Summary

The article provides insights into becoming a Medium Topic's Top Writer, detailing the process and benefits of achieving this status.

Abstract

The article explains the significance of being listed as a Top Writer for a Medium topic, a feature that showcases the top five authors within a specific subject on the platform. It outlines the importance of consistent tagging of stories within one's niche, as demonstrated by the author's own experience with topics like Entrepreneurship and Business. The author, Jenn Leach, shares her knowledge obtained from fellow writer Edina Abena Jackson, emphasizing the role of using the same tags across articles to increase visibility and the likelihood of being recognized as a Top Writer in a topic. The status does not offer monetary rewards but enhances visibility, potentially leading to more readers, increased earnings on Medium, and a growing audience.

Opinions

The author believes that consistent use of specific tags is crucial for appearing in the Top Writers list of a Medium topic.
Achieving Top Writer status is seen as beneficial for gaining more visibility, attracting more readers, and growing one's audience on Medium.
The author values the recognition that comes with being a Top Writer, despite the lack of tangible rewards such as a bonus or merchandise.
The article suggests that writing within a niche and maintaining a consistent tagging strategy can contribute to becoming a Top Writer.
The author appreciates the exposure that Top Writer status brings, which can lead to increased earnings on the platform.
There is an element of uncertainty regarding Medium's communication about Top Writer status, as the author received an email for the first notification but not for subsequent recognitions.

How to Become a Medium Topic’s Top Writer

With Proof

If you browse Medium stories by topic, you’ll notice on the righthand side, there’s a list of 5 top writers for the topic. It looks like this…

On the right, you see 5 top writers for the Writing topic on Medium.

For a long time, I had no idea how these top writers landed here.

Are they just popular Medium writers? Is their content all “writing” based or highly niched to whatever the topic is? How the heck does it work?

This amazing writer Edina Abena Jackson educated me.

I read one of her stories where she broke down how it worked. And so now, I know and I share with you.

Funny enough, I had been doing this all along which is how I land in a Top Writer spot in topics like Entrepreneurship, Business, Make Money Online, and other topics.

This is the Top Writers section for the topic Newsbreak:

Finding Medium Topics

First, how do you find Medium topics?

You search the topic and then click Topics.

You can see in the screenshot below in the search results, Stories is highlighted. You can also click People, Publications, or Topics.

You want to pick Topics.

Next, you’ll have the topic and other topics available to choose from. Pick the one you want.

Then boom, you’re on the topic page where you can peruse Medium stories in that topic. Here are the top writers for that page as of this writing.

There’s me on the right, Jenn Leach.

This is how you make it to Top Writer status

All I do is tag my stories nearly the same for every article.

I’ve written 28 Medium stories this month so far

It’s halfway through November and I’ve written and published 28 stories on Medium!

medium.com

That’s because I tend to write in my niche which is money, finance, side hustles, entrepreneurship and business.

So, I tag the same phrases every single time. Make money online is one of them and that helps my stories land in this topic consistently and contribute to me being a Top Writer in the topic.

If you keep using the same tags, you can increase your chances of landing in that topic’s Top Writers list.

Make sense?

What does Top Writer status get you?

No, I don’t get a writer bonus or a fancy t-shirt but, I do get more visibility.

The exposure helps me get my eyeballs on my stories, make more money on Medium, and increase my audience size so my followers grow.

When I first landed Top Writer for a topic (it was for the Social Media topic at the time), Medium sent me an email to let me know.

I’m writing on Medium less than last month

But, I’m still making $400 a day

medium.com

I’m not sure if they continue to send you emails to alert you of this. I haven’t noticed any in my inbox since that first notification but, I’m also not really looking that hard so who knows.

You can also just search Medium easy enough.

So, that’s how it works. If I missed anything, please let me know in comments.

What do you think about Top Writer status?

I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.