READING | FANS | MEDIUM | FOLLOWERS | AUTHOR STATISTICS

What Are Your Fans Reading?

5 Ways to Analyze Your Stats to Get More Readers

I’ve stopped writing about adoption, even though I’m an expert in adoption issues that folks who’ve been adopted might experience or struggle with.

I’ve read dozens of books and studied the topic thoroughly. And as an adoptee, I’ve worked on my own adoption issues in therapy and various healing modalities. Have a website about adoption.

I’ve stopped writing about ADHD in adults or in kids even though I’m an expert in ADHD. I was born with it. I spent years studying ADHD.

As an ADHDer, I worked on my ADHD issues in therapy, in workshops and webinars and a dozen healing modalities. I’ve taught about ADHD to parents, teachers, entrepreneurs. Written blog posts, sent out emails, built a website dedicated to ADHD.

Why have I stopped writing about adoption and ADHD? Why didn’t I finish the adoption website?

If you guessed I stopped because I got bored with these two topics, you’re right. That’s certainly part of the reason, but it’s not the main reason.

Recently I looked at the statistics on my 45 posts on Medium, specifically at the number of reads. Not just which article got the most views. Which article got the most claps or comments.

I separated the posts into categories: adoption, ADHD, writing and reading, family stories, my life, humor. Then added a story about my birth-father on D-Day and one about COVID-19 and George Floyd

Writing and reading got the most engagement from my followers. Lots more than other categories! I didn’t anticipate this even though I have a background in writing and editing.

I didn’t intend to write as many posts about reading and writing. Just kinda happened because they were easy to write if I couldn’t think of something else. Or the something else was long and complex, and I wanted to get something up quickly when I was short of time.

Adoption and ADHD got the least engagement from my followers. Nobody on Medium cares about either of these topics.

If nobody cares, why would I continue to write about these topics just because I’m an expert? Doesn’t make sense. I don’t do it anymore. Since I’m bored with both, I was relieved when I made this discovery.

But wait, I missed the two biggies: “He Was of The Greatest Generation” got the most views and the most reads. (Ironically, it is an adoption story.)

“He” was John Derrick Halls, my birth father, who was killed on D-Day, June 6, 1944 at the Battle of Brecourt Manor in Normandy. Andrew Scott, an Irish Actor, played him in Steven Spielberg’s HBO series, Band of Brothers.

I watched my birth father die on TV!

I wrote this story when I was first on Medium and clueless. Didn’t have my title, subtitle and kickers at the top so it wasn’t distributed. I just fixed that. Now we’ll see if it gets distributed and even more engagement.

This is an unusual story, not one I can keep writing about, nor similar to one most people would be able to tell. I didn’t include it in my tally.

The second most popular had the words “COVID-19” and “George Floyd” in the title. My Life Without TV Until COVID-19 And George Floyd was a winner. That might indicate I could write more about COVID and also about Black Lives Matter from a white perspective.

My bio also received substantial engagement. If you’re on Illumination or another publication that recommends a bio, don’t delay. Write your bio now.

In addition, my curated story of Five Best Stories of MaryJo Wagner did well.

If you’ve only written ten stories on Medium, you could curate your three best. Not only will you get readers, it’s a quick way of getting a post up when you’re mind is blank about your next post.

(Note to self: Take your own advice, MaryJo and curate your five best posts on writing.)

If you want readers and lots of engagement (plus money coming in), look at your statistics.

1. Make a list of your posts in a Word doc or an xcel spread sheet. Include views, reads, ratio, and fans.
2. Read through your list. Write down categories they could be divided into.
3. Redo the document or spread sheet by listing categories in bold and moving articles under the appropriate category.
4. Now find the category or categories that received the most reads and fans. (Reads are what help you make money from Medium.)
5. Jot down some ideas and possible titles for your next posts based on your categories with the best stats.

But what if my suggestions don’t seem relevant to you because you only write about one topic? Here’s your solution. Let’s say your topic is parenting, that you never write about anything else.

You can still look at your statistics by breaking parenting into subtopics.

For example, for parenting you might have “discipline,” “school,” “family outings,” “holidays,” “health,” “funny stories,” “getting a pet,” “how to choose toys,” “books your kids have enjoyed,” “online learning,” “lessons you’ve learned.”

Maybe you found that “health” and “discipline” had the most engagement. This suggests you’ll do well to write more stories about parenting and health, about parenting and discipline.

As for me, I’m continuing to write more about writing while increasing my posts on COVID-19 and a white woman’s understanding and continued education about Black Lives Matter.

I have expertise in writing and editing so that works. And I’m passionately interested in both the Virus and Black Lives Matter.

That doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing about whatever strikes my fancy such as loser coffee pots, a grandson who doesn’t want to read, and why my Father was called “The Gazelle.”

One hundred percent focus isn’t necessary for success on Medium. But attention to what your readers enjoy helps a lot.

If you’d like to be added to the list to receive a free copy of a short e-book, “9 Tips for Readable Writing” and a free review of one piece you’ve written (no longer than 1,500 words), send an email to [email protected].

Watch for my forthcoming e-book, Oh Look, There’s a Squirrel and Other Stories.

In addition to writing about writing, I offer words of wisdom to adult ADHDers and to folks who are adopted. I am both. (Many adopted folks have ADHD, often caused by trauma at birth.)

Given raging ADHD, it’s no surprise that focus does not come to me easily! In addition to adoption and ADHD, I also write random stories from my life, what I’ve observed, what’s in the news, about writing and editing, anything that tickles my fancy.

For a Black Lives Matter from a white perspective, see my stories For White Folks from an Old Gray-Haired White Woman with Arthritis. And Teaching Kindergarten at an all-Black school.

You might also like musings on Staying at Home because of COVID 19: The Good, The Bad, and the Not So Ugly.