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#Writing Pro Tip

The Secret To Grow Your Audience: Reading Reciprocity — You Can’t Skip This Step and Expect Success

Medium is a community, if you want community support — you have to support the community

Photo by Mathilde Langevin on Unsplash

Nine months ago, I was feeling stagnant and defeated and I wrote this piece:

My goal was: 500 followers and a minimum of 100 views and readers for every post. While I surpassed my goal of followers. My readership is a slow build and I’m actually enjoying the journey.

Back then and somewhat now, my want for followers and readers was based on my financial need and wanting a sense of place and accomplishment. Two men from ILLUMINATION responded and advised me to “read more”. At first, I was offended thinking they were “mansplaining” the process, but I was open to feedback. We ended up having an interesting exchange and I have to admit — they were right.

I’ve spent the last 9 months improving my writing, reading and becoming true fans of some of Medium’s rock stars like Henery X who was one of the men who gave me that sage advice. Then, I started to follow Zuva, who was and still is a phenomenal writer and now the editor of her own wildly successful publication, An Injustice! I started reading and following other writers from P.S. I Love You, ZORA, POM, Human Parts, Annelise Lords, Ratchet Womanist, ◦•●✿ Christina M. Ward ✿●•◦, Ezinne Ukoha, Sam McKenzie Jr., Tom Handy, Morgan Jerkins, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Tony Young, Jr., The Only Black Guy In the Office, Nia Simone McLeod, Dr. Dion, Roz Warren, Ryan Fan, DarkSkyLady, Tinu Abayomi-Paul — to name a few…

I was reading and slowly gaining a following, but I wanted and needed engagement with my readers and with fellow writers, but it needed to be culturally competent. Being a new, unknown writer to Medium and growing a reader base is challenging, but when you add the intersections of race, gender, and age it seems like it moves at a glacial pace. Yet, I wanted something more - that just didn’t include my wants. I wanted my success to be part of my community and as an individual who’s part of a collective — but it needed to happen organically.

Community

Last December 2020 I decided I needed to branch out. I took a leap of faith and reach out to a younger writer I’d been following. I was amazed at how polished and well-researched — yet conversational her pieces were. They were fact-based fire and I couldn’t keep up (still can’t). I wanted to have a conversation with her. Then, I noticed she was following my work, too.

Community brings all our favorite writers and readers together and organically formed a community of support because we took the time to read, comment and share other writer’s work.

I messaged her on Christmas eve inviting her to co-host a Clubhouse chat for writers of color. Then, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs, the Deputy Editor of Zora and the Managing Editor of Momentum, major Medium publications jumped on board and we formed a community of writers and editors. In less than a month we’ve grown from 6 people on hopeful chat to a group of close to 45 creatives on Medium and beyond. Now we host weekly Clubhouse chats, and monthly Zoom meetings (to include people who don’t have an iPhone) and now we have a Slack workspace to bring everyone together.

We brought all our favorite writers and readers together and organically formed a community of support because we took the time to read, comment, and share other writers’ work. One of our most frequently asked questions is: How can I grow an audience on Medium? I recently wrote in one of our “recaps”, “the key is consistency and reciprocity”.

Like any relationship you have to invest a lot of time and it won’t happen over night, but if you’re consistent your audience will grow and a core group of dedicated followers will form…

I also suggested, “… that you add [reading and commenting] to your writing and publishing routine. When you write, edit and publish a piece, take the time to read some of your reader’s work.”

It feels good to be seen, heard, and read. I love to read other writers, comment and my new favorite phrase is “I #50ClappedThat” — it’s my way to encourage my fellow writers.

Medium has a great reminder and alert system so everyone knows where there’s fresh, new material — so you can read the latest pieces and have your latest piece read at the same time.

You have to love writing and be open to reading and engaging with other writers. You may not agree with everything they say, but you’re guaranteed to learn something new and grow as a writer as your audience and readership grows.

You simply can’t skip this step. There isn’t a shortcut — except the magic of “going viral”, but like all fads — those people leave, and (hopefully) you’ll be left with your dedicated readers and a few new ones.

I read, comment, Tweet and repeat as part of my reading and writing routine on Medium.

I say devote 15–30 minutes, a minimum of 3 times a week to read your comments, respond, and then read a piece from a commenter — they’ve already shown an interest in your work. I read, comment, Tweet and repeat as part of my reading and writing routine on Medium.

Another way to squeeze in some reading is to do a subject search on your topic, read and comment and see how your readership and followers grow. The beauty of writing is once someone likes your writing style they tend to read your new pieces and Medium has a great reminder and alert system so everyone knows where there’s fresh, new content -so you can read the latest pieces and have your latest piece read at the same time.

I hope you’ve found this helpful and if you’re a writer or editor of color please join one of my writing events, for more information follow iWriteTee on Twitter.

Thank you for reading.

Special thank you to Kawandeep Virdee and Shaq Cheris for reaching out and sharing this on Creators Hub.

This article was edited to update publications, correct typos, etc.

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