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Medium Money
Can writing for online platforms generate a useful income? Simon Whaley chats to one contributor
This article first appeared in Writing Magazine’s August 2022 issue. (*= affiliate link: I sometimes use affiliate links in my posts. This won’t cost you anything, but if you go on to buy from a link I may earn a small commission.)
In August 2012, Evan Williams, who founded Blogger and co-founded Twitter, launched a new online writing platform: Medium.com. It’s grown into a platform where writers can write about almost anything and get paid for their content. Payment, though, depends upon how many of Medium’s subscribers read their work. So, can this be a useful income stream for writers?
A lot has happened over the ten years since Medium launched, and some writers who’ve created content on the platform for many years frequently earn four-figure monthly payouts. For the majority, it’s much less than that. In September 2020, Medium identified that only 6.4% of writers on its platform earned more than $100 a month.
I joined the platform in July 2021, and as I add more and more material to the site, I’m seeing my monthly Medium payments increase. But from a business perspective, writing on Medium isn’t just about money.
