PARENTING, WRITING, LIFE LESSONS

I’m a Top Writer in Parenting

I’m not Shannon Ashley, but I did it!

I’m not Shannon Ashley, but I did it — so can you.

You don’t need to jump far, and you can set your own pace. After less than 5 months of writing and publishing a total of 19 articles in various publications on Medium, I received this badge of honor via email.

A conversation with my 10-year old son.

When I received this message, I told my 10-year old son, “Guess what? I’m a top writer in parenting on Medium!”

“How much did you make?” he replied.

“Oh — well so far, about five bucks this month.”

“What, that’s it? Mom, is there terrible writers on Medium or just really bad parents?”

“I don’t know, kid.”

“Only the top 50 writers on Medium get the top writer status for each category,” I explained.

“How many parenting writers are there on Medium?” Pause. “51?” Laughter.

Number of writers and readers on Medium

I don’t know how many current writers and readers there are on the platform. In 2019, according to Emma Smith, Medium paid over $6 million total to over 30,000 writers, and according to Casey Botticello, there are nearly 100 million monthly readers.

Out of the 19 articles I’ve written since my first article was published November 2, 2020, until the date I received the March 17, 2021 email, 11 of the stories were tagged in “parenting” and were published in four different publications. Thank you, editors, for supporting my writing: Rebecca at Modern Parent, Kelly Eden, and Ash Jurberg at Inspired Writer, Steve Spring at Live Your Life on Purpose, Scott Mayer at In Fitness And In Health, Dr Mehmet Yildiz at Illumination, and Quy Ma at About Me Stories.

At first glance, I thought Medium made a typo or error and sent the email to the wrong person because I’d only published a few articles, but I double-checked my profile, and yep, there was the status — Top Writer in Parenting, and it didn’t disappear — yet.

What does top writer status mean?

I don’t know! I only have 362 followers, but I must be doing something right. But of course, I started doubting myself and wondering if there really are only 51 writers on Medium who are writing about parenting, and I just made the cut?

Beyond being featured on tag pages, your profile will also proudly display the tags in which you’re a top writer, so potential followers can quickly see your expertise. — Joe Polastre

But when I read this article written by Susan Brearley, I realized that this is a significant achievement I should be proud of. It’s called Why Having a Top Writer Badge Matters with the subtitle, “Don’t Listen to Those Who Bash the System.”

I tried to read the article to my son, but before I finished reading the title, he lost interest, rolled his eyes, and ran to his room to play Minecraft.

Of the millions of people who visit Medium, and of the thousands of people writing here, only 50 people can have a badge in the category you choose to write in. So receiving one is a BIG DEAL. It’s an accomplishment that speaks to your skill in building audience, writing consistently, and securing readers. That’s significant, and in my opinion, not to be cast aside lightly. — Susan Brearley

Susan Brearley runs a great humor publication called MuddyUm, and her article was written in that publication, but it wasn’t a comedy piece! I read it 13 times to make sure she wasn’t being sarcastic or joking about the importance of a “top writer badge.”

Shannon Ashley and Mary Chang are both top writers in Parenting!

To be featured in the same email as Shannon Ashley is surreal. Shannon Ashley has been a Medium member since May 2018, has 38K followers, is a single mother and full-time writer. She’s worked her butt off on the platform, and her motto is, “It’s not about being flawless, it’s about being honest.” Her raw truth, vulnerability, and flawsomeness are revealed in her brilliant writing.

About Shannon Ashley

Shannon Ashley is a top writer in parenting, mental health, writing, and several other topics. I’m pretty sure she made more than $5 so far this month, more like $5,000+. I’m an underdog who’s a Medium newbie learning the platform, struggling to publish an average of 3–5 articles per month, in between my regular non-writing-related day job, parenting, and fitness routine.

But Shannon was an underdog too. She grew up in poverty in a dysfunctional family and was raised by an abusive mother who gaslighted her throughout her childhood and part of her adulthood. She worked and fought hard to better her adult life and provide a good, loving, stable home for her daughter.

The prolific writer didn’t become a success on Medium overnight. She started writing on Medium to make up for lost income when her full-time social media job became a part-time gig. In April 2018, she started on Medium at square one by writing her first story, gained her first follower, received her first clap and comment, and made only $1.36 on her first payment on Medium.

She averaged $500 per month her first few months (and now makes up to $12,000 p/m), but she is an exceptional writer and the exception to the rule; most new writers make only a few dollars per month starting on the platform. She was also fortunate to have two of her stories featured by Medium and another promoted by them on Facebook and Twitter in the early stages of her journey. She writes stories about salacious, vulnerable, intimate parts of her past and present, which tend to gain the most attention from editors, works super hard, writes and publishes frequently, and puts in long hours despite suffering from ADHD and serious lipedema.

About Me and my self-mantra

I may never achieve the writing status of where Shannon Ashley is today on Medium, and it’s not my expectation. Still, she’s an inspiration to writers and is an especially courageous writer.

I’m trying to become a better, braver writer by learning from other writers and believing in myself, persevering, and following my own self-mantra, “Try, Mary, Try!” which I created in 2019 when I embarked on my personal fitness journey to better my health and defy middle age. I documented my progress on Facebook for accountability and to practice writing. During the process, I regained my confidence and inner shine through exercise, which enabled me to face my fears and insecurities about sharing my writing. It empowered me to “put myself out there” and write my butt off.

I still don’t know why Medium editors or its algorithms picked me for a “Top Writer in Parenting,” but here’s my insight on my writing journey from my first published article on November 2, 2020, to the date I received the congrats email from Medium on March 17, 2021.

13 Possible Reasons Why I was Awarded as a Top Writer in Parenting

1. Out of the 19 articles I wrote, 11 articles were tagged in either “parenting” or “family.”
2. Out of the 11 articles, 9 were “chosen for further distribution.” Each article received between 278–1.6k claps and between 1–18 comments and an average of 50+% read ratio.
3. All articles included a “life lesson.” Each one was written from a personal perspective drawn from my own life experience with parenting and/or fitness and involved either funny conversations with my son or touched on my own childhood.
4. The articles were published in Modern Parent (5), Inspired Writer (2), Live Your Life on Purpose, (1) In Fitness and In Health (1), Illumination (1), and About Me Stories (1).
5. I published 3–5 articles per month on average.
6. I take quality time writing, editing, proofing, and run all my articles through Grammarly.
7. I regularly engage and support other Medium writers, love reading their articles, making comments, encouraging them, and try my best to give their stories 50 claps.
8. I believe in “quality over quantity” for writing stories and “real readers” over “real cash.”
9. I promote my writing through Medium, Facebook, Instagram, my workplace, friends and family, and my WordPress blog, www.marychangstorywriter.com, and always use “friend links.”
10. Promoting my writing makes me accountable, and posting my writing progress, rejections, successes, and backstories of my articles plays a big role in my accountability.
11. Some of my readers are loyal, some enjoy my writing, some believe in me, my passion for writing, and some either like or love me personally. I’m grateful for all of them.
12. I’m crazy about writing and exercise, and I couldn’t survive or thrive without either. Exercising regularly makes me a stronger person and writer.
13. I love parenting, but I love my kid more — he makes me laugh every day!

Takeaway: No rush, be accountable, set your pace — for joy.

Although receiving a “Top Writer in Parenting” status is a welcome surprise, a writing achievement, and a badge that my son thinks is hilarious, I’m not in a rush to “get to the top” (i.e., monetary/readership/status) because my writing, social networking, and strategies to promote my articles will get stronger with practice, research, learning and personal time commitment. I don’t need to rush through my journey and burn myself out — if I do, I lose the joy of writing.

All writers on this platform started on square one by writing their first story on Medium, just like Shannon Ashley or your next-door neighbor. Some write because it’s their job and their main source of income, some write because it’s their avocation, but both types of writers are driven by their love and devotion to writing and accountability to their readers.

There is no “deadline” when it comes to the joy, passion, and fire that fuels the flow of the imaginative process for a personal creative writing adventure. More readers, followers, fans, cash, and possibly, top writer badges will come — in a time-flow that will be different for all writers.

I persevere at my own pace, set my own goals, work my own journey and see where it takes me, badge or not — I’m a writer.

Increase your chances to earn a Top Writer badge.

To learn more about how tags work and how to increase your chances of being featured as a top writer, here’s the article link Medium sent me in the congrats email, called Introducing Top Writers in Tags.

Here are a few of my stories mentioned above that were tagged in “parenting” and chosen for further distribution.

About the Author: Mary Chang is an award-winning short story fiction writer, published memoir writer, blogger, and newbie Medium writer striving to become a better human, parent & writer. Her stories are inspired by exercise, humor & people. Fueled by cartwheels, laughter, and readers. Check out her blog at marychangstorywriter.com.