access. If a member joins the partner program, they can get paid based on the time members spend reading their articles.
Medium’s new partner rules makes it much harder for a new writer.
A minor rule change and a new Medium-sponsored publication can change the environment from a burden to a boost for new writers and a feature for readers.
New Partner Program membership rule
New writers who wish to join the Partner Program must go through an application process. To be approved, you must have at least 100 followers, have published at least one story, and be within the geographical enrollment eligible locations,The Problem
How do you get followers?
As a new writer, you can badger people to follow you or write engaging stories to draw people in, as Benny@iambennylim says in his Follow Me article in the references section. Usually, those will be friends and relatives who may not be Medium members, which is a requirement to be followers.
Suppose you do write a remarkable story. How do members find it?
Well-written comments might work? Writers MAY follow you based on the comment, or they might go back to your profile and find a story there. I usually don’t follow someone unless they have written something. I don’t worry about style, but there are some story categories I avoid.
With one minor change to the Partner Program and a new AI-managed publication, Medium can feature new writers.
It will turn the problem into an opportunity for both the new writer and Medium.
“New Writers” publication
General description. This publication would function the same as any other publication except it would not require an editor.
The computer
- would accept stories, add writers, and later remove writers
- would accept any story that passes Medium’s general publication rules
- would not review stories for grammar or other writing mistakes
Instead of having readers follow it, like other publications, it would appear as an icon at the top of the main page. Readers could still follow it if they want the stories to appear on their recommended list.
Writer requirements. The writer must apply to be accepted as an author, just like any other publication, and meet all Partner Program requirements except for the follower limit. A writer could join with zero followers.
The writer could be referred to as in “Apprentice Status” for Medium’s reference and tracking purposes, even if they have published 1,000 articles and written a dozen books in other places.
A writer would get paid a flat rate for each story in the publication. Stories outside the publication would not receive payment if published and read before meeting the 100 follower rule. Of course, read-time after becoming a regular partner would be honored for payment.
The only exception is if a story goes viral. If a story achieves 100 readers, all read-time would be counted towards payment, even if the payment is made later.
A writer will receive no actual payments, no matter the amount, until they meet the regular partner rules, including the 100 follower and minimum payment limits. The writer need not apply again once they meet all regular Partner Program conditions.
Publication operational rules. The publication will appear in the “Add to Publication” list until the author publishes the 5th article. The computer would then remove it from the writer’s list, but the stories would still appear in the publication.
A writer could add an existing story to the publication as long as it was not in another publication.
The publication may be split into subcategories, based on Medium’s requirements, when the reader selects the icon. The author must put the category in the first tag if they want their story to be included in that category.
For example:
Categories: Romance, Money, World, Politics, Life Lessons (first tag — required)Other rules
- A writer may not delete a published story and replace it with another just to stay under 5 stories. Deleting a story will automatically remove the writer from the publication’s list of writers.
- A writer may not edit & gut a published story and replace the text with another.
- A writer must publish their 5th story within 6 months of their first published story.
Unlisted stories will not be counted.
Apprentice Status
This provides two major benefits to the new writer — a way to highlight their stories, and experience working with a publication.
The writer must choose to add the story to the publication, like any other publication. The software could include an option to stop, go back and add the story the normal way, and hit publish again if it is not in a publication.
It should not include an option to add it with a click since it is a training exercise.
For it to work, Medium needs to add the request as part of the Partner Program application.
Normally, people do not leave editor-type comments, such as spelling, grammar, and general article structure suggestions. Still, those should be encouraged for the New Writers publication since there is no editor. Readers should label them as “Editor” comment and entered separately from “Story” comments.
Conclusion
Adding the New Writers publication and Apprentice Status will change the emphasis from money back to the original goal of writing and the spread of ideas.
I hope Medium implements this idea soon, even if they have to operate it manually until the appropriate AI software is written.
References
Recent changes
My major concern: An unlimited commission encourages people to concentrate on finding members just for the income and gets away from Medium’s primary goal.
I have no problem in Medium paying a commission for finding new members. However, it should have a limit, like 6 months or 1 year, and not be paid forever.
- Referenced in article (Benny@iambennylim)