I Have the Chance to Reach 25,000 Readers Daily

and I have doubled my views in the last two weeks

Big publications like P.S. I Love You, The Post-Grad Survival Guide, and The Ascent are closing. Smaller pubs are following.

Why? Because being an owner and/or editor of a huge publication sucks without getting paid. That’s the main reason. Unless publications compensate their editors themselves, they don’t earn a dime. That’s not good. But it’s the way Medium want it. They want to step away from publications.

However

I’m an editor for two publications. Thoughts and Ideas and The Shortform. In total, that’s 23,000 followers. Dozens of drafts each day.

With all that being said — and I do think editors should be compensated by Medium somehow if they want to keep publications alive — let me give you a couple of great upsides that come with the editor job. Nobody is talking about these, I feel like.

1. Time savings

Time is precious. As this is “only” a side-hustle for me, next to my 9–5, not to mention my wife and kids, my time is severely limited. Anything that saves time is appreciated.

Being an editor helps save time because I can submit to the two publications without going through the usual submission process. I don’t have to wait hours or days for my drafts to be reviewed and accepted (or declined for that matter). I can hit publish whenever I want. That leads to the next upside.

2. Timing

Timing is crucial on Medium. Some days generate more views than others, specific times of the day lead to more reading time. But as writers, we’re largely out of control of these factors unless we self-publish.

The editor job gives me the freedom to schedule my posts for Thoughts and Ideas and The Shortform. I decide the day and hour for publishing. I can’t tell you how valuable this is. Just to give you a feel: I doubled my views in the last two weeks through this scheduling process.

3. Inspiration

I read a lot on Medium. I have my favorite writers, but I also find dozens of great new writers every week.

Being an editor has an additional advantage here: I read many inspirational drafts first before anyone else on Medium does. These have often inspired me to write a story myself. Whether it was the topic, an unanswered question, or my take on the argument at hand, it inspires me to write.

4. Reach

The three reasons above are huge, but the biggest reason why being an editor for a Medium publication is not all bad is this:

Together with the 22K followers of Thoughts and Ideas, the almost 1K followers on The Shortform, and my own 2.4K followers (thank you so much, by the way), I have the chance and privilege to reach 25K Medium readers daily.

If I were to publish a story for each of these 3 outlets, in theory, I’d be able to get in front of 25K readers every day.

In reality, these numbers are lower, I know. Some followers are in all 3 groups. Many will never read my post. Some are not even active on Medium anymore. Nevertheless, it’s a huge number of potential readers, I get the chance to put my articles in front of every day, whenever I want.

This is freaking fantastic.

The bottom line

Being an editor is not all bad. It should get paid, yes! Medium should somehow compensate for the work or get rid of it altogether, I believe.

In any case, being an editor has a few unique advantages that have helped me tremendously on my Medium journey. As long as I can keep up with the workload without sacrificing my writing time, I will do it.

What do you like best about publications on Medium? Should pubs go? Is self-publishing the future? Could lists become the new publications, as brilliantly explained by Anthony Lawrence? Tell me!

P.S.: First of all, you should get my posts in your inbox. Do that here! Secondly, if you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us, writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. Of course, you can cancel the membership anytime. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times! Lastly, if you want to get personal with me, the best place is my newsletter. Sign up for free here.