Summary

An author reflects on their first 30 days of writing on Medium, detailing their achievements, challenges, and lessons learned, including writing frequency, curation, earnings, and engagement metrics.

Abstract

In the first 30 days of writing on Medium, the author published 13 articles while maintaining a full-time job, achieving two curations, and earning $5.32 through the Partner Program. The author shares insights on the importance of reads over views, the impact of editing and formatting on curation and publication acceptance, and the value of engaging with an audience through social media and newsletters. Despite the modest earnings, the author is motivated by the progress made and sets ambitious goals for the following month, including increasing curation rates and growing their Instagram presence.

Opinions

The author believes that member reads are more valuable than views because they directly contribute to earnings.
Posting an article on personal Facebook was not as effective for driving traffic as anticipated due to the non-member audience.
Curation is seen as a significant milestone, with the author celebrating their first double curation and its positive effect on visibility.
Editing and formatting are considered key factors in getting articles curated and accepted into publications.
The author is optimistic about their writing journey on Medium, expressing excitement about continuing to write and engage with their audience.
The author values being published in various Medium publications as a way to reach different audiences and adhere to diverse submission standards.
Despite the small financial return, the author is encouraged by their ability to cover the cost of a Medium membership with their earnings, indicating a sense of achievement and potential for growth.

Writing on Medium

Takeaways From My First 30 Days On Medium

What I learned about stats, curation, and writing.

I published my 1st article on April 11th, which means I just hit my 30-day mark on Medium. During this time, I learned, experimented, and read a lot, and I hit some pretty cool milestones. I’ve also set some lofty goals for what I want to achieve in the next 30.

Let’s take a look back on how the first 30 went and see what my main takeaways are!

April 11th-April 30

Summary:

In my first 20 days, I published 8 articles.

I work full time, so this was challenging for me to do. It was also challenging for me to wrap my head around getting to a point where I could do more. Things seemed to come in stride, however, as I found myself drawn to wake up earlier than I typically would throughout the week to get some writing time in. I have also been writing during my lunch break and writing from my phone in any downtime I find.

Also, I’ve found that the ideas for things I’d like to write about just keep coming. I really hope that doesn’t stop and that I continue to be influenced by life around me.

I got brave enough to post an article I wrote on my personal Facebook page — and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, I’m not convinced that very many people realized that I wrote it, as opposed to simply sharing something written by someone else that I found interesting. This posting on Facebook is what garnered the really high Views day that you’ll see below.

Stats:

Views: 358 Reads: 237 Read Ratio: 66%

Curation:

My 7th article, Is Perusing Social Media A Hobby, was my first to be curated! It was distributed in Social Media.

To clarify, at the time it was curated, there were still a couple of stories that had been published before it that were still “hanging tight”. They didn’t end up being curated, however.

Partner Program Earnings:

$2.11

Takeaway #1:

Views don’t mean much; reads are what matter. And reads from members are how you’ll actually be compensated.

I learned this after sharing on my personal Facebook. It was a good exercise in bravery, but at the time I was also hoping to drive traffic to the article. It worked, but not in the way I had truly hoped since I forgot one crucial piece: much of my Facebook audience is not Medium members.

May 1st-May 10th

So far in May, I’ve published 6 articles.

Which means, I’ve definitely been writing more! I was able to publish almost has many articles in 10 days, as I was in the previous 20. I set a goal to publish 5 articles per week in the month of May and I successfully hit this goal during the first week of the month.

What’s more, is that I’m on track to do that again this week, because I’ve got several articles on deck. I’ve also got several ideas somewhat mocked up in my drafts. I think I’ve finally figured out a writing routine or system that works for me. Much of it still involves my mornings and lunch hours, but I also buckle down and put some writing time in on the weekends.

Stats:

Views: 439 Reads: 224 Read Ratio: 51%

Curation:

I received my second curation and my first double curation at the same time! My 10th story, You Need A Digital Detox Now More Than Ever, was curated in Mental Health and Social Media.

That explains the other bursts in my views. This double curation happened in the chunk of high views from May 2nd-4th. It is also responsible for that final spike in views. Excitingly, this spike has continued into today and I’m looking forward to seeing how this winds up.

Partner Program Earnings:

$3.21

Takeaway #2:

Editing and formatting are important. No, they’re key!

It’s crucial to make your articles look nice, be easy to read, and be as free of errors as possible. This is how you will get curated. Not only is it important to edit and format for curation, but for acceptance into publications.

Publications have the audience that I don’t yet have. But, to get in, I have to meet their submissions standards, and these often tie back in with the curation guidelines.

Overall — My First 30 days

I have published 13 articles and I’m really proud of that. While only 2 of them have been curated so far, 5 of them are “still processing” and I’m holding out hope that the many things I’ve learned about formatting and editing will pay off and result in additional curation.

Stats

Views: 943 Reads: 520 Read Ratio: 55%

Curation:

Of the 8 articles that have been reviewed for curation, 2 of them have been distributed in topics. This makes my overall curation rate 25%.

Partner Program Earnings:

$5.32

Takeaway #3:

I can do this! And I’m really excited to keep doing it.

I earned enough to pay for my Medium membership. Well, I would have if I wasn’t still in my free trial. Which means this was pure profit!

Other Things Of Note

Followers:

I have 97 followers. I don’t know that this means much in and of itself, but I’m taking it to mean that people are interested in the content I’m producing and that I should consider starting a newsletter.

I’ve been published in:

Hello, Love Change Becomes You Be unique Invisible Illness ILLUMINATION Live Your Life On Purpose

This isn’t a “brag” at all. It’s more to say that I’ve been brave and putting myself out there with pubs of various sizes, topics, and submission standards. It has been a positive experience and has made me confident in continuing to experiment with this more.

Goals For The Month of May

Publish 5 articles per week.
Grow my Instagram. — Come say hello!
Increase my rate of curation.