How Much Does 10,000 Claps Make You On Medium?

Show me the money

I write for love, but it’s also nice to get paid. The first time I got paid for a story, I was shocked. It’s weird to go from $.01 to $1,547.06. When I checked the caliber of my various work, I realized it was like playing the lottery.

Some of my, in my opinion, better writing was overlooked. Some of my mediocre work was celebrated — celebrated is a stretch. Let’s just say, it paid.

My paid work isn’t always much better than my unpaid work. Good titles helped but good titles also bring in the riff-raff. The riff-raff are the people who have time to gaslight you. Who has that kind of time? This reader did.

My first thought when I read this comment was, “I would never want this human to break up with me.” I’d be confused. I’m happier with “You suck. Quit writing” over “I mean this all in good faith.” What does that even mean?

What is good faith? Is there bad faith? Is there mediocre faith? Evil faith? I thought all faith was the same. That kind of well-wishing makes my head spin. Is their weapon less sharp because it came to me from Good Faithville? So flummoxing.

Luckily, there is a blocking button. I’m not sane enough for that kind of well-wishing.

But seriously — ask anyone who’s made money here. The more readers you pick up, the more readers show up and leave negative comments. I can’t imagine being really famous. I can’t handle that much good faith.

Let me pivot back to what this story is supposed to be about.

Yesterday, I was reading a story by one of the writers I follow here. He had 10,000 claps on one story. I was trying to calculate how much that paid, but me and math, we’re saggy.

Was he getting thousands of dollars? Hundreds of thousands? Hopefully, all his claps were subscribers and it wasn’t one of those 97% non-members reads. 97% of non-member readers feels like you got stuck with the bill.

The writer’s title was titillating and so was the writing. This writer delivers. He has a voice and he’s a storyteller. He also honors his craft and works his ass off. I didn’t see his 10,000 claps and think “He doesn’t deserve it.” I thought, “Right on.”

But I was still curious about how much he got paid. I searched Medium and found a Casey Botticello article. My best friend, Casey, who I’ve never met, writes a lot about the nuts and bolts of Medium — in case you’ve missed him.

Sadly, the article is from 2018, but it does break apart Medium’s scaffolding well, so it’s worth a read. If you’re trying to figure out how Medium works, read my BFF Casey.

On the flip side, if you just like writing, but don’t want to know what’s in Ahab’s whale’s stomach, you can skip it.

Regarding my title, I didn’t mean to clickbait. I was hoping to find an answer to how much 10,000 claps paid, but Medium isn’t that simple. I could ask Hogan but I was raised that asking people how much they got paid is rude — but talking about it on a writing platform behind their back is totally polite.

What I learned is more important anyway. Visibility gets you readers — so write a lot and promote your writing. Hogan writes a lot. Submit to pubs because no one’s Googling your name. No one — not even your relatives. Maybe some jackass you knew in high school, but I assume you’re looking for a wider audience.

That jackass in high school isn’t looking for your writing. They’re looking to see if you got swooped up in the Me Too Movement or ended up in jail — not if you’re writing on the prestigious Medium platform, which is like The New Yorker lite.

A good reputation is worth the effort on this platform. Write well, edit your work, have a point of view, and people will keep reading you. If you write thoughtlessly or copy other people’s ideas, readers will move on to other writers.

Like the folk singer, Greg Brown sings, “If you can’t get it home you’re gonna go looking.” Be the home people want to hang out at — otherwise, they’re gonna go looking. There’s a lot to look at here.

Have a voice. If we don’t want t to be taken over by AI’s imitating the human voice, find your authentic voice. Don’t hide your point of view. Don’t have a point of view? Dig deeper. Sure, you’ll get haters, but haters are also readers and you can block them later.

I don’t care how great your work is, if you don’t have a great title, no one will see you. Dress up for the dance. Put yourself out there. A title says your story matters. It’s worth checking out.

Sometimes people will still hate your party, but at least they showed up. So how much does 10,000 claps get you? A lot. Sorry, Medium isn’t a clear paycheck, but I’d say anywhere between $500 and $2500 — not bad for a day's work.