Two and a Half Years on Medium — Has it Been Worth It?

A comparison of adult content vs non-adult

Do you want to know the reality of writing on Medium from someone who has been here for two and a half years? The Medium reports from people who have been making big bucks might encourage you to write but here’s some realities.

I’ve been on Medium since June of 2019, with this account. My first article was earlier than this but I don’t count it because it’s not behind the paywall and I published it and then wrote nothing else for three years.

I joined Medium with a second account in December of 2019. This account was strictly for adult content — fiction and non-fiction. I keep that account fairly secret so the two accounts don’t benefit from any cross promotions.

Money over the years

I think when people read these income reports they want to know the details. I don’t mind sharing, but that might be because I’m not rich from Medium. I can see why some choose not to share.

In total, in two and a half years, I’ve made $4,068.84 US. I’m Canadian so that works out to $5,144.25 (roughly, depending on the shitty value of our $). That works out to $171.48 per month extra in my pocket.

On average, I’m making a little over $10/story published.

For comparison, I’ve made $3000 more here than I’ve made on Amazon with ebooks in the same time period. The amount of content produced is likely not the same though.

Content production

The amount I write each month varies because I also write as a freelancer and I publish ebooks. Some months I have more time. Other months I need to put most of my effort on immediate income.

On this account I have published 146 stories (not including this one).

On my other account, I’ve published 346 stories.

Yes, that means I make way more with my adult content than I do with non-adult content.

Over the past few months I’ve been writing more on this account. I had an article go viral. This article has made $535 and change in two and a half months and it makes up the bulk of my earnings on this account:

Seeing that one article go viral encouraged me to write more here. Is it worth it? Maybe. It’s too soon to tell.

Averaged out, I’m writing an article every other day, across two accounts.

Comparisons between the two accounts

Over all, adult content does sell. I found it much easier to make money with the fiction and even the non-fiction did better. On my other account, all of my top ten highest earning articles are fiction. Most of them are with a specific publication.

On this account, fiction makes very little money; the same applies to poetry. I write a bit of poetry here and there because I like to.

Most of my articles on this account have earned less than $10. Some of them have earned in the twenties, but only a couple.

On my other account, my top ten stories have all earned over $50 with several of them earning more than $100.

Why is this? Is it just because sex sells?

Maybe. But I have another theory.

The audience on Medium for adult content might be smaller than all the other non-adult niches combined but the readers and the writers of adult content consume content voraciously. They can’t get enough. They read all the way through, they clap, they highlight, and they comment.

On top of that, they are very engaged on Twitter. It’s a tight knit little community.

My mainstream stuff…well, it’s just harder to get going with it and even harder to keep it going. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up.

What can you expect from Medium?

Is it fair to yourself to expect that you can do the same thing as the big names on Medium? Maybe. Maybe not. It really depends on your personal situation.

You might have a job or two jobs, a family, or other things that require your time. Not everyone can produce and article a day (or several in some cases) to get the momentum going that seems to be necessary to make big bucks on Medium. Some people do it without that daily post but maybe they have something else. They could already have an audience or they may be great at titles. Maybe they just write in a way others relate to.

It’s near impossible to figure out why one person makes $1000 a month after being here for only a couple months and another person makes $100 a month after being here for years.

Should you just quit then?

No. Absolutely not. Not if you like writing. Not if you like expressing yourself.

The truth is, for most people, success in content creation only comes with years of experience. Are you willing to put in the time?

So, there’s my experience with Medium. I’m not trying to convince you to write here or not to write here. I’m just hoping that you will see that Medium can be a great place to write and you can make money from it. There’s no way of guessing how much you’ll make though.

If you like what I write here on Medium and you’re reading without a membership, you might notice that you can only read three stories per month. If you create an account, you can read five stories per month for free. But if you become a member (only $5/month or $50/year) you can read as many stories and article as you want, with no ads. You can become a paying member here (and if you use my link, I’ll retain a portion of your membership fee each month).

You can also show your support for my work by buying me a cup of coffee.