I earned $6.19 on Medium

Finally more than a quarter

When I joined Medium in July of 2020 I had high hopes of becoming a top writer. I created a goal of publishing three articles a day for at least six days a week. Every day I could be doing what I loved, writing, while simultaneously making a living. Joining their Partner Program would bring forth my dream of working from anywhere and still making a sustainable living. Easy right? All I have to do is create and hit publish.

I have been part of Medium’s partner program for a little over a year. If I base my success on my own goal I have only completed three days’ worth of writing. Nine articles to date with a tenth in the process of being published. During this time, I would have a random burst of inspiration. Decide that I wanted to achieve the goal I had previously set, only to start the process of writing and count myself out in frustration. I’d struggle with feelings of imposter syndrome where I talk myself out of being the writer I know that I can be. Despite this, I tried to remain positive telling myself that I was still a paid writer because I had readers that enjoyed my work enough for me to make a literal dime.

I knew that I couldn’t live off of pennies per month. I didn’t sign up for that, and like most of my fellow writers, I wanted to be great. I knew the reasoning behind my lack of an audience and payment was my fault however; I begin to rationalize with myself. It’s not easy to churn out articles while dealing with life. I still have to make a living, and my lack of consistency made me feel my career as a writer was out of reach.

This changed when I received a payment notification from Medium in February 2022. For the first month of 2022, I received what I considered to be a whopping $6.19. I thought this had to be a mistake as I had not published anything since October 22nd, 2021. After reviewing my stats I discovered that I did make the money from a single article that just so happened to be my last one published on the platform. This article was one of the three that I had featured in publications. I had been excited about this particular article when it was initially published because of it being featured in a publication. However, with the daily nuances of life, the excitement waned and I did not publish anything for another couple of months.

Before this payment, I believed that being successful on Medium was a far-fetched dream. Though I had read about it happening to others, I figured there was no way that I could become a top writer. I did not believe that I could gain the success I desired. The imposter syndrome kicked in many times ending with me counting myself out. Every time I sat down and attempted to write I’d get attacked by crippling imposter syndrome. It would trick me into believing that making a writing career from scratch was impossible.

Though the six dollars and change that I earned isn’t a lot of money, it changed my perspective. It made me feel like maybe my dreams of being a writer are obtainable. If I could make it a point to be consistent, starting with some reasonable goals, who says that I can’t be a top writer? I believe that with consistency being a successful writer is within my reach. With consistency, I could expand my audience and smash my writer’s goals.

What you give is what you get. I believe that if you are like me finding yourself struggling within the platform make some small goals and stay consistent. Interact with other writers’ content and watch your audience grow. Stay hopeful and keep writing!