Great information you shared, Christina- Yes- at the end of the day- it is indeed a bit of luck and our own hard work in creating material that is authentic and invites engagement from both the writer and his/her readers. Kudos!
Boost nominators being paid for nominating my story is so wrong. I made less on my one booster story than the person who nominated it. Anyone should be able to nominate, but because they love the story not for payment. But mostly Medium is a pyramid scheme now and I’ve worked way too hard there to only make $20-$30 a month.
I do wonder what the justification is for Medium paying out Boosted stories at higher rates. I have lots of examples of stories that got similar rates of engagement but the unBoosted one makes twenty bucks and other Boosted one makes several hundred dollars. All of us who take our writing seriously have probably experienced the deep disappointment of putting significant work into a piece we believe deserves a Boost and gets decent engagement but makes very little money. (Hello "How About A Nice Facial With That Uterine Biopsy?" https://medium.com/the-narrative-arc/how-about-a-nice-facial-with-that-uterine-biopsy-038df49a7bad!) What's everybody's opinion on this? My opinion is that if a story resonates enough with readers to gain tons of organic engagement, it doesn't really need the extra payout -- but it does deserve a fair payment. I'd like to see Boosts used just to show the story to more people. Think about it: Writers would get paid for their ability to interest readers, period. And Medium would have the ability to show what they perceive as the best stories to wider audiences, thus (theoretically) resulting in members seeing higher-quality work. There's a conflict over whether human judgment or algorithms are the best at determining distribution of content on any given platform. Humans are biased and can have poor motivations, but algorithms have a tendency to send conspiracy theories and other problematic content viral. If humans bestow Boosts based on what they believe to be high quality, but payments are based on what readers engage with, readers get at least a little of the best of both worlds. Opinions?
Hi Michelle, hope all is well and you're enjoying this special season of the year :) we're backing cookies and gingerbread santas and already joined a pre-Christmas come-together with family and friends in my hometown. Winterliche Grüße an deinen Mann!
I guess Robin Wilding who I interviewed this week would agree. She's a boost nominator now and agreed with me on the fact that you need the boost to survive (besides the other 2 distribution lanes on Medium).
In the past your story could get "chosen for further distribution". At first this wall all human-driven. Then AI-driven. Now they're focusing on human relations and highlighting human writing.
I have thought about NewsBreak. I emailed them, but they seemed hard to work with. I had considered using them to write local content -- the sort of thing my news desert community needs and that I used to oversee when I was editor of the daily paper my town once had, but they merely wrote back that they weren't interested in republishing my Medium pieces. If I do original reporting and photography, I need to know I'm not going to make pennies per story.
My finger has been hovering over the "cancel membership" button on Medium all month. This may make the decision easier. If I can't get read, there is little point in staying there. Especially when I can't see the people I follow, either. And no, I'm not upgrading to FOM. Nope.
Or to say it in Michelle's words: All of us who take our writing seriously have probably experienced the deep disappointment of putting significant work into a piece we believe deserves a Boost and gets decent engagement but makes very little money
Oh the entitiy bar. Robin also emphasized in our interview she'd love to get it back (if she were the next CEO ^^). Sorry to hear that you're thinking about calling it quits. Besides BOOST there's also organic reach within the built in audience on Medium. Definetly better as on your own blog where you only hear crickets but of course it really sucks if you take a lot of sweat and heart into a story and you only get a handful views... Is there another platform (besides Substack) you're thinking of writing in 2024?
Hey Cat, thanks so much to staying in touch here :D Hope all is well and your ready for Christmas. We already celebrated a kind of pre-Christmas cometogether. It was nice seeing the family and being back in my hometown but I'm also pretty happy to be back home at the westcoast of Germany,
We are in Smithville, Texas at the Roving Volunteers in Christ Service headquarters. We do volunteer work a couple of times a year working in Christian Camps. We do whatever the camp needs. We start our 28 day project on January 4th. Texas in the winter is not as nice as Florida. We look forward to being back there next year. :)
Hi Phil, thanks for your wonderful feedback! More to come about Medium but also about growing your email list on Substack / ConvertKit, building your own website and getting some help from AI.
Great information you shared, Christina- Yes- at the end of the day- it is indeed a bit of luck and our own hard work in creating material that is authentic and invites engagement from both the writer and his/her readers. Kudos!
Boost nominators being paid for nominating my story is so wrong. I made less on my one booster story than the person who nominated it. Anyone should be able to nominate, but because they love the story not for payment. But mostly Medium is a pyramid scheme now and I’ve worked way too hard there to only make $20-$30 a month.
Thanks for including me, Kristina.
I do wonder what the justification is for Medium paying out Boosted stories at higher rates. I have lots of examples of stories that got similar rates of engagement but the unBoosted one makes twenty bucks and other Boosted one makes several hundred dollars. All of us who take our writing seriously have probably experienced the deep disappointment of putting significant work into a piece we believe deserves a Boost and gets decent engagement but makes very little money. (Hello "How About A Nice Facial With That Uterine Biopsy?" https://medium.com/the-narrative-arc/how-about-a-nice-facial-with-that-uterine-biopsy-038df49a7bad!) What's everybody's opinion on this? My opinion is that if a story resonates enough with readers to gain tons of organic engagement, it doesn't really need the extra payout -- but it does deserve a fair payment. I'd like to see Boosts used just to show the story to more people. Think about it: Writers would get paid for their ability to interest readers, period. And Medium would have the ability to show what they perceive as the best stories to wider audiences, thus (theoretically) resulting in members seeing higher-quality work. There's a conflict over whether human judgment or algorithms are the best at determining distribution of content on any given platform. Humans are biased and can have poor motivations, but algorithms have a tendency to send conspiracy theories and other problematic content viral. If humans bestow Boosts based on what they believe to be high quality, but payments are based on what readers engage with, readers get at least a little of the best of both worlds. Opinions?
Hi Michelle, hope all is well and you're enjoying this special season of the year :) we're backing cookies and gingerbread santas and already joined a pre-Christmas come-together with family and friends in my hometown. Winterliche Grüße an deinen Mann!
I guess Robin Wilding who I interviewed this week would agree. She's a boost nominator now and agreed with me on the fact that you need the boost to survive (besides the other 2 distribution lanes on Medium).
In the past your story could get "chosen for further distribution". At first this wall all human-driven. Then AI-driven. Now they're focusing on human relations and highlighting human writing.
Medium is a content mill. I wrote about it a while ago. Still it's the platform I'd recommend (besides NewsBreak) to get paid to write. Here's more: https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/medium-is-a-content-mill-so-what-12e825d15360
Maybe NewsBreak would be sth for you in 2024 to repurpsoe your content?
I have thought about NewsBreak. I emailed them, but they seemed hard to work with. I had considered using them to write local content -- the sort of thing my news desert community needs and that I used to oversee when I was editor of the daily paper my town once had, but they merely wrote back that they weren't interested in republishing my Medium pieces. If I do original reporting and photography, I need to know I'm not going to make pennies per story.
My finger has been hovering over the "cancel membership" button on Medium all month. This may make the decision easier. If I can't get read, there is little point in staying there. Especially when I can't see the people I follow, either. And no, I'm not upgrading to FOM. Nope.
I hit the cancel button! With my middle finger.
Or to say it in Michelle's words: All of us who take our writing seriously have probably experienced the deep disappointment of putting significant work into a piece we believe deserves a Boost and gets decent engagement but makes very little money
Oh the entitiy bar. Robin also emphasized in our interview she'd love to get it back (if she were the next CEO ^^). Sorry to hear that you're thinking about calling it quits. Besides BOOST there's also organic reach within the built in audience on Medium. Definetly better as on your own blog where you only hear crickets but of course it really sucks if you take a lot of sweat and heart into a story and you only get a handful views... Is there another platform (besides Substack) you're thinking of writing in 2024?
I will check out the interview. You always have your finger on the pulse of Medium and it is much appreciated. 😊
Hey Cat, thanks so much to staying in touch here :D Hope all is well and your ready for Christmas. We already celebrated a kind of pre-Christmas cometogether. It was nice seeing the family and being back in my hometown but I'm also pretty happy to be back home at the westcoast of Germany,
Where are you currently with your hubby and RV?
We are in Smithville, Texas at the Roving Volunteers in Christ Service headquarters. We do volunteer work a couple of times a year working in Christian Camps. We do whatever the camp needs. We start our 28 day project on January 4th. Texas in the winter is not as nice as Florida. We look forward to being back there next year. :)
Need to watch your interview. Great to see another story from you. Can't wait to learn more about Substack. Thanks!
Awesome! My substack series will be continued soon ^^ Not easy with the kids at the moment
Valuable insight. Brilliant. And in the end you make your own luck. Thanks for your ongoing watchful eye and ear.
Hi Phil, thanks for your wonderful feedback! More to come about Medium but also about growing your email list on Substack / ConvertKit, building your own website and getting some help from AI.