For the last 3 years, March has been my worst month on Medium. March 2019, 2020, and 2021. The. Worst. This year isn’t looking much different. lol. Worst month since last March. I don’t know why. But here’s a cool thing you didn’t know…
Being only a reader on Medium, I'm somewhat of an outsider looking in here. Declining payouts is a universal complaint from the top writers that I follow, and some of them are migrating to their own websites, or paid subscriptions on Substack. I was initially motivated to join Medium two years ago because it offered good writing from intelligent people. Since that time the world is in a tailspin. The pandemic makes a convenient scapegoat, and I'm sure it had some impact. But it's also clear that intelligence is declining, at least in the US. A few days ago a post on Reddit featured a young woman, old enough to be through high school, debating with a man of similar age. She was adamant that gravity was something invented by someone years ago, and we no longer needed it. When "influencer" is an actual occupation I think we've just about scraped bottom. This has to be hitting Medium's bottom line, and they are countering by going the route of clickbait, and trimming payouts to keep the lights on. That of course sets off a spiral effect that leads to loss of readers. It puts talented writers in the same category as writers of old, looking for patrons, scrambling to produce more work. This is just another system that needs to be fixed in our universe of broken systems. Regarding the March thing, that was not a particularly good month for Julius Caesar either.
Mar 18, 2022·edited Mar 18, 2022Liked by Linda Caroll
I’m having a lousy March, but then I haven’t published much. I published 28 stories in February and made under $150. I’m over halfway through March and haven’t hit $50 yet. I’m trying to decide if all this is worth it.
I've never tracked because, thank God, I'm a poet and poets must accept they're not in it for the big bucks. Gotta tell you, Linda, my Muse is still applauding these lines: "Pareidolia is when we see things that aren’t there. Like the man in the moon, or a face in a rock, or Jesus on a slice of toast. It’s fun to lay on the grass and point out bunnies and eagles in the clouds. As long as we know they aren’t real."
My payouts have plunged too. I thought it was my lack of focus on writing as often as I could, but the day I posted an article of some substance and made 0.01 cent?!? It's not hard to understand why my focus has been increasingly on Substack and Patreon, or why I'm considering going paid (on Substack) earlier than I originally planned.
Oh I love that science-y fact you throw in this week's edition. :))
Yes to pattern recognition, I'm "guilty" of that all my life.
I don't know about the others, but I do notice come March, I read less on the web, and focus on life activities, going out more, or doing more non-tech stuff.
I also been writing less, not by intention.
Interesting you saw this pattern. Over past 2 years, I notice my dip occurs from Dec - Mar (then again, I churned fewer articles during that period so my analysis could be flawed)
Linda, your first link to the retired PhD reminded me of Mark Knopfler's song about Ray Kroc: Boom Like That. Great song but he doesn't think too much about Kroc.
Yes, but I've been writing more fiction then n-f, so I've only published one story. My reads have increased, but the payout is much smaller than in previous years.
Being only a reader on Medium, I'm somewhat of an outsider looking in here. Declining payouts is a universal complaint from the top writers that I follow, and some of them are migrating to their own websites, or paid subscriptions on Substack. I was initially motivated to join Medium two years ago because it offered good writing from intelligent people. Since that time the world is in a tailspin. The pandemic makes a convenient scapegoat, and I'm sure it had some impact. But it's also clear that intelligence is declining, at least in the US. A few days ago a post on Reddit featured a young woman, old enough to be through high school, debating with a man of similar age. She was adamant that gravity was something invented by someone years ago, and we no longer needed it. When "influencer" is an actual occupation I think we've just about scraped bottom. This has to be hitting Medium's bottom line, and they are countering by going the route of clickbait, and trimming payouts to keep the lights on. That of course sets off a spiral effect that leads to loss of readers. It puts talented writers in the same category as writers of old, looking for patrons, scrambling to produce more work. This is just another system that needs to be fixed in our universe of broken systems. Regarding the March thing, that was not a particularly good month for Julius Caesar either.
I’m having a lousy March, but then I haven’t published much. I published 28 stories in February and made under $150. I’m over halfway through March and haven’t hit $50 yet. I’m trying to decide if all this is worth it.
To be honest, I don't pay enough attention to medium stats to recognize or even care about patterns lol. I wish I could add some insight but, nope.
I've never tracked because, thank God, I'm a poet and poets must accept they're not in it for the big bucks. Gotta tell you, Linda, my Muse is still applauding these lines: "Pareidolia is when we see things that aren’t there. Like the man in the moon, or a face in a rock, or Jesus on a slice of toast. It’s fun to lay on the grass and point out bunnies and eagles in the clouds. As long as we know they aren’t real."
My payouts have plunged too. I thought it was my lack of focus on writing as often as I could, but the day I posted an article of some substance and made 0.01 cent?!? It's not hard to understand why my focus has been increasingly on Substack and Patreon, or why I'm considering going paid (on Substack) earlier than I originally planned.
I'm not sure if my previous comment actually posted.
Oh I love that science-y fact you throw in this week's edition. :))
Yes to pattern recognition, I'm "guilty" of that all my life.
I don't know about the others, but I do notice come March, I read less on the web, and focus on life activities, going out more, or doing more non-tech stuff.
I also been writing less, not by intention.
Interesting you saw this pattern. Over past 2 years, I notice my dip occurs from Dec - Mar (then again, I churned fewer articles during that period so my analysis could be flawed)
This month has surprised me. I don't normally look at my stats very often, cuz they're too damn depressing.lol.
It was one story and it's never happened in the four years I've been on Medium, so I'll happily take it. Lol.
Linda, your first link to the retired PhD reminded me of Mark Knopfler's song about Ray Kroc: Boom Like That. Great song but he doesn't think too much about Kroc.
Yes, but I've been writing more fiction then n-f, so I've only published one story. My reads have increased, but the payout is much smaller than in previous years.