Writing | Tips

Medium Money Trees, Ripe for the Picking

How to succeed as a writer without really dying

We know everyone’s dying to learn the secrets to making money without working — better yet, while sleeping. And we’ve read our fair share of “insider secrets” and “tips and tricks” and, well, maybe some work for some people, some of the time. But that’s not what “being a writer” is all about.

Being a writer requires a love of the written word. Sometimes, it seems like a love-hate relationship, as we wrangle the words to communicate, with readers, exactly what we have bouncing around in our heads. But in the end, it’s in our veins, and sometimes it feels as if our veins are full of ink that oozes from our pores and out our fingertips.

This story is for serious writers who would also like to do a bit better at earning their pennies on Medium without resorting to cheap tricks that take them far from their real love: words.

Improve Your Writing Skills

Now and then, I stumble across a bit of writing advice that doesn’t break all its own rules. Never mind that I can’t write “7 Tips for Writing Badly” without screwing it up and inserting something that’s actually good writing advice (only one Editor, off-site, caught me at it, so now it’s just an inside joke). Now and then, I find good writing advice and feel compelled to share it:

Not only do the readers on Medium love the fresh, thought-provoking, and beautifully written stories and poems, they crave fresh food. If a topic looks hot and interesting, serve it up before it grows cold. It doesn’t have to be rushed, sloppy, or callously controversial — I’m talking timely and accurate, or with the promise of updates. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon half-cocked and ready to raise a ruckus. If you do, be prepared to issue retractions, updates, and do the due diligence to correct any misinformation you helped to put out there.

Hot topics for me, this month, have included simple analysis on changes to the terms of service on Medium (with updates as those were clarified and updated), as well as stories on writers’ rights under copyright law, what constitutes public domain, current copyright violations, and how to find a violator’s web hosting company and submit a complaint.

Aside from that, people seemed to like my poetry.

I cannot say that stories placed in publications or stories that “got curated” did significantly better or worse than stories I simply published.

Build Your Audience

I hate to use the word “following.” You could “follow” me all over the Internet, but God only knows where I’m “leading” you as a writer. Down the garden path, most likely. Into an intriguing rabbit hole, maybe. In a raucous dance to an off-tune piper, perhaps.

I make no promises, folks. I can’t teach you how to make money in your sleep, or sell vague “products” on the Internet. I can’t give you a magic formula for Medium success — though I did, at the last minute, slide into home plate to land a spot in the elusive 5.8% Club. But if you like anything you’ve read here, I’d love for you to click that Follow button next to my name, and come along for the ride.

Benny Lim lays out the case for why it matters — and why it’s about to become a whole lot more important:

I will add that you should probably make the larger, general-interest publications work for your following. Try unfollowing them for a week and see how that changes what you see on your Medium front page. Follow the writers whose work you consistently enjoy. Follow the publications that showcase the writing you consistently enjoy — otherwise, just visit them now and then to find new writers, and follow them individually.

What Makes ME Follow or Unfollow People Here?

1I try to follow, first and foremost, writers whose work I’ve really enjoyed on a consistent basis. Not necessarily a single story, but several. I will admit to giving some preference to paid members; after all, they are the ones who are contributing to my earnings here, as well, even if it’s just a few pennies a month. But if someone writes fantastic stories, using language that sings, I’m going to follow them whether they have a little green semi-circle around their picture or not.

2I try to follow people who leave thoughtful comments on my work, or whose comments on other people’s work are meaty and thought-provoking and inspire some discussion. I will follow these folks independently of whether I love their other writing or not, because they’ve shown themselves to be engaged readers and conversationalists. Medium is a blogging platform, not a traditional news media outlet or a magazine. Conversation matters; communication, here, is a two-way street. I value that, a lot. I enjoy it.

3I have tried to remove, from my “following” list, those who are no longer active on Medium, and those who are here as readers only. I love these folks — I truly love all the readers in the world who don’t fancy themselves as “writers” — but they don’t need “followers,” do they? They are the ones who decide whether we writers are worthy of following or not. So consider that when doing the “follow for follow” thing — there’s no good reason to follow back someone who’s not writing and publishing stories at all. If you’re a long-time reader who suddenly gets the itch to write, please drop a link to your first story in a comment on one of mine, and I’ll be happy to take a look, and maybe follow!

4I try to remove, and unfollow with extreme prejudice, the copycats — the plagiarists and copyright violators who worm their way onto a platform, thinking to make a few bucks off other people’s efforts. I refuse to reward them, and I suggest they not follow me, because I will report them when I see them.

Learn to Promote Yourself (Because You Don’t Have a Bot Army to Do It For You)

Friends, readers — a word?

Writers live and die by word of mouth promotion. See those little social media icons near the title of each story here — the ones that look like this:

Most of the writers I know are hopeless introverts and fairly clueless when it comes to doing their own marketing, advertising, and public relations. It’s not natural. Even if we manage an effective PR campaign, deep down in our souls, we feel like sleazy sellers of rip-off Ginzu knives at a second-rate state fair in some little square state out west that no one can identify on a map.

Normally, I wouldn’t ask, but behind me are hundreds, if not thousands, of writers pushing me forward, begging me to speak for them:

We suck at this. Please help us.

If you love us (or hey, even if you just don’t hate us enough to enjoy thinking about us hanging out on a street corner with a pencil cup and a sign saying, “Buy me coffee before I kill someone in my novel), share.

Click the bird and tweet. Better yet, highlight a favorite sentence or two, then hit that bird and tweet — it’s much more likely to pique your Twitter followers’ interest if there’s a teaser, and if that teaser is why you found it interesting enough to share.

Hit the “in” and tell all your colleagues you read this thing and it’s made you smarter, more successful, and instantly more promotable. Click the “f”— because giving the “f” to Facebook is the only way, lately, to slip a Medium link past the algorithmic gatekeepers. Clearly, we’re all a bunch of troublemakers who deserve to be banned. I don’t know, but I’m starting to wear it like a badge of honor.

Writers: Get Clever

Writing for Reading Rhombus is a great way to promote yourself and others, as well as a fantastic way to build a network among colleagues. The whole idea, here, is to write well and showcase four other writers in the process — what’s not to love? Give readers an in-depth introduction to writers and topics they may enjoy, while giving a wider reach to those writers than they had before.

In more general terms, here are some creative ways to promote your writing that don’t involve lots of cheap make-up and posing under a streetlamp on Twitter:

Love Instagram, but find that “one link in bio” bit frustrating? Try smart.bio by Tailwind. (I think that clicking that might get you a credit, courtesy of me, but it really gets me nothing, because I’m not on a paid plan and don’t plan to be.) Still, there you go — a way to expand that one link into more, so you can promote your own website, your books on Amazon, your Medium writing, and your favorite social media pages.

Here are a few more ideas for using Instagram as a writer:

Position Yourself for Success

You may not make a gazillion bucks while snoozing away, but if you constantly work to improve your writing, build a real and engaged audience — one you can count on to help spread the word about how fantastic your work is, and try to promote your writing in both the tried and true, and novel ways, you will succeed as a writer.

Wait.

Scratch that. You still have to write something worth reading. Do more of that, too! As Tom Clancy once said to me, “Just write the damned book.”