I agree, write about it (I'm curious), but write about it here, Medium already has enough posts about Medium, lol.
When Medium finally purges everyone who didn't get 100 followers, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I haven't even tried to get followers, and I have over a 100, so I'd think anyone who puts even a little thought into it can get there with ease... and that the people who can't shouldn't be in the Partner program.
This is a really common thought among people who were on Medium before the change. But when people join "after" the change, they still have to get 100 followers before they can get paid. Some will do that by merit of their writing. But there's going to be a whole lot of nonsense because we all know that some of the existing writers will be targeting those folks with "how to get 100 followers" posts. It's not going to be pretty. lol
That's the thing. They aren't purging people who didn't get 100 followers. They just won't be eligible to get paid until they reach 100 followers. When people feel pressured to get followers, all the stuff we're seeing now is going to get much worse.
If I do write it, my goal would be to have Medium read it. Because I truly don't think they thought this one through very well. I do know that on the rare times I've written about technical issues, they do read them, and have sometimes fixed the issues I've brought up.
At the same time, I don't want to be part of the self-cannibalizing monster (lol) as you called it. I want to take a different approach, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about that yet. Often, talking with other writers is how I figure out the way forward, so I'm really happy to see all this feedback. If nothing else, it might help me figure out the approach that feels right.
I thought about that. Too easy to ignore. Remember when they used to pay by claps instead of reads, and people formed FB groups to clap up each other's posts? When they announced that pay was changing to reads, a lot of people wailed that there aren't enough hours in the day to read all the people they clap for. lol Lots of people had emailed support about those clap groups and how unfair it was to people who didn't want to be in clap groups. Nothing changed until the discussions went public. I wish they were more responsive to people reaching out. I wouldn't even be having this conversation if they were.
It certainly has been a weird environment the last few months. I puke every time I see an earnings title. But I'm here to just write because it's simple and earns a bit of dough. I've given up ever thinking I'll earn $1000 for another story but I'm still getting a few hundred dollars a month for my back catalog.
Yup, it has been real weird. There was an old Seinfeld sketch where George Constanza says clearly he does everything wrong, so he needs to do the opposite of his instincts. When he does, he has the best day of his life. lol. That is Medium. They do something, finally figure out how stupid it was, do the opposite and it works. We're in the stupid part again.
I left but as a reader not a writer. I found the place where I could check the writers I wanted to see and unchecked all the others!
Not sure why I had reader’s fatigue. Just got tired of being tricked into opening an article that really held no interest after first two sentences or was merely repeating previous post information! Like your posts tho-always entertaining and mostly informative.
I submitted my first two blog posts and earned not a penny. My mistake was in the title. I should have used ‘How to Retire on Two Blogs’.
What I did earn was the value of experience from editors and founders of publications. Other writers shared their opinions, suggestions, and mistakes. The #1 value I learned was the quality of the content.
I wrestle with that, too. I do have more interesting things to write about. But if they don't fix it, all the same nonsense is going to escalate. And I'm still not entirely sure which way I'll go, but I do appreciate all the feedback and the opportunity to knock ideas around, so thanks! :)
Truth is, even though I think you do have better things to write about, I am always curious to read about what authors I follow think about Medium. Does all the feedback that Medium is getting via tons of stories really have an impact? Guess we'll see.
I think to some degree, the type of feedback matters. Generic complaining probably gets ignored. For every person complaining that views are down, there's another happy that views are up. But I do think they listen if people discuss specific issues without the whining tone that's prevalent there. lol.
Hi Linda, I vote to write about it. You have a voice in Medium. My reading has dwindled to a handful of writers that consistently write on topics of interest. Like Kathy below, I've had reader's fatigue. I hope things can un-stupid themselves.
I hope they can un-stupid, too. If I do write about it, it would be for that reason. I have worked hard to have "some" kind of voice there. Not as big as some, but it's not nothing. And I wouldn't write one of those complaining posts. If I can bring reason instead of whining, maybe someone will listen. Thanks for the vote. lol
It's been an impressive drop in earning, that's for sure. I'm back to making barely a $1 a day. I was never a huge earner but was happier at $100 a month. So a drop of 2/3 for me. I'm moving on.
I left Medium in June. I had slowed my blogging to a trickle then stopped.
I decided to do this after giving a lot of thought to my target audience. They, for the most part, aren’t on Medium. Add to the fact that it’s hard to develop an engaged conversation there, so I left.
A whole lot of effort is going into TikTok and Instagram. There’s excellent engagement on TikTok, but the conversion to super fans is easier on Instagram. It’s been a fascinating journey.
Medium’s newest model sounds awful. Very, very stupid. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I miss seeing you in my feed, but totally understand. The new model is awful. And yes, very, very stupid. Even stupider once I really figured out what's causing the pay drop everyone is complaining about. I really don't think they thought this one through very well. No surprise, but geebus.
Yes! I’ve already turned on wide distribution. Linda- I’d be thrilled to send you a complimentary copy of the ebook and audiobook! Is the sub stack email address best to use?
I recently penned an observational piece for the years I've been on Medium, watching the cycle of new medium algorithm slamming folks earnings, people figuring out how to profit from the change, then selling classes and systems to make money from Medium until Medium changes it all over again.
I credit Medium for constantly stirring the pot. The point is to write, not to figure out how to game the system to make money.
Thanks for the heads up. I just read the post -- sorry about the damn book I posted in reply. lol. You gave me an idea for something to write about and thank you. It's something I've been chewing on, but didn't realize it until I read your post.
I’ve honestly had to stop looking at stats and read time. I try to have confidence in what I post and let that speak. That’s it. I recognize publishing as skill-building. I have found such a great community on Substack anyway so I’m finding fulfillment in other ways.
The meta and money-making posts have probably reached critical mass and hopeful will tumble under their own weight. I just check in with who I follow and read the occasional interesting article. Things come in waves and maybe in another six months when things have settled, those who chose to stay around will get better returns.
Last month, I earned $.26 on Medium. Because I couldn't write much. But I still published 8 short articles. Being paid by reader time is awful. Especially if there are readers like my daughter, Christy, who has a photographic/eidetic memory, and whose brain photographs a page of text and reads it while she's turning to the next page. Zero reading time, even though every word was read.
And I read that Amazon has decided to pay KDP authors based on READING TIME instead of books purchased, royalties calculated by the price of the book! That little change dropped royalties per purchased book by 50%--but ONLY if the book is read all the way to the end. No limit on how long the purchased book sits waiting to be read. Even if a reader pays $10 for the book, which earned $7 previously, read or not, the new royalty for that book will be based on page numbers, whenever they're read. Let's say the $10 has 100 pages. Each page read earns the author (Are you ready? Sitting down?) HALF A PENNY PER PAGE!!!!! 50 cents. $1 for 200 pages. My new book is about 240 pages. That's $1.20.
I agree, write about it (I'm curious), but write about it here, Medium already has enough posts about Medium, lol.
When Medium finally purges everyone who didn't get 100 followers, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I haven't even tried to get followers, and I have over a 100, so I'd think anyone who puts even a little thought into it can get there with ease... and that the people who can't shouldn't be in the Partner program.
This is a really common thought among people who were on Medium before the change. But when people join "after" the change, they still have to get 100 followers before they can get paid. Some will do that by merit of their writing. But there's going to be a whole lot of nonsense because we all know that some of the existing writers will be targeting those folks with "how to get 100 followers" posts. It's not going to be pretty. lol
That's the thing. They aren't purging people who didn't get 100 followers. They just won't be eligible to get paid until they reach 100 followers. When people feel pressured to get followers, all the stuff we're seeing now is going to get much worse.
If I do write it, my goal would be to have Medium read it. Because I truly don't think they thought this one through very well. I do know that on the rare times I've written about technical issues, they do read them, and have sometimes fixed the issues I've brought up.
At the same time, I don't want to be part of the self-cannibalizing monster (lol) as you called it. I want to take a different approach, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about that yet. Often, talking with other writers is how I figure out the way forward, so I'm really happy to see all this feedback. If nothing else, it might help me figure out the approach that feels right.
I thought about that. Too easy to ignore. Remember when they used to pay by claps instead of reads, and people formed FB groups to clap up each other's posts? When they announced that pay was changing to reads, a lot of people wailed that there aren't enough hours in the day to read all the people they clap for. lol Lots of people had emailed support about those clap groups and how unfair it was to people who didn't want to be in clap groups. Nothing changed until the discussions went public. I wish they were more responsive to people reaching out. I wouldn't even be having this conversation if they were.
It certainly has been a weird environment the last few months. I puke every time I see an earnings title. But I'm here to just write because it's simple and earns a bit of dough. I've given up ever thinking I'll earn $1000 for another story but I'm still getting a few hundred dollars a month for my back catalog.
Yup, it has been real weird. There was an old Seinfeld sketch where George Constanza says clearly he does everything wrong, so he needs to do the opposite of his instincts. When he does, he has the best day of his life. lol. That is Medium. They do something, finally figure out how stupid it was, do the opposite and it works. We're in the stupid part again.
That's the thing. Everything goes through ebbs and flows. It's either pack up and leave or wait it out. Nothing stays the same forever.
Truth. lol. The only thing that's consistent is change.
I left but as a reader not a writer. I found the place where I could check the writers I wanted to see and unchecked all the others!
Not sure why I had reader’s fatigue. Just got tired of being tricked into opening an article that really held no interest after first two sentences or was merely repeating previous post information! Like your posts tho-always entertaining and mostly informative.
Thanks, take care-
Kathy
Thanks, Kathy. That's nice of you to say. So where are you reading now? Maybe I should be writing there?
I submitted my first two blog posts and earned not a penny. My mistake was in the title. I should have used ‘How to Retire on Two Blogs’.
What I did earn was the value of experience from editors and founders of publications. Other writers shared their opinions, suggestions, and mistakes. The #1 value I learned was the quality of the content.
You would be amazed at how many people get angry at editors for offering suggestions. Ask me how I know. lol.
I don't think you should jump on the bandwagon. As you said, it's been done to death. You have so many more interesting things to write about.
I wrestle with that, too. I do have more interesting things to write about. But if they don't fix it, all the same nonsense is going to escalate. And I'm still not entirely sure which way I'll go, but I do appreciate all the feedback and the opportunity to knock ideas around, so thanks! :)
Truth is, even though I think you do have better things to write about, I am always curious to read about what authors I follow think about Medium. Does all the feedback that Medium is getting via tons of stories really have an impact? Guess we'll see.
I think to some degree, the type of feedback matters. Generic complaining probably gets ignored. For every person complaining that views are down, there's another happy that views are up. But I do think they listen if people discuss specific issues without the whining tone that's prevalent there. lol.
Hi Linda, I vote to write about it. You have a voice in Medium. My reading has dwindled to a handful of writers that consistently write on topics of interest. Like Kathy below, I've had reader's fatigue. I hope things can un-stupid themselves.
I hope they can un-stupid, too. If I do write about it, it would be for that reason. I have worked hard to have "some" kind of voice there. Not as big as some, but it's not nothing. And I wouldn't write one of those complaining posts. If I can bring reason instead of whining, maybe someone will listen. Thanks for the vote. lol
Thank you for being you and using your voice to make a difference. ;)
lol. That is a very nice way to put my tendency to open my big mouth. I like your tone of meow. :)
Write about it. Thanks for this. Also, please write if it changes back to 2019 model so I can be on it all the time again.
lol. That made me laugh. I am on there less these days, too. I'd like to feel upbeat about the place again, but they have a lot of problems to fix.
It's been an impressive drop in earning, that's for sure. I'm back to making barely a $1 a day. I was never a huge earner but was happier at $100 a month. So a drop of 2/3 for me. I'm moving on.
Awww, Tree. I will be sorry to see you go if you do. I hope they fix this before they lose a lot of good people.
hey, I'm going to be writing a bit on substack, so if you're interested, consider joining me there. https://wordsinmotion.substack.com/welcome
I just did, Tree. 😊
I left Medium in June. I had slowed my blogging to a trickle then stopped.
I decided to do this after giving a lot of thought to my target audience. They, for the most part, aren’t on Medium. Add to the fact that it’s hard to develop an engaged conversation there, so I left.
A whole lot of effort is going into TikTok and Instagram. There’s excellent engagement on TikTok, but the conversion to super fans is easier on Instagram. It’s been a fascinating journey.
Medium’s newest model sounds awful. Very, very stupid. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I miss seeing you in my feed, but totally understand. The new model is awful. And yes, very, very stupid. Even stupider once I really figured out what's causing the pay drop everyone is complaining about. I really don't think they thought this one through very well. No surprise, but geebus.
I love your newsletter. At least we can connect here. My book launch for 2/14/2022 is in motion. I’m pretty excited. ❤️❤️❤️
Are you going to have it on Amazon.ca, too, so I can order it? So many people just list on Amazon.com and forget about us Canucks.
Yes! I’ve already turned on wide distribution. Linda- I’d be thrilled to send you a complimentary copy of the ebook and audiobook! Is the sub stack email address best to use?
Omg, that's really nice of you. Yes, that's the best email.
Great! Expect to see it after the new year :)
I'm thinking of going back to Amazon,ca . I've bypassed the 3months where I'm way down on the Amazon Holy Grail..:/ Ughh.
For what it’s worth, I spend less time reading at Medium than I did 18 months ago. Too many articles that are just meh.
There’s 4-5 authors whose work I regularly read…including yours and that’s it.
The bloom is off the 🌹
I know, right? I am still reading as well as writing, but fewer writers than in the past.
Thanks Linda. I expect they will do something. I'm just not excited about writing on medium anymore...
I guess a lot of people have reached that point. I am seeing more of it lately.
I've always liked stars 🌟. Great post! I don't know if Medium will wise up or not, but for now I'll keep on keepin' on.
However, it is demoralizing to get paid so little for something you enjoy, but I suppose I I can always leave if I'm so inclined.
The rewards for being are more of a social nature, and Thank God for that, because the $$ sucks!
The $$ do suck lately. I have had some very good months there. This is not one of them. lol.
I think my best month was back in '18. Was under. $100 , but still better than other months.
I recently penned an observational piece for the years I've been on Medium, watching the cycle of new medium algorithm slamming folks earnings, people figuring out how to profit from the change, then selling classes and systems to make money from Medium until Medium changes it all over again.
I credit Medium for constantly stirring the pot. The point is to write, not to figure out how to game the system to make money.
Thanks for the heads up. I just read the post -- sorry about the damn book I posted in reply. lol. You gave me an idea for something to write about and thank you. It's something I've been chewing on, but didn't realize it until I read your post.
I’ve honestly had to stop looking at stats and read time. I try to have confidence in what I post and let that speak. That’s it. I recognize publishing as skill-building. I have found such a great community on Substack anyway so I’m finding fulfillment in other ways.
The meta and money-making posts have probably reached critical mass and hopeful will tumble under their own weight. I just check in with who I follow and read the occasional interesting article. Things come in waves and maybe in another six months when things have settled, those who chose to stay around will get better returns.
Last month, I earned $.26 on Medium. Because I couldn't write much. But I still published 8 short articles. Being paid by reader time is awful. Especially if there are readers like my daughter, Christy, who has a photographic/eidetic memory, and whose brain photographs a page of text and reads it while she's turning to the next page. Zero reading time, even though every word was read.
And I read that Amazon has decided to pay KDP authors based on READING TIME instead of books purchased, royalties calculated by the price of the book! That little change dropped royalties per purchased book by 50%--but ONLY if the book is read all the way to the end. No limit on how long the purchased book sits waiting to be read. Even if a reader pays $10 for the book, which earned $7 previously, read or not, the new royalty for that book will be based on page numbers, whenever they're read. Let's say the $10 has 100 pages. Each page read earns the author (Are you ready? Sitting down?) HALF A PENNY PER PAGE!!!!! 50 cents. $1 for 200 pages. My new book is about 240 pages. That's $1.20.
I may not publish my book.
And I've deactivated my membership on Medium.
What's happening? Substack values writers. That's why I'm here. Glad you're here, too, Linda.
Good to know you're on the job LInda :)