Why the Medium Writers Contest Isn’t Great for Some of Its Writers

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p><h1 id="e71b">It’s a huge amount of money going to a few people after they’ve just taken away money for a lot of people</h1><p id="fecc">I was fortunate enough to get a $500 bonus and I was overjoyed. Easy come and easy go, though. However, it can feel a bit hard to swallow the loss of the bonus when you look at the prize money of this contest and think, “Oh, this was money they could have divided among 1000 writers. I applaud the person who wins the jackpot. The rest of us will be out here scrambling to make up for the non-subjective bonus we’d come to enjoy or try to work for.</p><h1 id="556d">It allows people to enter who aren’t Medium Members</h1><p id="0b96">Vocal is not my favorite platform. I’ve tried it but found it hard to connect with readers as easily as I can on Medium. Vocal’s contests have one thing I do wish Medium would incorporate. Those who enter have to be paying members of Vocal. That money they pay every month that goes into the pot is then put into contests. As paying members they are more likely to read other writers on the platform, thus continuing to spread the wealth. This is not so with the Medium contest coming up. You don’t have to have a green circle around your profile. You don’t have to ever read another Medium writer. You can signup for a free account, enter, and then walk away with the prize. A prize p

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aid for by the writers who are paying to write and be a part of the Medium community.</p><h1 id="1830">There’s a natural bias</h1><p id="d26a">As mentioned before, this contest is geared toward a personal essay. How do you know? Look at the judges. A good deal of them make their livelihoods through writing personal essays, teach classes about writing personal essays, and overall have expertise in personal essays. Do you think they’ll care if you write an in-depth piece about new technology that’s stopping death in mice? No, unless you somehow tie it into your own life, my friend. I’d also hope that the contest would be blind, meaning the judges (who have their own biases) couldn’t see who was writing. It’s a small thing. However, I do think it would make the contest fairer.</p><h1 id="c658">It’s a lot of hype for the company but less for the writers</h1><p id="b1e7">This is exciting news. For Medium. Big names are coming together to legitimize the work of their writers. Us writers though? We’re still floundering to get views and reads, and a platform that distributes its earnings more fairly. Will I enter this contest that Medium created? Probably not. I cheer on those who decide to give it a try. And I will keep cheering Medium on as it tries to find new ideas to help its loyal writers. Because this contest isn’t it.</p></article></body>

It’s focused on a very specific kind of writing

The contest features 4 lofty prompts to act as a starting off point. They all have one thing in common in the description that’s off-putting to many writers. It’s geared toward those who write personal essays. Now, I can write a personal essay, but I don’t always like to, nor does every writer feel comfortable sharing their personal lives. As it is, when you look at the judges and the contests language, Medium appears to be forgetting a good deal of its writers, who bring different kinds of writing to their platform.

It’s a huge amount of money going to a few people after they’ve just taken away money for a lot of people

I was fortunate enough to get a $500 bonus and I was overjoyed. Easy come and easy go, though. However, it can feel a bit hard to swallow the loss of the bonus when you look at the prize money of this contest and think, “Oh, this was money they could have divided among 1000 writers. I applaud the person who wins the jackpot. The rest of us will be out here scrambling to make up for the non-subjective bonus we’d come to enjoy or try to work for.

It allows people to enter who aren’t Medium Members

Vocal is not my favorite platform. I’ve tried it but found it hard to connect with readers as easily as I can on Medium. Vocal’s contests have one thing I do wish Medium would incorporate. Those who enter have to be paying members of Vocal. That money they pay every month that goes into the pot is then put into contests. As paying members they are more likely to read other writers on the platform, thus continuing to spread the wealth. This is not so with the Medium contest coming up. You don’t have to have a green circle around your profile. You don’t have to ever read another Medium writer. You can signup for a free account, enter, and then walk away with the prize. A prize paid for by the writers who are paying to write and be a part of the Medium community.

There’s a natural bias

As mentioned before, this contest is geared toward a personal essay. How do you know? Look at the judges. A good deal of them make their livelihoods through writing personal essays, teach classes about writing personal essays, and overall have expertise in personal essays. Do you think they’ll care if you write an in-depth piece about new technology that’s stopping death in mice? No, unless you somehow tie it into your own life, my friend. I’d also hope that the contest would be blind, meaning the judges (who have their own biases) couldn’t see who was writing. It’s a small thing. However, I do think it would make the contest fairer.

It’s a lot of hype for the company but less for the writers

This is exciting news. For Medium. Big names are coming together to legitimize the work of their writers. Us writers though? We’re still floundering to get views and reads, and a platform that distributes its earnings more fairly. Will I enter this contest that Medium created? Probably not. I cheer on those who decide to give it a try. And I will keep cheering Medium on as it tries to find new ideas to help its loyal writers. Because this contest isn’t it.