To Those Who Missed Out on Medium’s Bonuses (Again)

Here are some crumbs of positivity I would binge on

At the end of April, many writers were pleasantly surprised to receive the email that broke the 500-dollar good news.

If only a simple email can brighten the mood like flipping the light on would a dark room!

I could see them beside themselves with excitement, rubbing their palms and smiling like the morning sun.

But like every new purchase, the excitement soon wore off. Many would revert to default settings.

And along with default settings came a few questions: What if I had missed out on this bonus? Would my approach change? What if, what if, what if?

Those questions were what some writers called reality. How come I missed out? Is my work that bad? Do I suck that much? What’s going on? Many unanswered questions swirled around.

Then May rolls to an end, and the bonus showers spritz again, this time in tiers of $50, $100, and $500. It wouldn’t surprise me to know many missed out again.

Sometimes, tough news is hard to take. For what it’s worth, I penned these words for anyone who missed out.

It doesn’t mean you’re a terrible writer

Look, with the many moving parts of the world, your first point of gratitude should be that you’re still drawing breath unaided.

The 10th best is that you can write something online that a human — and not only bots and crawlers — reads.

With a million articles published every second to compete for the attention of the only so many interested readers, your work is in serious competition all the time. Hardly surprising news, I know.

Also, I realize you may be dealing with more pressing issues than writing on Medium. The last time I checked, we’re still in the historical year of 2021.

Beyond the events of recent years, I realize you may have had exams to navigate, a new role to figure out, a new baby to nurture, a lifesaving surgery to recover from, or a deceased relative to mourn.

Many reasons outside your control could have played a part in you missing out on the bonuses. So no, it certainly doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. There’s not enough context and evidence to make that conclusion yet.

It doesn’t mean your career is over

Naa. Not for a second. I dare say it’s only just begun.

If I was a new writer who was writing for money, the news of a bonus payout to the top-performing writers on the platform is grease to my elbows. Or my wrists. I don’t care whether it’s $50 or $500.

I’m going all in and aiming at getting a slice too. ASAP, I’m learning how to improve my writing; I’m learning how to improve my writing; I’m learning how to improve my writing. I can’t stress that enough.

I can’t control how many people click and read my articles, but I can control the quality of my articles.

It doesn’t mean you’re lazy

Some topics perform better than others, some publications have a broader reach than others.

Some writers may be so far ahead it’s not even fair you’re all competing in the same field. But it’s really an honor you’re pitting your word against theirs. And that means their success has no bearing on your results.

It doesn’t mean they’re more hardworking than you. Nor does it mean they put in more work than you did. it may probably be the opposite. Dust yourself up and keep pushing.

It doesn’t mean the system is rigged against you

Because some early adopters are so far ahead on the curve, I’ve often thought the system somehow favors them.

I’m grateful the bonus payouts are going some way to clear all those doubts I had harbored. I know writers from different countries and across different genres received a share of the cake.

That you may have missed out doesn’t mean the system’s against you.

Yes, the bonuses are a kind of incentive (If money was your goal). But don’t let missing out distract you from why you write.

I know not everyone on here writes for the money. Everyone would publish an article every hour, breaking down their stats and earnings otherwise.

Writing is therapeutic, writing is cathartic, writing is refreshing: three simple reasons people choose to write. So whatever the reason, take pride in what you do.

All that matters is that you know what you want, you aren’t pretending, and you’re going all out for it, the right way, of course.

If you’re writing for the money, you can always look within, see where you’re lagging, and find ways to get better.

Here’s to more success.

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