FROM THE EDITOR
Medium Meta: A Guide to Writing and Publishing on Medium
Better Marketing’s best advice and tips for succeeding as a writer on Medium
In 2016, I was a writer/editor for a weekly newsletter about podcasts. It grew from a solo side project written on Tinyletter, to a bigger Mailchimp newsletter, to a collaborative project with a few other writers and editors. Eventually, we set our sights on building something bigger: a real publication.
What makes a publication “real”? Well, a website! My day-job was WordPress-related, so we decided to build something on WordPress. I spent a few weeks DIY-ing a website, playing with layouts and features, and created a beautiful, imperfect internet-home for our writing.
Then, we started hearing a lot about publications migrating to Medium to use their new tools for publishers, applied to their beta group, got accepted, and killed our WordPress site for a new, simpler, Medium-hosted one.
And I’ve been fascinated with Medium ever since.
When I wrote an article about why we moved that publication to Medium, I said that it felt like a clearer, more back-to-basics approach to writing. I appreciated Medium’s focus on collaboration, and on good, intuitive design as a default. And while Medium’s features have evolved since then, I think that’s all even more true today. If you’re a writer or an editor, it’s a promising home for your stories.
On Better Marketing, we’ve published a lot of what we call “Medium Meta” articles, which are articles written on Medium — about writing on Medium. We believe in Medium as a platform, and in its potential to connect people and build communities. For writers, it’s a great way to express yourself, to build an audience, and (hopefully) to make some money along the way.
That said, I think of Medium as “a platform for writing”, not “a platform for Medium writers”.
Our goal is to help people feel empowered and inspired; to help them take risks in their careers; to share advice and success stories and lessons from real marketers, business owners, entrepreneurs, writers, and creatives. Making money through writing, via Medium, is one piece of that puzzle — a way to explore making money doing what you love, if writing is what you love — but it’s not our whole picture.
So, from this point forward, we’re being even more selective about the “Medium Meta” articles we publish, because, well, there’s a lot that’s already been said about this topic. (The fact that there’s a pretty noticeable diversity problem among the so-called “top” Medium writers is a topic for a separate article, but it’s also something I can’t avoid acknowledging here).
We don’t want to help create an echo-chamber of the same ideas, the same voices. We want to build a directory of resources that anyone can use as a road map for pursuing writing as their passion — through this website that we believe has the potential to help any aspiring writer succeed.
Below, you’ll find our guide to some of the most insightful, thoughtful, and useful advice for Medium writers. This isn’t the master formula to overnight Medium success, or a crack-the-code approach to headlines, tags, or curation. It is real, tested tips and stories from every stage of the Medium-writing journey.
If I could distill this whole collection down to a one-sentence takeaway, it would be: Write good stories that people want to read. (Honestly, you could probably stop reading here.)
But if you’re looking for more guidance than that sentence, here are 140+ articles that can help. Good luck!
Contents:
* Writing advice and getting started
* Understanding how Medium works
* On monetization
* Marketing, audience-building, and publications
* Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
* Case studies and personal storiesWriting Advice and Getting Started
- An Easy-to-Follow Beginner’s Guide to Writing on Medium ~ Maryam Merchant
- Medium 101: All You Need to Know ~ Bobby Powers
- Smart Strategies for New Medium Writers ~ Shannon Ashley
- I Can’t Get Through Most Medium Articles — Even by Good Authors ~ Sean Kernan
- The Only Piece of Advice You’ll Ever Need to Make It on Medium ~ Sergey Faldin
- Do Longer Articles Make More Money on Medium? ~ Coach Tony
- Medium Top Writers’ Best Advice in One Sentence ~ Dave Smurthwaite
- What’s the Ideal Publishing Frequency on Medium? ~ Toni Koraza
- What Should Beginners Write About on Medium? ~ Zulie Rane
- How to Improve Your Readability on Medium ~ Toni Koraza
- The #1 Way to Ruin a Medium Title ~ Niklas Göke
- Why You Need a Medium Mentor ~ Ash Jurberg
- 5 Tips to Be a Better Writer on Medium ~ Julia Tsoi
- 10 Hard Truths About Making It on Medium ~ Shannon Ashley
- If You Only Write Listicles on Medium, You’ll Never Be a Great Writer ~ Niklas Göke
- Why You Should Ignore Your Claps On Medium ~ Tim Denning
- Why You’re Too Late on Medium ~ Niklas Göke
- The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started Writing on Medium ~ Zulie Rane
- Why You’re Not Too Late on Medium ~ Sergey Faldin
- Writing Rules You Can Break on Medium ~ Shannon Ashley
- Jackpot Journalism: How to Win Big in the Medium Casino ~ Christine Stevens
- 3 Reasons Why You Should Write Your Stories Quickly on Medium ~ Brian Rowe
- You Don’t Need to be a Professional Writer to Succeed on Medium ~ Sinem Günel
- What Every New Medium Blogger Should Know ~ Zulie Rane
- Why Writing on Medium Is So Hard ~ Anthony Moore
- Should You Write Long or Short Stories on Medium? ~ Shannon Ashley
- How to Become a Top Writer on Medium While Having a Full-Time Job ~ Victoria Kurichenko
- Who Should You Follow on Medium? ~ Darren Matthews
- Should Non-Native Speakers Write on Medium at All? ~ Maria Milojković, MA
- You Can Do Everything Right and Still Have a Bad Month on Medium ~ Sergey Faldin
- Voice Transcribing on Medium Has Doubled My Writing Success ~ Gillian Sisley
Understanding How Medium Works
- What Are the Most Popular Topics on Medium? ~ Toni Koraza
- A Reference Guide on Choosing Relevant Tags for Your Medium Story ~ Quy Ma
- Curation On Medium Changed — This Is What You Should Know ~ Lucien Lecarme
- Standard Responses You’ll Receive From Your Friends at Medium ~ Jun Wu
- How (and Why) to Add Alt Text to Your Medium Articles ~ Brittany Jezouit
- Be Patient With Medium Curation ~ Niklas Göke
- The Ultimate Medium Image Guide ~ Joseph Mavericks
- On Medium, Commenting Is Your Best Friend ~ Ryan Fan
- 3 Mistakes to Avoid to Get Published in the Big Medium Publications ~ Zulie Rane
- How to Be a Good Medium Citizen ~ Jay Squires
- Why You Should Not Use a CTA in Your Medium Posts ~ Niklas Göke
- 21 Ways to Jumpstart a Dead Medium Story ~ Toni Koraza
- What Medium Hiding Claps Means for Writers ~ Renée Kapuku
- You Can’t Do That on Medium ~ Shannon Ashley
- The Only Way to Pick a Medium Publication ~ Niklas Göke
- 8 Key Ways the New Medium Will Promote Your Stories ~ Thomas Smith
- If You Don’t Know How Medium Works, Don’t Criticize the Platform ~ Shannon Ashley
- The 30 Types of Medium Articles ~ Jessica Wildfire
- To Understand Why Medium Changes, Put Yourself in Its Shoes ~ Niklas Göke
- How Medium Uses Gamification to Keep You Writing ~ Dave Smurthwaite
- How To Analyze Your Medium Stats With R ~ Zulie Rane
- Why Does Everyone Just Write About Writing on Medium? ~ Ash Jurberg
- A Tribute to Medium Publication Editors ~ Julia Tsoi
- How Brands Can Gain Exposure and Sales From Writing on Medium ~ Zulie Rane
- How To Use Medium, Quora, and Pinterest to Drive Traffic to Your Blog ~ Jon Brosio
- Why the ‘I’ll Read Yours if You Read Mine’ Medium Marketing Technique Doesn’t Work ~ Amy Sarah
On Monetization
- How to Make Money Writing on Medium ~ Tim Denning
- 8 Steps To Making Money on Medium ~ Michael Thompson
- 21 Ways You’re Never Going to Make Money on Medium ~ Danny Forest
- How Much Money Can You Expect to Make on Medium? ~ Sumit Garg
- 4 Lessons From Consistently Making 4 Figures on Medium ~ Andy Chan
- Why Medium Shouldn’t Be Your Only Source of Income ~ Niklas Göke
- How I Use Trello to Make More Money on Medium ~ Michelle Loucadoux, MBA
- Why You Shouldn’t Care How Much Anyone Makes on Medium ~ Sergey Faldin
- The Long Tail on Medium ~ Shawn Forno
- Lessons in Making Money on Medium: What I’ve Learned So Far ~ Jun Wu
- Why I Stopped Worrying About My Medium Earnings ~ Marta Brzosko
- How I Tripled My Earnings on Medium in One Month ~ Matilda Swinney
- 5 Websites That Pay Writers Besides Medium ~ Ashley Broadwater
- How Much Money Are 1,000 Views Worth on Medium? ~ Zulie Rane
Marketing, Audience-Building, and Publications
- Followers Matter a Lot on Medium ~ Shaunta Grimes
- Make Your Next Medium Story Go Viral: A Marketing Professor Shares His Research ~ Marek Veneny
- The Most Overlooked Marketing Tool on Medium ~ Toni Koraza
- The Benefits of Self-Publishing on Medium ~ Ryan Fan
- How to Turn Medium Subscribers Into Email Subscribers, and How To Earn Money With That List ~ Zulie Rane
- Forget Everything You Know About Going Viral on Medium ~ Zita Fontaine
- 4 Ways to Not Promote Your Medium Article ~ Jamie Bullock
- The 25 Best Ways to Grow on Medium ~ Amardeep Parmar
- How To Attract 1,000 Fans as a Niche Writer on Medium ~ Desiree Driesenaar
- How to Get Into Any Medium Publication Fast ~ Hay Di
- The 3 Awful Marketing Tactics Hurting Your Medium Success ~ Toni Koraza
- A Comprehensive List of Medium Publications for Writing About Writing ~ Chris Sowers
- Why Every Writer Should Try to Get Into Medium-Owned Publications ~ Shannon Ashley
- The 53 Fastest-Growing Medium Publications Still Accepting New Writers ~ J.J. Pryor
- The Hidden Power in Every Medium Article ~ Darren Matthews
- Don’t Play the Follow-for-Follow Game on Medium ~ Julia Tsoi
- 4 Medium Top 10 Lists You Should Know ~ Itchishiki Satoshi
- Medium vs. Upwork: Which Platform Is Best for Writers? ~ Negin Safdari
- How I’ve Maintained a 40% Curation Rate in My First 3 Months on Medium ~ Amy Sarah
- Should Your Blog Be on Medium, WordPress, Substack, or Ghost? ~ Sah Kilic
- How to Turn Your Medium Blog Into a Thriving Coaching Business ~ Liz Huber
- Why Self-Publish on Medium If You Can Submit to Top Publications? ~ Maria Milojković, MA
- The Ultimate Guide to 43 Active Publications on Medium ~ J.J. Pryor
- Two Methods for Beginners to Increase Followers and Earnings on Medium ~ Zulie Rane
- How to Get Into Any Medium Publication ~ Zulie Rane
- The Medium Beginner’s Guide to Getting Into 11 Relevant Publications ~ Maryam Merchant
- 4 Easy Strategies to Promote Your Medium Articles ~ Jonathan Hsu
- How to Make Medium Publications Work for You ~ Zita Fontaine
- The Fifth Way?: Why Academics Should Publish on Medium ~ David Wyld
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- How To Optimize Your Medium Articles for Google ~ Christina M. Ward
- How I Drove 7,000 Views to My Medium Article in Two Days ~ Shawn Kong
- How to Rank Your Articles on Google ~ Jon Hawkins
- Medium SEO: How to Optimize Your Stories for Search Engines ~ Kimberly Fosu
- How I Got My Medium Post on Google’s First Page ~ Richie Crowley
- SEO for Savvy Medium Writers ~ Vic Womersley
- How to Optimize Your Medium Articles for Search Engines ~ Jasmine Webb
Case Studies and Personal Stories
- How to Go From 60 to 2,000 Views a Month in Medium ~ Adam Skali
- Everything I Did to Become a Top Writer on Medium in Under 4 Months ~ Jana Bergant
- What I’ve Learned Writing on Medium Every Day for 90 Days ~ Sergey Faldin
- Lessons Learned from Publishing 1,000 Articles on Medium in 2 Years ~ Tim Denning
- How I Earned $10,000 on Medium in 2019 ~ Megan Holstein
- Two Years, $30k, and 507 Articles on Medium. Here’s What I’ve Learned. ~ Zulie Rane
- The New Headline Strategy That Tripled My Views on Medium ~ David O.
- I Made $11,918 in 4 Months on Medium. Here’s What I’ve Learned. ~ Matt Lane
- What I Learned From Writing on Medium Every Day for 60 Days ~ Sinem Günel
- An Exact Breakdown of My First $2,000 Medium Story ~ Amardeep Parmar
- Here’s How Much Medium Paid Me for an Article With 60,000 Views ~ Jamie Logie
- Dissecting a Medium Article That Made Over $5,000 ~ Stephen Moore
- The Anatomy of a $650+ Medium Post ~ Thomas Smith
- How I Got Published in 6 of Medium’s Largest Publications ~ Shawn Forno
- How Much Can You Expect to Make From 100,000 Views on Medium? ~ Daan
- How I Maximized My Medium Stories to Make $1,607.80 Last Month ~ Jon Brosio
- I Almost Quit Medium Before Earning $2,000 in 30 Days ~ Eden Au
- How Much Medium Paid Me for 1,000,000 Views ~ Dr. Derek Austin 🥳
- 4 Reasons Why I Got 20,000+ Views on My First Medium Post ~ Matthew Enubuje
- How I Made $3,000 From One Medium Article as an Affiliate ~ Victoria Kurichenko
- 7 High-Effort Medium Articles That Flopped — From 7 Top Writers ~ Danny Forest
- What Happened When I Disappeared From Medium for 2 Months ~ Lucien Lecarme
- An Analysis of My First $1,500+ Article on Medium ~ Joseph Mavericks
- How I Grew My Medium Earnings by 300% ~ Andy Chan
- How I Earned $1,525.68 in My First Month on Medium ~ Tom Waterman
- Lessons From Writing About Sex on Medium ~ Hakima T A N T R I K A
- The 4 Components of a $4,228 Medium Article ~ Alan Trapulionis
- I Gained 20,000 Followers on Medium in Less Than 19 Months ~ Shannon Ashley
- My Above-Average Medium Success Story ~ Amy Sarah
- How I Wrote a $500 Article in My First 3 Months on Medium ~ Coder’s Cat
- An Analysis of My Failed Medium Articles ~ Thomas Smith
- How I Got 30,000 Views in My First Year on Medium ~ Matthew Enubuje
- How I Made $8,000 on Medium in One Month ~ Megan Holstein
If you have something unique to say about writing on Medium that’s not covered here, check out our article submission guidelines.
Check out all of our article collections in the Better Marketing Directory.