Never Thought I’d Think About Giving Up on Medium But…
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When several of my favorite writers say goodbye, I wonder
Today I read an article by Umair Haque, one of the writers whom I read very regularly. Umair is looking at moving away from Medium.
I went … WTF??
What will I do now? Well, I guess I will follow him wherever he goes to keep reading. Funny that.
I have never written an article about Medium and how it works. Never written one of those whining pieces. I’ve been happy to simply write, share my knowledge about writing and editing, and appreciate the comments and bits of money. Once, I earned about $200 for an essay on a Medium competition theme (death, I think).
Most months I average around $12–15. I don’t write a huge amount. Six articles in a month is good for me. I think a lot about what I write. I have taught writing and editing for 20+ years and I wanted a way to share what I knew.
This month, a few things happened. I’ve been writing other stuff (like novels and flash fiction and poetry) and I think I posted two articles on Medium. OK I realize that will affect things. But what I have noticed in the past weeks was how my stats have changed. From what I saw this month I figured I’d earn about $2.
Yeah, it was just over $9. I’m still getting $6 from member referrals. And you know, I’m feeling a bit tired. A bit like — why are they changing stuff all the time? So many changes, and none of them benefit writers like me.
But when I see writers I read and admire, writers who get waaaaayyy more claps and responses and readers than I could ever hope for — when I see them saying, “Yeah, thinking about moving on…”
There are other places to publish. I’m on Substack. I have an email list of 300+ people I’ve ignored a bit this year. I really like Medium. It’s been inspirational for me.
But lately? I’m thinking again…
