Summary

Medium's new $50,000 writing challenge, featuring celebrity judges like Natalie Portman, is critically examined for its potential issues despite being an exciting opportunity for writers.

Abstract

Medium has announced a writing challenge with a grand prize of $50,000 and additional prizes totaling$ 90,000, judged by notable figures including Natalie Portman. While the challenge is seen as a significant opportunity for writers and a potential draw for new Medium members, the author raises concerns about the distribution of rewards, which are concentrated among a few winners rather than being more evenly spread among many writers. The author also notes that the challenge may not necessarily benefit long-time independent writers on the platform and suggests that a monthly bonus program based on writers' ongoing success might be more beneficial to the community at large. Despite these concerns, the author acknowledges the potential for the challenge to produce high-quality content and is curious to see its impact.

Opinions

The writing challenge is praised for being an innovative opportunity that could attract new members to Medium.
Concerns are raised about the fairness of rewarding only four writers with the grand prize money, suggesting that a broader distribution of rewards might be more equitable.
The challenge is seen as less beneficial to long-standing indie writers on Medium compared to the previous bonus payment system.
The author emphasizes that the challenge should not replace ongoing support mechanisms like the monthly bonus program, which rewards consistent writer performance.
There is optimism about the high-quality stories that the challenge will likely generate.
The author encourages a discussion within the Medium community about the value and potential drawbacks of such writing challenges.

Why This New $50,000 Medium Writers Challenge Is Problematic

Even though it features Natalie Portman

Yesterday evening (in Germany) I read a post by Medium. 3 minutes about a new Medium writers challenge in August that gives participants the chance to win $50,000.

Wow.

Shortly afterward, I enjoyed reading Kristina God’s thoughts about it in her post “You Can Win $50,000 On Medium”.

Great news was my first reaction to all of this. And it is.

But I thought about it some more and found a few problematic aspects about this new challenge.

What is it?

This challenge — which is judged by Natalie Portman and other inspiring writers like Roxane Gay, Saeed Jones, Susan Orlean — boasts a whopping grand prize of $50,000 for the overall winner and $10,000 each for the winners of the 4 writing prompts: Reentry, Death, Work, and Space.

That’s $90,000.

Additionally, the best 100 entries that don’t win get $100 each for their work. To find out more about the prompts and the challenge, read the official Medium post here, as this is not the main topic of my story.

To the problems

Don’t get me wrong. I applaud Medium for taking on challenges. I just suggested this very thing in a recent story on features that Medium should “steal” from Vocal Media.

Overall, this writing challenge is an enormous opportunity for many Medium writers. It will attract more Medium members. I’m sure this is one of the reasons behind this challenge. That’s totally fine.

I have my concerns though.

#1

As great as this opportunity is, it’s really “only” great for 4 writers. The 4 winners of the challenge. They will receive all of the $90,000.

Of course, anyone who enters has the chance to win, but rewarding only 4 people with that kind of money is, in my opinion, less desirable than rewarding the best 1000 writers with $500 every month.

#2

I shouldn’t forget about the 100 people who will get $100 each for their participation. That’s great. Then again, 500 writers were getting $100 each the last few months, and 500 more were getting $50 each. These bonus payments were very well-received by the writing community.

#3

A while back, Medium stated that they want to support indie writers on this platform in the future. With the bonus payments over the last few months, they did. Because 2000 writers earned that bonus on the back of their latest achievements on the platform.

This writing challenge doesn’t benefit long-time indie writers on this platform. It’s not based on the latest achievements. It’s “only” based on one successful entry that could be the first one ever written on Medium, and, for that matter, the last one that person will ever write here.

Why this is still good

Now, I’m sorry if my points here sound unappreciative. I very much appreciate Medium taking on new ideas and opportunities. It’s a chance to see how well this challenge pans out for them, how well it’s received by Medium writers, and how it translates to new Medium members.

This is all good. Experimentation is good. The grand prize money is an outstanding opportunity for thousand of fantastic writers on this platform and it will result in some of the greatest and most unique stories ever on Medium. I can’t wait for this!

All I’m asking is to keep in mind that this writing challenge won’t or shouldn't become a regular occurrence on this platform. Because, in the end, I think the vast majority of writers would be happier with a monthly bonus program based on their success and ongoing work. Wouldn’t you?

Now, in the words of Kristina God, let’s get relational. How do you feel about this writing challenge?

How I Got 2000 Followers In 5 Months On Medium

No follow-for-follow or any other funny business

medium.com

P.S.: First of all, you should get my posts in your inbox. Do that here! Secondly, if you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us, writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. When I started, I made $3000 in 6 months. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!