When Stories Earn 6 Cents, is it Time to Quit?

Trials and tribulations of online writing

© Susie Kearley

“When stories earn 6 cents, is it time to quit?” I asked myself this morning when I got up and checked the stats on a piece I published last night. The piece had no claps or comments, and no reads, according to my stats. But it did have 6 cents in earnings. Weird.

Later in the morning, more checks revealed 4 reads for the 6 cents. Then one person clapped. Bravo! By the afternoon, it even had one comment!

To be fair, I wasn’t expecting much. Most people aren’t interested in Parkinson’s disease, and so I had expected a quiet response to the story. But not that quiet. And I thought there might be a tad of enthusiasm from some quarters.

However, it does raise the question whether it’s worth continuing with my blogging when earnings are so low. My high point last month was a boosted story, which continues to be my best earner of the month, but everything else is disastrous.

I joined Substack and ramped up my publishing schedule some months back. I have three subscribers — two of whom are the same person. I’m wondering if he’s noticed, or whether he deliberately took out two subscriptions to support me. Anyway, I’m trying to deliver value for my 2–3 subscribers on that platform.