Medium Partner Program Monthly Wrap-Up — June 2022 (Month 4)

48 Articles Written and I’m very close to the $100 club!

This is month four of my first 6 months in the Medium Partner Program. I won’t write any more wrap-ups after that. I don’t think.

Well, June has been, let’s say, interesting. While my stats plummeted, my reading time did not, and I’m happy to say that my earnings have bumped up this month as well!

Lately, I have read more articles than ever from disgruntled writers who are leaving the platform. Most, if not all, are writers that have been around since the platform began. They claim that it has been ruined in the past two years and that ‘all the best writers’ are leaving. Another one goes on to talk about how negative the platform has become and that she can’t stand the drama.

Ummmmmm, hello? Where the heck are you finding this negativity and drama? Oh right, you are part of that crowd that does nothing but complain all day about how Medium sucks. I’m so sorry for you.

Anyways, my apologies about the mini-rant. I’m starting to ignore those articles because let's face it, Medium is awesome! The longer I am here, the more I understand the benefits of being here. This is just what I need and there will be no negativity coming into my Medium vibe.

I left all of that behind on Facebook, thank you very much!

First off, I would like to highlight some articles that really caught my eye this past month. There may well be many more, but these ones actually made it into my ‘June Notables’ list, so they were deemed worthy one way or the other.

I’ve been meaning to write posts like this for, at least, the past couple of months, but somehow never got around to it. I’m glad that I finally did and will look forward to more of these in the future.

I continue to write weekly updates about our traveling life over in Weeds & Wildflowers. I’m so grateful to Dennett for offering me a place to do this, and for always reading and commenting on my articles.

I also usually write for Jason Edmunds publication A Taste For Life each weekend for his weekend prompts. Thank you Jason for fostering our creativity by giving us fun prompts to write about each week.

I still enjoy submitting the odd photo story post to Six Word Photo Story Challenge. Mary Chang Story Writer has a great publication over there and I enjoy being challenged to write short-form (2-minute max). Plus it’s a fun way to share those unique photos. These are my submissions this month:

I would have to say that my favorite article that I wrote this month was for the Globetrotters monthly prompt Flow Like Water. I finally wrote a long-overdue story about the time that I sailed around the world. Honestly, it feels like it happened in a different life.

This has been my highest earning article, to date (more on that later) and I’m happy to say that it was chosen as a favorite for the challenge by one of the Editors. I also wrote another article about an epic kayaking adventure that I went on 20-ish years ago, and a couple of them liked that one as well.

Here is the post about the winners:

Thank you again, so much to the editors of Globetrotters Gerald Sturgill, JoAnn Ryan, and Adrienne Beaumont 🇦🇺 for your hard work and dedication to the success of the platform. I also want to thank Anne Bonfert for her prompt, without which, these stories may have been hidden for a while longer!

I’m happy to say that my own publication, Share Your Creativity is also flourishing. I now have 44 followers and 27 writers over there. Thank you all who continue to contribute to the publication and for offering to share your creativity! You are inspiring people to be creative, and it is such important work in this day and age.

If you are interested in getting creative, or want to share your stories, give us a follow and let me know your Medium handle in the comments. I will add you as a writer:)

Okay, now for the numbers.

Like I said above, despite my views and reads decreasing this month, my earnings have gone up. So I will take that as a sign that I am cultivating a nice group of friends that are interested in reading my work. I am eternally grateful to all of you who take the time to read, comment and clap for my stories. There is still so much more to come!

I wrote 48 articles this month which is actually pretty good considering that the first third of the month I was staying in a place with no plug-in power. (You can learn more about this experience by reading my second highest earning article below.) I could only charge my computer once per day (using a generator) and would have to just write what I could while the battery lasted, before having to quit until the next day. I did find this quite stressful as I had lots of ideas and things I wanted to write about, but not enough time to do it. That is the worst! There is nothing like having pent-up creativity that is desperately trying to get out!

I tell you, I almost got out the paper and pen a few times!

So without further ado, here are my stats and earnings for June:

As I said, these numbers dropped significantly from last month, but I have heard similar stories across Medium and I can only assume that with summer in full swing, people are outside and enjoying themselves. At least, I hope that is the case. Compare these to last month's numbers:

It’s interesting to note that my fans (claps) increased quite a bit, despite the downturn in reads and views. I have long ago given up trying to figure out how all of his works, I’m just interested in the final pay cheque. Ha! Speaking of which, I made over $30 more than last month and ALMOST reached the $100 club! My earnings took a big jump in the last week of the month, and on some days I was making $5/day. On June 30th, I made a whopping $9! So hopefully that momentum will continue into July.

I also picked up two more referred members at the end of June, so that helped in the final tally as well.

As mentioned above, my highest earning article, to date, has been my “I Sailed Around The World!” article. You can see below that it earned $7.20 and this is only the beginning for it. I just posted it about 10 days ago! I also had a few more articles in the $3 range and many in the $2 range.

This may seem like small peanuts to some, but it is a sign that I am growing here on Medium, and I am excited by the progress.

The screenshot below shows my top-earning stories in June. I will place a link below to each of them if you are interested in reading any.

This month I gained 222 followers and crossed the 1000 follower mark putting me at 1105 now.

I am more excited than ever about my Medium journey. And it isn’t just the fact that I am closing in on the $100 club (for those that don’t know, only 5–7% of writers make over $100), but it is because I am starting to focus on getting some of my past travel stories out. I feel like I have been walking around for 20-ish years like a locked up vault.

All of these stories, and nowhere to tell them.

Medium has provided that platform for me, and you, my audience is receiving them well. Thank you. I am so grateful that you take the time to read and respond to my stories. I really do feel like I’m shedding some sort of thick skin that I had developed over these past 20+ years. As I recall and write these stories, I am uncovering a past version of myself that has been buried below my facade of trying to be ‘normal.’

I now realize that normal should never be a word used to describe me, and for once, I am thrilled about it!

I know I’m like a broken record, and I think I say this every month, but I truly do still feel like I am just getting started!

July, I am coming for you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

With Gratitude,

xo Jill

Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We have now been on the African continent for over 2 years!

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