$0.23 was my First Medium Income

Finally, a relatable statistic for beginners

( Photo by Jordan Rowland on Unsplash )

Yes, that decimal point is in the right place. Not $23, not $2.30.

$0.23

Shaunta Grimes’ advice on writing novels introduced me to Medium back in April 2019. This one, in particular, I believe:

There Ought to be a Word For This

And then another, and another — I was hooked! Various stories about the writing process that I read to motivate me while working on my Camp NaNoWriMo project.

It was another month before I started paying to read more stories.

It was another week or so after that when I realized I could write my own stories.

Yep, that’s right. I spent weeks on Medium thinking that this platform was any other article-based-site. I thought that the writers worked for Medium, not the other way around (sorta). I spotted that “New Story” option weeks into my Medium experience and a whole world opened up.

Shortly thereafter, I started seeing stories about how to start making money on Medium. Now I actually am…