31 Comments

I prefer to help people- if they're friendly and write well. That's probably how I got most of my followers....

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I read that same post and commented. My response was:

"Anytime someone asks "How do I get more subscribers" (which is the same question), I respond with 'do good work & give more than you take.'"

That's it. That's the hack. You're 100% correct. Do good work that gets seen/boosted/etc. There is no shortcut, no matter how bad we want there to be.

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Shaming newbies is disgusting. We were all new at one point of time. Some veterans (like me in many instances) read articles that are geared to newbies because I'm curious. What are people teaching these days? What could I have done differently when I first started as a writer? Are there techniques that I can use today to my benefit?

Newbies should be encouraged. Show a little love for them. They will be very appreciative!

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Wanna make money writing? Write poetry! (Ha, ha, ha!) No, the only poetry that makes money is what appears in publications like Atlantic and New Yorker, and that is because it is largely indecipherable except to the elitist editors who choose it.

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I can't even imagine that. Didn't see the post, and quite frankly I'm pretty happy about them not being noticeable to me. Personally, I'm still trying to figure out what it means to "write something good." But to get shamed for not knowing already? I do that enough to myself!

It's not exactly an offensive or stupid question, either. Why do people have to put others down to feel better about themselves? Might be the reason those particular writers aren't getting the traction they're looking for if they do that regularly. I know I get much more engagement from encouraging others and being kind.

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We are all newbies at something at all stages of our lives. And we don't stay there long if we are treated with kindness and gently guided. I'm a newbie writer on Medium. I started because I wanted to make money and enrolled in a course to teach me that. It didn't take me long to figure out the structure of posts and that there are no shortcuts. Even the top writers say it took them years. If someone had written that to me when I was at the very beginning, I would have quit. Imagine how many others have and I believe, we are all the poorer for it.

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Apr 14, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll

IF a human has “arrived” at some pinnacle of “success,” however that human has defined success AND their peers have recognized them in some manner because they’re really good at their craft (writing, inventions, solving decades old mathematical proofs, WHATEVER), THEN their next purpose in life should be to mentor the next generation of writers, inventors, mathematicians, etc.

This mentoring is done to advance humanity (all of it) in creating a saner, gentler world for the next generation. The mentoring is NOT done for the purpose of making money to exploit the vulnerable...

Such an attitude of mentoring the next generation is true leadership, servant leadership for which many people in positions of authority today sorely unaware.

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Apr 14, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll

I don’t write about things that get that reaction. Ignorance is not an affront. It’s normal

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I didn't have to read the post. I know exactly who it was, and I rarely read Medium anymore.

Surely there are others who can help writers with marketing, yet he seems to have the top spot and has for a long time.

There is good help out there, I think. I don't focus on marketing at Writer Everlasting, but if I did I would try to remember what it was like when I was starting out. It can be brutal to the soul. New writers are fragile and the last thing they need is an 'adviser' who only sees dollar signs when he looks at them.

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll

I find the rampant greedy grubbing up new writers more than disturbing. It's disgusting. My readers who followed me to Medium got sick of it so I told them to leave Medium. They were relieved, lol. They don't need Medium to read my stories. I'm fine with that. Thank you for always being a decent human.

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Love Kevin's answer, "Give more than you take." I can't imagine believing in the hype of these "opportunities," and I actually get this person's email just to see what they're promising. It's 100% curiosity. If someone asks me for guidance, I'd say, "Find a paying job that you like enough that will support your habit of writing. Don't depend on writing to carry your financial load." I've given that advice to my kids. I haven't needed to add the P.S., which would be "Don't fall for the false promises offered through courses with big payouts. If something sounds too good to be true, it is." But I also like Kevin's answer (I repeat myself because I liked it so much.)

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