Does Writing In A Niche Help You As A Writer? Depends Where.

As writers, I think we need to think harder about when having a niche works for us, and when it works against us.

Yesterday I got an email from a writer who used to write on Medium. She said she stopped. It’s not working. She’s not even sure why. Said maybe it’s the boost program, but she’s not sure. She’s just not getting results so it’s not worth the time or effort.

I didn’t remember subscribing, but I must have, so I was curious. Went to look. She’s a niche writer who writes about the same topic all the time. In a niche that’s real hard to get boosted in. But it’s what she writes about. And it’s not working anymore.

The idea of niche has permeated the writing space.

And I get it. Stephen King writes horror. No one wants to read a romance written by Stephen King. Sprinkle it into his books, sure. But they better be horror. Every author that rises to the top does so in a niche. A genre. The space where they shine.

It works that way outside of writing, too. If you have a bad heart, you don’t want a GP, you want a cardiac specialist. If you have faulty wiring in your home, you don’t want a handyman, you want an electrician. We want the specialist.

Julia Cameron calls it the vein of gold. Says we all have a space we shine.

I just think sometimes we apply that in a way that doesn’t benefit us. Especially online, and especially as writers. I see copywriters doing it all the time. Think they need to “specialize” so they pick a niche, hang out a shingle advertising themselves as fashion writers, or wine writers, or whatever topic they “specialize” in.

I never did. I only write for one client now, but when I did more copywriting I took one client per vertical. Told them if I’m writing copy for your wine, or coffee or designer fashion, you’re the only one. Because trust me, you don’t want me writing for your competition. That approach served me well. Retained clients really well, too.

As writers, I think we need to think harder about when having a niche works for us, and when it works against us. And I think that’s mostly a where question.

Take Substack, for example. I think writers do have to niche on Substack. Because while you can write all over the place, it’s going to be a million times harder to build an audience. Because while you can use “tags” like on Medium, you also tag your publication and your tags factor into network distribution.

I think on substack you can get away with two, if they’re closely enough related. Because you can tag your publication with more than one tag. But when you look at the leaderboards, all the top Substacks are really tightly niched.

But on Medium? I think writing in a niche has become detrimental. I can write a feminist post one day, a personal essay next, followed by a tech piece and a book review and have a decent shot at getting boosted on any or all of those if the writing is strong and doesn’t wave any red flags for the curators. But if I was writing the same kind of piece every time, I think the odds go down.

That might just my opinion, but I don’t think so.

We’ve heard about a lot of “big” writers leaving Medium in frustration. Complaining about shadow-banning or not getting boosted. But if you think about it, they all wrote the same topic over and over. Doesn’t matter if it’s about the world ending because of climate change or how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. It’s the same thing over and over. So tightly niched you could staple a topic to their name.

I don’t think that works so well there anymore.

There are exceptions because there are always exceptions. The rare writer who is just so good at that thing they do that they get boosted consistently. But I think that writer is the exception, not the rule. I think as a rule, being able to write well across multiple topics and publications is the best shot at getting boosted consistently.

On Medium, getting boosted matters. Because first, it sends at least 500 views, which is enough to give your piece a good start if your title is strong enough to get the click among readers who don’t know you yet. Because that’s a factor. A boost can put your story in front of people. Can’t make them click. You need to do that. And secondly, because boosted stories pay out at a higher rate than unboosted stories.

Course, that might just be my experience. But I can’t help but wonder if that frustrated copywriter might have done better if she’d stopped giving business advice over and over and spread her wings a little. Tried writing on some other topics.

Love to know what you think...

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, I also write on Medium.

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