Large Success on the Medium Platform

I've been writing on Medium since February of 2020, and as much as I've enjoyed it, I can't say it's been my most fruitful endeavor.

That's starting to change.

Medium is a strange place to write. Anyone can call themselves a writer on the platform, which means there's an abundance of lower quality articles alongside the truly excellent stuff. You can also choose to pay or not pay $5/month—which mainly affects two things. First and foremost, paying means you have unlimited access to read articles, though you can still write on Medium either way. Second, you can only get paid for your own writing if you're a paid member.

The way Medium distributes money is somewhat confusing (I don't fully understand it myself), but here's the lowdown: When a paying Medium member claps for your article, a portion of their monthly $5 goes to your article. Readers can clap up to 50 times; the more claps, the higher the percentage of their funds go to the writer.

When I first started writing on Medium, I was... rudderless. I'd only been freelancing for a few months, and I figured I might as well throw my hat in the ring and write articles I actually want to write. Indeed, that was (and is) the main appeal for me: I'm not writing for a client, but for myself and my readership.

Only, brand new writers don't have a readership to write to.

So, in that first month, I made a whopping 6¢. No, that's not a typo—and no, it's not the lowest I ever made in a month in my time on Medium. That would be an even more whopping $0.

Some months were better than others, but it was always, always random. Maybe one month, hey, I made a dollar! Then the next I'd be back down in the financial dumps. Medium was (and is) far from my main source of income, but that didn't mean seeing those numbers wasn't depressing as hell.

That change I mentioned earlier came in September of 2021, when I took a chance on The Amazing Spider-Man Reviews, a publication I run that (unsurprisingly) focuses on putting out comic book reviews. I made more money than usual ($1.53), but didn't make much of it.

Thing is, ASM Reviews was, at the time, the only consistent thing I had going on Medium. Normally, I'd publish and article here, another one there, and, oh, maybe one more there. It's no wonder I wasn't making a profit; I just couldn't see it in the face of my frustration.

As I kept up with ASM Reviews, though, my earnings started to increase by the month. My follower count rose day by day. Readers were even highlighting and commenting on my work! It felt good, but I still didn't put much stock in it.

Then came January of 2022. I officially broke my earnings record with $2.52. Not much, I know, but you have to remember where I kicked off on Medium: 6¢. A substantial increase, relatively speaking—more than halfway to the $5/month membership mark.

From then on, my earnings dipped and rose above that number, never too far in either direction—my follower count increasing all the while.

Then came June of 2022, just last month as of this post. I'd made $3.38 in May—another new record!—and in June... I broke past Medium's membership fee with $5.86.

After two and a half years, I'd finally done it. I made a profit on Medium. An 86¢ profit, sure, but a profit! The fact that I'm ecstatic about such a paltry amount is tied to a different issue that goes beyond me, but damn, did it feel good anyway.

I'm now sitting at 300 followers, several of whom I regularly interact with. The readership I so desperately wanted to build is instead building itself.

Now, between ASM Reviews and Benny's Book-writing Blog, Medium is beginning to look like a place where I have a future. Thank goodness I have an actual source of income I rely on otherwise (86¢ ain't paying for any dates!), but I'm bathing in my small success for the moment.

Onward and upward, right?