The Psychology of Writing on News Break vs. Medium

Sometimes our writing satisfaction on a platform comes from what we’ve come to expect or accept.

I have an admission to make. I’ve been cheating on Medium.

Okay, maybe that’s not a realistic assessment, but it’s how I feel since I’ve been writing on News Break. Sometimes I hear the voice of Medium in my ear saying,

“Oh right. We were good enough for you when you didn’t know how much more you could earn on News Break. But the second something newer and shinier comes along you jump ship!”

To be fair, I haven’t jumped ship, nor has Medium lost its place in my heart. But it is true that I’ve been spending the majority of my time on News Break, since, at least for now, I’m making significantly more money, over 10 x the amount I normally make on Medium. I don’t think I’m alone in this.

I would guess that probably the majority of active writers on Medium are those for whom writing is a career or they’d like it to become one. This means it’s where we get all or most of our income from. Like everyone else, we need to keep the lights on and so sometimes this does mean changing direction for a period of time to take advantage of an earning opportunity.

But I’ve also had my struggles with News Break and don’t know how much I’ll write on it after the end of the second three-month period where they’ve offered writers new contracts with new earnings potential. At the end of this three-month period, unless they come up with another special contract with enhanced earnings options I don’t know how much I’ll still be writing there, as all my earning will come exclusively from page views.

The thing that doesn’t make complete sense which I am currently figuring out, is that doing the math, even with page views I’ll still likely make more on News Break than I do on Medium. So, you would think that lead me to continue spending most of my time on News Break. But I’m itching to turn all or at least the majority of my attention back to Medium.

The Psychology of Earnings: Earning a Lot for a While, Then Comparatively Little

By far, the biggest factor that has me eager to leave News Break and return to Medium is that at the end of these three months unless they change the earnings model again I’ll be only earning for page views. I know that many others feel the same way and are also planning to leave the site or at least limit their activity writing there.

Initially, for early creators we were offered a special, three-month contract which set criteria for earning what they called the guaranteed minimum amount including a certain number of followers and page views, but waived these requirements for six months. We received the guaranteed amount for writing 12 articles a month. It was a good deal compared to what you can earn elsewhere.

When the first cohort of writers approached the end of our three-month period, there was a lot of talk about leaving the site. Although we’d all fought for followers and promoted our work to get views it seemed that for the majority of us, we couldn’t fulfill the criteria we would then be held to in order to make the same amount.

As word of numerous planned defections reached the ears of those that ran News Break and they realized how many writers they stood to lose, they introduced a new earnings plan. It also had a new three- month offer with special conditions allowing us to earn a lot in a relatively short amount of time.

The new contract introduced Content Value scores for each story with scores of 1–4 earning one amount and score 5 and above earning over twice the amount. This was called base pay. It was limited to a specific maximum amount for each of the three months but this was 50 percent higher than what you could earn before on the previous contract. Additionally, you earned one amount per thousand page views for articles rated 1–4 and again, more than double that amount for articles rated 5 and above.

It took me a week or so to get a handle on how to consistently earn the higher scores to earn the top amount per article but at that point I got it down to a formula. I hit the cut off for base pay shortly after the start of the third week.

I also began to learn what kinds of articles are likely to get a significant number of page views so it was worth it to keep writing even though for the rest of the month I’ll only earn page views for these articles. I am a week away from finishing my first month and have earned over $2000 with the hopes of going up a few hundred dollars more on page views before the month’s up.

Yet, unless there is another change in the earnings model or a special offer of earnings for a period, when the three months are up I don’t know how much I’ll still write for News Break, even though I would still be able to earn for page views.

I’ve tried to figure out why this is, because looking at the amount for page views alone, it would still be more than I’m earning on Medium each month. So, what is making me less than satisfied with the amount?

I think the problem is that News Break has created a system where writers get used to earning an amount for a certain amount of work, and when that changes, even though they are still earning what may be more than other places, compared to what they used to make it looks like bubkis, resentment develops and interest drops.

This happened with the first contract. When News Break announced the second earnings model and special earnings period, there was a lot of griping from writers who realized they’d have to write two to five times the number of articles they did previously to earn the maximum base pay, though this was much higher than what could be earned before. This occurred despite the fact that you get paid even for previously published work and many writers relied on that exclusively so they weren’t even writing new material.

As of now, no new earning model or new special earnings period has been announced after the end of our second three-month period and if we stay with the current contracts. At that point since the base pay will no longer be available, comparing what we make after that to what we made before will be a blow. Going from earning thousands of dollars a month to hundreds for the same amount of work feels like going backwards. Writers are always striving to grow, expand and become more successful, however it is they define that concept.

From the time I began writing on Medium, it was clear what their earnings model was and with a couple of relatively small shifts in how earnings were calculated (which I supported), earnings were consistent and there weren’t major overhauls of the way things worked in terms of how you earned and how much you could earn. There may have been some dips along the way, I feel that in my case most of the I was responsible for because I’d slacked off or wasn’t writing as well as I had for a period.

I guess it all comes down to the way we view it. For me, it’s hard to look at it as a special bonus for a period of time since the high earnings were the way things started off with New Break. That gets to feel normal instead of a special circumstance so when the pay drops at the end of the defined period, suddenly the work may not seem like it’s worth it.

I don’t know if they’ll offer another pay incentive but am happy for the six months that I got which was generous given what other writing platforms pay. But at the same time I don’t know that I won’t feel some resentment, even knowing how things would work up front.

For those of you writing on News Break, do you think you’ll continue to do so once the special earnings period is over? Share your answer in the comments below.

News Break is accepting applications from new writers. Don’t be put off if they’ve turned you down before. There are several Medium writers who have successfully applied after first being turned down.

If you would like to earn extra income by becoming a writer for News Break or know someone who might, you can use this link to submit your application. Full Disclosure: This is my referral link for fellow writers. If you would like to sign up for the program, I’d really appreciate it if you would use it.

If you are just interested in reading articles on the site, you can download the app without applying to be a writer with this link.

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