Lessons From Writing About Sex on Medium

It’s lucrative — but not for the faint of heart

If you’re considering writing about sex on Medium, you are right — it is a lucrative business. However, it’s not for everybody, and it comes with a few downsides. Let me tell you how I got started.

I Wrote My First Story on Medium in April 2019

I am a Tantra teacher, and I was sharing my experience with Tantra — nothing related to sexuality. A few months later, a magazine in London that loved my article contacted me. They wanted to pay me to write articles about the sexuality aspect of Tantra. I gave them my rate — $0.10 per word as a beginner writer — and I got hired. It was a dream come true: writing about topics that I am passionate about and earning money from it.

With this in my portfolio, I got hired three months later by another company to write sex tutorials. This time, I was paid $30 per hour. Each article required about five to eight hours of work. I figured that if my client was willing to pay me $150 to $240 per article, he’s probably making much more money on them. My conclusion was simple: Writing about sex must be very lucrative.

I Started Self-Publishing on Medium in April 2020

The pandemic didn’t help me keep my paid clients, so I started self-publishing on Medium. I had writing experience, I was passionate about the topic, and I knew the financial potential. But I never thought I would make money on Medium. I wanted to build a portfolio and land new paid clients.

The surprise was big when I made my first $761 from one article last month. That was way more than what I’d been paid before by my private clients.

As of today, here are my top three stories in July 2020:

• “How To Play With Her Breasts,” 19.8K views, lifetime earnings: $761.78
• “You Can Make Any Female Squirt with These 3 Steps,” 6K views, lifetime earnings: $357.50
• “5 Sex Positions to Make Your Girlfriend Squirt During Intercourse,” 8K views, lifetime earnings $203.80

The first story got curated and distributed under Sexuality. It made a huge difference in my earnings. I don’t understand exactly why this topic got curated and not the others, but my guess is that talking about breasts is more politically correct than talking about squirting. When you write about sex and want to be curated by Medium, you have to stay soft.

Medium Has Become My Main Source of Income

Two years ago, I quit my well-paid job in investment banking to embark on a research journey about sexuality, love, and relationships. I lived on my savings until I decided it was time I made money on my own again. Medium has helped me reach this goal. I feel like a young adult making her first pennies, with the difference being that today I love what I am doing. Yes, I love writing about sex, love, and relationships.

Now, my goal isn’t to make as much money as when I was working in investment banking, but I’m happy to earn enough to live by writing five to seven stories a month. Most writers want to write every day, but I don’t want to. I travel full time, and I want to focus on experiencing life around me, not only from my computer.

There Is a Limit to Being Creative About Sex

My main challenge today is finding new sex tutorials to write about. I have written about all the topics that I’ve mastered, and the same topics keep rebounding in my mind again and again. Writing about sex — just as writing about anything — pushes you to be creative. And there is a limit to being creative about sex.

Recently, I started to explore sharing personal sex stories. The first personal story I wrote is about my experience as a newbie teacher in a Tantra festival that didn’t turn out to be so innocent.

Traveling full-time for three years gave me the opportunity to accumulate interesting experiences to share.

Writing About Sex Attracts Weirdos

I sometimes receive weird emails from strangers who have read my stories and think I’ll entertain them sexually. On the flip side, I’ve received angry and nasty comments from people uncomfortable with my writing. Writing about sex is not necessarily comfortable, but it is part of the game.

So if you are a newbie who wants to write about sex, be aware that it won’t necessarily be comfortable. It will attract weirdos. I would recommend you take no risk and protect your identity. I recently saw my favorite writer on Medium, Amber Cezanne, change her name for a pen name. That’s a smart move.

Writing About Sex Is Embarrassing

The other downside of writing about sex is that your partner — or future partner — will eventually read your stories and see you from a different angle. It’s easy to put a label on someone or misjudge someone who writes without any complex about sexuality. I’m sometimes afraid that my relatives or my boyfriend’s relatives will read me and not understand my writing. But, with all good things, there is a risk. If this is truly what you want to do, you can do it.

In the end, writing about sex is an overall positive experience that can bring in a good amount of money. But it is not for the faint of heart.