The Secret to Happiness on Medium

Change your approach with a different perspective.

After taking a semi-hiatus from Medium, I’m a different writer.

I’m a happier writer.

And you can be, too.

Let me back up…

A year ago, I took a break writing regularly on Medium. This was after breaking $1500 last March. Unfortunately, my Medium income then plummeted for multiple reasons. Fortunately, this decline was a huge catalyst for personal growth.

A year later, I’m writing on Medium more frequently. But my approach has changed. In short, I’m a happier writer on Medium.

And you can be, too.

What inspired this change?

My circumstances at home changed and the world changed.

Basically, during the pandemic, I had my husband and step-son working from home and a 5 year old daughter to keep out of their way. That did not leave much time for consistent writing.

Further, when the pandemic started, my kind of stories didn’t gain much traction (basically it seemed like only COVID related stories did). I also think readership generally went down.

This lead to a significant decline in earnings, which in turn discouraged me from investing as much time on Medium. I think a lot of Medium writers can understand this.

So, I decided to focus more on writing when I felt like it, rather than trying to make money on Medium, especially since that part seemed mostly out of my hands for — at least awhile.

After this past winter, my husband went back to work in person a couple of days a week. This gives me some extra time where I don’t have to corral my daughter. Also, with the election over and with the easing of the pandemic, I feel I have some emotional energy to spare. I can direct some of that extra energy to writing.

However, my approach has changed.

My break freed me.

Until I slowed down, I was writing pretty regularly — until I had over 100 articles in one year on Medium. I went from initially earning under $100 a month to, near the end, I was earning much more.

What did I do to get to that point?

I wrote regularly on a variety of subjects.

Not as consistently or frequently as some people. I never wrote three times a day. Occasionally once a day at my peak.

But, I think my regular contributions paid off. It improved my writing. Anything you do on a regular basis over a long period of time tends to improve. Writing regularly helped me develop a modest readership. Which led to more earnings. Essentially, the more I wrote, the more pieces I had to earn money. Just my back catalogue added up in ongoing revenue. Certainly, when I wrote less, and less often, my earnings waned more and more over time.

I wrote on subjects I cared about, but wrote on a variety of topics.

I wrote on my experiences grieving my dad originally when I started on Medium. It was really only why I started using the app, because I thought the app would be an easy way to record thoughts. Then, on a lark, I decided to join the Medium partner program.

I found some solace in writing about my dad and it was helpful in distracting me during a painful period of time. But, as time went by, it benefited me financially as well.

After awhile, I started to recycle some pieces I had written for other outlets, like HuffPost and various literary journals. I had a back log that could easily contribute to my frequency in publishing.

Then I leaned into various subjects I have experience with, and have written about before. I also had bits and pieces written already that I could incorporate into new articles.

I rotated and focused on mental health, grieving, family (in particular mothering), fiction, popular culture, and writing advice. I had expertise and experience about writing about all of these subjects. I might have done better with a more definite focus. However, having a few subjects I could bop around with kept me interested and inspired.

I got into a number of publications.

One of the keys to readership for me was getting into various publications. These included the big ones like PS I Love You, The Writing Cooperative, and Better Marketing. A number of my pieces in these were high earners initially, and consistent earners as well over time. For example, I still regularly made $1-$10 dollars on articles in those publications during the least lucrative months during my semi-hiatus.

I also got a piece published in Human Parts, which increased my followers a lot in a short time. I joined other publications that also helped to increase my readership, like with the publication Invisible Illness. My stories in there have done very well, too. I would experiment publishing in smaller publications, especially for pieces I wasn’t sure about. Some flopped initially and then would mysteriously pick up speed later. Others just flopped. I learned from those setbacks.

I got curated.

Curation functions differently now. It used to be a huge key to success. I’m not sure what purpose it serves at this point. Last year is way key to getting distributed widely.

Lots of people like Casey Botticello have lots of insight on how to be curated. I followed these suggestions and they worked most of the time.

Before a change (or better explication) of rules, I would also delete flops or unlist them and then improve and publish them again. That helped as a strategy to get curation on pieces I thought deserved curation but didn’t achieve it the first time around.

I participated in social media.

One way was by joining various Medium Facebook groups where I would share pieces and then read (and clap for, which originally was important to earning money) other people’s articles. It was a mutual boost.

I posted on my own Facebook pages and various groups I’m in, which would garner a lot of non-member readership. My hope was that would trigger something in the algorithm to get my articles shared more on Medium. I’m not sure if that actually happened, but it was an easy way to try.

I found sharing on Twitter was fruitful. I would schedule tweets to repeat via the tools on Manystories.com. This site is also a good place to share pieces.

I created my own publications.

The first was a varied topic type where I wanted to nurture uncommon voices. I established relationships with some writers this way and learned about owning a publication on Medium. This kind of went by the wayside when I went on my semi-hiatus. I might pick it back up eventually. I still have writers submitting things to have published in it. But, right now that isn’t a priority.

I also created another publication, called Pop Off, which was one of the first places on Medium to specifically publish on pop culture. It was a decentralized publication where every writer was an editor, so it kind of ran itself. That’s because this allowed writers to publish anytime they wanted, without my having to approve each one.

I had another account.

I created a pseudonym and wrote articles using an additional Medium account.

I wrote on a very popular subject and it was actually more lucrative than my main Medium account. But, it was incredibly narrow in focus, so it didn’t fulfill all my writing needs. Regardless, it was a nice boost for my self-esteem and my pocket-book. Also, it challenged me creatively and was freeing to have a whole different persona.

I read a lot of other Medium writers.

I became a fan of various authors, and read a lot of writing shared in Medium groups. This inspired me, taught me a lot, and helped me build relationships. I think it improved my writing as well.

There are probably a number of other secrets to my very modest success, but those are the main ones I can think of.

That’s how I started to build my earnings. These strategies might help other writers. Or, because of changes on the Medium platform, they might not.

But doing all of the above didn’t add up to happiness.

So what’s the secret to happiness on Medium?

Making money can’t be your focus.

Frankly, there’s a lot easier ways to make money writing than on Medium. However, the Medium community is unique. Belonging to a group of writers who encourage each other and readers who want to connect to you is inherently joyful. Other platforms are more a mixed bag in that way.

My focus on earnings got in the way of me appreciating that fact. Instead, I felt a lot of urgency and anxiety when I was trying to make more and more money.

I could get caught up in checking stats and fretting about changes in algorithms. I had to adjust to changes in how pay was calculated and earned. Which then shifted my strategies and amplified my ambition.

Now, I feel more relaxed about the whole experience. It’s not all about my shift in attitude here on Medium. This pandemic has also meant a lot of personal growth for me and made me more relaxed about life in general. It’s made me not sweat the small stuff, and in the grand scheme of things, publishing on Medium is small stuff.

The fact is, I came back to Medium with a fresh outlook. I had time to process what I had learned. I felt like I was putting on some comfortable old shoes, but also felt excitement that can get lost when you are focused on “making it” on Medium.

The Medium community has changed.

I noticed that a number of the writers I had interacted with, and/or become a fan of, had really blossomed on Medium. By consistently writing and developing relationships, they seemed to be achieving a lot of success. And I don’t mean financial success.

I learned that some writers I liked left because of being burnt out because they stopped earning as much, possibly because of algorithm changes. Others stayed hoping their earnings will eventually bounce back.

The writers who stayed on a consistent trajectory seemed to be succeeding overall — not necessarily in terms of making money, but in finding happiness on Medium.

What I am most interested in when looking at other examples of success has changed. I’m not impressed by writers increasing their readership. Rather, I admire the relationships they have developed with their readers. The level of engagement is notable and enviable. It’s what I think is the real secret to happiness here on Medium.

Goals change with change in perspective.

I used to define success in terms of how many people read my stories.

Now, I get pleasure in having one person really appreciate a piece. I enjoy reading various comments, more than having large amounts of reads or fans. I am not obsessively reading the stats and my mood isn’t affected if I do check them. I take it all more in stride.

Because I kept reading Medium writers during my semi-hiatus, I have a different relationship with the platform. This fact influences my goals.

I think being a reader more than a writer on Medium is good. For me, it balances out the ambition I used to feel, and has made me more appreciative of other people’s writing, rather just looking at what the platform can provide me as a writer.

This shift from writer to reader who writes inspires me to edit.

I mentioned before that I am approaching my publication Pop Off a bit differently. I’m taking a more hands on approach. I’ve revamped the publication, such as with a custom domain name, Popoff.us, and layout changes. I have also created a social media presence for the publication.

Doing more work on Pop Off actually makes me more invested in its success — rather than only my success. Making Pop Off more successful by putting more energy in it is important to me now, in addition to my own journey as a writer.

Focusing outward is joyful.

How can you be a happier Medium writer?

Define success differently.

Success isn’t just about making money or having more readers. Success also means doing what gives you joy.

We can get too caught up in what it means to be financially successful on this platform. The real secret to success on Medium is being happy.

Check out my other passion project, “Briefly by Melissa” at BrieflyMelissa.com.