avatarAllison Cecile

Summary

A writer shares their journey of discovering that good writing alone is insufficient for success on Medium, emphasizing the importance of networking, engagement, and understanding the platform's dynamics.

Abstract

The author begins with the aspiration to replicate the success stories of Medium writers who earned significant income from their articles. Despite initial discouragement from a lack of engagement with their first article, they persevered, eventually realizing that writing quality content is only the first step. Success on Medium also requires strategic self-promotion, networking with other writers, and leveraging the platform's publications to reach a wider audience. The writer acknowledges the challenge of building a following and the necessity of engaging with the community through comments and claps. After a period of reflection and a shift in approach, the author managed to get published in a Medium publication, leading to increased earnings and a renewed sense of motivation.

Opinions

  • The author initially believed that good writing would naturally lead to success on Medium.
  • They experienced self-doubt and fear when first publishing their work, but received positive feedback from their personal network.
  • Despite the encouragement, the writer felt discouraged by the lack of financial return from their articles.
  • The author realized that Medium's algorithm and the concept of followers are similar to other social media platforms, requiring active promotion and networking.
  • They recognized the importance of engaging with other writers and following submission guidelines for publications to increase visibility.
  • The writer's perspective shifted from expecting immediate success to understanding the need for a strategic approach to content distribution and community engagement on Medium.
  • The author's success in getting published and the subsequent increase in earnings, albeit modest, has reinforced their commitment to writing on the platform.

STRUGGLES

The Moment I Realized Good Writing Isn’t Good Enough

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

After being hit with article after article of Medium success stories from “How a New Writer Made $6,000+ With One of Her First Medium Stories” to “I’m a Mega Medium Success, and You Can Be One Too”, I thought to myself, “Hey, I can do that. That doesn’t look so hard. I can write!”

So how did my first attempt at writing on Medium go?

First off, I realized that writing is one thing; publishing your writing is another. Putting your writing out there in the digital world is so much harder than I thought. That nagging voice of self-doubt, that fear of being judged, that voice that beckons you back to the safety of not clicking that green “Publish” button.

After obsessively proofreading my first article and stewing on it for a few days, I hit that scary green “Publish” button. Here’s to sharing my article for the world of Medium to enjoy, criticize and heckle at.

But my world did not explode. It was a rather anti-climactic experience. After 24 hours, I had a handful of views and only one or two reads.

It was the opposite of anti-climatic actually. It more so resembled the sound of crickets. I felt like I’d tanked with my first article.

I originally was shy about posting it to my own personal Facebook. It’s one thing for faceless strangers to troll other faceless strangers behind the security of the computer screen. But it’s quite another to share it with your friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, and other miscellaneous people that have crept onto your Facebook friend list through the years.

So faced with either crickets for companion, or having to own the words I write and the opinions I have, I took my second big leap of faith and shared it with my world of Facebook.

Now the comments came in and I half-started to feel sheepish about all the doubts I had. Encouragement poured in from folks telling me how enjoyable it was to read and how I’ve got a real talent for writing. Other people opened up about their own experiences, and how they wished someone had those open, honest conversations with them earlier.

I felt great! I felt validated, and I was starting to feel more confident!

But looking at that blasted “Medium Partner Program” page and constantly checking in on my stats painted a very different picture. I made nothing from my first article. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Double goose eggs.

Despite all the positive feedback and encouragement I had received, I guess I wasn’t cutting it. But hey, that was just my first article. I’ll keep trying.

Maybe it was naive of me, but after reading so many success stories of people just getting picked up by publications or curated by Medium, I thought it would just magically happen to me too. That somehow, Medium wasn’t the same as the world of Instagram where you spend more time trying to grow your followers than on cultivating the content itself. Somehow I thought that because it’s so much harder to write openly and honestly and create high-quality work, the algorithms of Medium would account for this and magically find me.

Well, Medium’s algorithms did not find me. I published 12 articles in my first year with Medium and, even though one of my articles did get curated under the topic of “race”, I still didn’t get my big break.

I made a whopping $0.23 in 2020. Not $0.23 per article — $0.23 in total after self-publishing 12 articles in one year.

Needless to say, that was quite discouraging.

So, what changed and why am I still writing here on Medium?

It’s not that I’m a masochist who enjoys failing, and it’s not that I’m this deep well of resilience that can handle rejection after rejection. I took some time away from Medium, but even as I put it down, the topics I wanted to write about and the ideas that I had kept bubbling up.

So I returned to Medium but this time, knowing that I would do things differently.

I probably should have clued in on this when I was first scoping out Medium. To see if it was legit before handing over my banking information and all.

Medium is created by Ev Williams, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. Initially, I thought, “Oh, this looks legit!” but after taking some time to reflect, let’s marinate on Twitter.

Of all the social media platforms out there, Twitter was at the forefront of this concept of followers. It led and arguably created this concept of quite literally building a following of people who are interested in your thoughts. This translates to eyeballs reading your work, which translates to income for the aspiring writer.

As the saying goes, it’s not how good your writing is; it’s how good you promote your writing.

With this realization, I sighed. I don’t like this aspect of social media. I don’t like this focus on growing your followers. I don’t even use Twitter.

But sometimes you have to play the game. And I knew I could do it because I’ve grown my dog’s Instagram account to 17k+ followers (but that’s a story for another time). Not with clickbait or bots, but by authentically building connections, relationships, and interactions with others.

Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, it takes time. Yeah, it takes personal investment.

Armed with this mindset, I started seeing Medium as more of a social media outlet and started to do the following:

  • I made sure to follow the publications that I want to write with
  • I started making a concerted effort to engage with other writers
  • I took the time to read through other writers’ work and I made sure to clap and comment to let them know that someone out there has read and reflected on their words (knowing how much each clap and comment means to me, I wanted to share more of that with other writers)
  • I see each clap that I leave and each comment that I publish as a calling card, crumbs to lead other writers (and readers) to my work

I also took a second (and smarter) look at Medium publications and their ability to let you quickly reach out to a wider network. Especially since, as a new writer, I had no followers and no network of my own to leverage.

Instead of jumping out of the gates with guns blazing for the biggest and top Medium publications (some of which have rejected me multiple times already), I targeted smaller publications that would be more open to either accepting my articles or at least working with me to get a piece over the finish line. I made sure to review the submission guidelines line by line, and I took the time to read through headlines in those publications to get a feel of what they’re looking for and what catches the editors’ eye.

Lo and behold, I finally got picked up and published by my first publication! Oh, that rush of excitement and joy that I felt! That feeling of exuberance that I had it in me! That validation that I can do it!

So, is the second time the charm or will I need to take another break to muster my resilience for a third kick at the can?

I’m currently on Day 7 of my second attempt on Medium and I’ve managed to pull in $1.54. While I’m really far from quitting my day job and becoming a full-time writer, let’s focus instead on progress. I’ve made more than 6x my 2020 annual earnings! That’s one perk to starting off so poorly … it makes any progress seem like an astronomical improvement!

I’m feeling more energized and motivated than ever before, and I’m excited to see where this writing adventure takes me!

Writing
Resilience
Social Media
Personal Growth
Struggle
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