Back from a summer hiatus, dear Subscribers to MelindaBlau.com. Until now, I’ve made it easy for you to read what I post on Medium by publishing it here, too.
I did this, because even with all that vies for your attention, you take the time to read me. I appreciate you who landed here by accident and stayed. I especially value you who now subscribe to my little corner of cyberspace, MelindaBlau.com.
I created this site as a blank slate for ideas, as well as a “home” for the best things I’ve written, much as a painter might store her work in a room above the garage.
But for two reasons, I’m making a change:
1. It takes too much time for me to publish in both places. As a reader, the process might look easy. As a writer, it’s not. I’d rather spend the time writing and editing than formatting, adding “tags,” and worrying about search engines. So from now on, pieces that I create on Medium will stay there.
2. Medium recently sweetened the pot for writers. They’re willing to “share” more of their income. So, if you pay to become a member and — this is important — you let them know I referred you (by using THIS LINK), they will split your monthly $5 membership fee with me. You will then have unlimited access to everything on the site, not just three pieces a month.
I’m not just here to pass the hat. I wrote this piece to share what it’s like to be a veteran journalist in 2021. You don’t have to be a writer to appreciate my quandary. I suspect it applies to anyone in a changing industry. We have to assess what’s no longer working — and decide what we’re willing (and able) to do in order to stay relevant.
I’m determined to stay relevant. It’s something I’ve learned from my old ladies. I figure if my former New York editor Joan Kron could make her first film at 88 — she’s now 93 and about to release her third — I can keep working and changing, too.
My (Recent) Evolution in the World of Online Publishing
I was attracted to Medium last April because of the promise of a bigger audience and payment based on how many people read me.
Let me be clear: being read has always weighed more heavily than being paid. I’m not being corny or disingenuous when I say that money is great, but it pales next to the joy of a reader’s appreciation.
But for most of my career, I didn’t have to choose. I was read and paid. Indeed, I made a good living as a writer.
You all know what happened next: Publishing migrated online, and “exposure” became code for we won’t pay you.
Business models never favored writers, but digitization really did us in. My Aunt Ruth, 22 years older and the mold for “my old ladies,” often reminded me, “You’ve chosen the hardest career, honey.” She could never have imagined the many new ways writing would be “hard.”
Last year, as an experiment, I ventured beyond you and our little tribe of subscribers who say nice things about my writing. I love you guys. I know many of you personally. But Medium, now approaching 100 million monthly “active users,” gives me an opportunity to expand. Two hundred million potential eyeballs.
The experiment continues.
My first July on Medium, in 2020, I earned $.02. No, that’s not a misplaced decimal point. Two cents. It dropped a penny in August. I was trying to understand the platform (still working on that), and I didn’t publish much.
In locked-down Paris, for five months between February and June, I wrote more often. My monthly Medium income catapulted to a high of $22.69. Returning to the U. S. in mid-June, I didn’t publish many new pieces, and my earnings dropped again — to $1.95 by the beginning of August. I’m back in Paris, am revving up again, and my September payment is $9.59.
Luckily, several of my books earn royalties. In any case, it’s not just about money. I’ve gone from zero to over 200 followers in a little more than a year. Granted, this is not spectacular. My 12-year-old grandson Charlie got me five of those followers in ten minutes by texting his friends. At twenty, he’ll have ten times that number of fans on YouTube. Still, my small posse pleases me.
I’m told by veteran Medium writers, I will keep gaining readers if I:
- write every day
- know my audience
- pick my niche
- write better headlines and subheads
- choose tags strategically
- learn SEO strategies (search engine optimization)
- read other writers, leave comments, and share their work
- chose the right publication for each piece
- write a can’t-put-down article that compels readers to read more of me
- hustle every day
- go viral
(When I post this piece, my fellow strivers on Medium will undoubtedly weigh in if I’ve missed anything!)
It’s a work in progress, sweetened by the fact that I’ve been exposed to and befriended by some excellent writers over the last many months. It’s also frustrating, because Medium keeps changing the rules.
The New Program
On August 11, the Medium staff published a blog to summarize its new Referral Membership program:
Today, we’re announcing an evolution of the Partner Program that more directly ties writers’ earnings to the audiences they build. Earnings based on member read time will remain the same, but we are adding an additional revenue stream that gives writers more control over their earnings, while continuing to provide opportunities to tap into Medium’s expansive network. We’re also adding basic eligibility criteria to the Partner Program to ensure we’re directing earnings to active writers.
To put this into MY OWN words….
If you sign up for membership using the referral link above, I get a commission — like a saleswoman at J. Crew!
And thus my quandary: It’s as if I’ve waited on you before, helped you find the perfect outfit, without expecting anything. Now, I’m asking for a tip or a donation.
Based on other rewards and initiatives offered by Medium, I have a hunch that writers with legions of loyal followers will benefit most from this new math. It’s not easy to convince a hundred people to buy writing when so much out there is free. I’ll ask Charlie for advice and help.
And let’s not forget that the monthly stipend for landing a hundred new members is only $227. It’s something, but not much.
Reality check: Thirty years ago in print, I earned between $1 and $3 a word for magazine pieces. In today’s dollars, $227 is 10% of the least I once earned for a 2,270-word article.
Still, $227 is something.
If You Join, it’s a Fair Exchange
If you are already a member of Medium… scroll down for links to three recent pieces. Thank you in advance for your claps and comments and, for taking the time to read the whole piece. Medium knows how much time you spend, and I’m paid accordingly!
If you’re not a member of Medium… my hope is that you enjoy reading me enough to at least click on the links below. Even better, perhaps you’ll consider paying a mere $5 a month (or $50 a year) for unlimited reading behind the paywall.
I understand your reluctance — for one, if not all, of the following reasons:
- You already get too many emails. Joining Medium means another one (or maybe, many).
- You’re afraid to provide your email to yet another online venue that might sell your information or — God forbid! — get hacked.
- You can’t bear the thought of paying another monthly “access” fee, even if it is just $5. Your cable provider, telecom company, and streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon got to you first.
And yet, hat in hand, here I stand asking for your financial support. Just use THIS LINK to become a Medium member.
Why it’s good for you: There are a lot of great thinkers and writers on Medium. For the cost of one latte, once a month, you’ll have unlimited access to all of them. It’s mind-broadening.
Why it’s good for me: It’s not just my cut of your membership fee, a whopping $2.27! What matters more is that as a member, you’re allowed to clap and leave comments. Medium rewards reader engagement. They want writers to “build audiences.”
If you prefer not to join, no hard feelings. Subscribe to me on Medium — it’s free — and you’ll receive an email each time I publish there.
Oh, and please think of me once a month when you treat yourself to a latte!
Recent Pieces on Medium
- How to Talk Yourself Down from the Tech Ledge: 7 Strategies for Geezers and Others Frustrated by Technology — another of my well-intentioned rants against tech giants. It might give voice to your own concerns about our new-fangled world (she says, sounding like a centenarian, a word Zelda loved). We can laugh about it together and I have a few suggestions at the end.
- We’re All on One Spectrum or Another: I Just Recognized Another One. What About You? — Packing for my return to Paris put me face to face with my neuroses! Readers on Medium say they’ve been there, too.
- The Smartest Advice About Writing: And Why I’m Afraid I Can’t Take It — Medium attracts a gazillion writers, from seasoned pros to savvy high school kids and everything in between. Sometimes it feels like most of the one hundred million active users are writers! The bottom line is that one of the most covered and read topics is…writing. This author, Dew Langrial, is one of my favorites on Medium.