MEDIUM
Medium Money! Full Disclosure
I’ll Show You Mine if You’ll Show Me Yours
The only thing that everyone knows about the Medium algorithm is that nobody knows anything about the Medium algorithm.
Why do some posts take off, reach thousands of readers, and make money? Why do others languish, forever unread, in the Medium Phantom Zone?
And is it true that there’s an inverse relationship between the number of articles a writer posts about making money on Medium and how much money they’ve actually made on Medium?
How much money are writers actually making here?
If you are a writer who assumes that everyone on the platform is making more than you are, you could be wrong. And you could be right! But you can’t be sure, since nobody actually knows how much anyone makes here.
One of my writing heroes, Dorothy Parker, who wrote for Vanity Fair magazine, once responded to a request from management that employees refrain from disclosing their salaries by painting hers on a sign and hanging it around her neck.
If Medium writers, in the spirit of Dorothy Parker, share what they are actually making here with each other, it would give all of us a much-needed reality check about what we can expect.
I’ll go first.
I’ve been on the platform since February 2019.
I have 7.5K followers.
My average payment per post is $15. But it can take a year for a post to reach this amount.
The most I’ve ever made for a single post is $1,100.
My average monthly take is $400.
And? For the past four months, Medium has seen fit to pay me an additional $500. (Thanks, Medium!)
Now it’s your turn.
Share your own Medium Money Information — and any other insights or advice you have about making money on this platform — in the Comments section. Bonus points for anyone who includes a photo of themselves with their monthly Medium payout on a sign around their neck. And, needless to say, if you tell us that the only way to make money on Medium is to pay big bucks for your How To Make Money On Medium course, your comment will be scorned, mocked, reviled and possibly deleted.
Writing Coach Roz Warren, who writes for everyone from the Funny Times to the New York Times, can help you improve and publish your work. Drop her a line at [email protected]. (That’s Ros with an “s,” not a “z.”)