January Updates from the Partner Program
Answers to your burning questions, details on January payments, and recent stories our editors loved
2019 is off to a big start — with Medium stories helping readers unpack everything from the government shutdown, to Super Bowl advertising strategies, to how to apply KonMari principles to every part of your life. To kick off February, we have answers to your frequently asked questions, and more. Let’s get into it:
Top questions for our “Elevators”
In last month’s newsletter, we shared an interview with two of our editorial “Elevators” Harris and Stephanie, to give you more insight into how we’re partnering with writers here at Medium.
We got a lot of great questions in response to the Q&A, so we decided to publish a follow-up this week to answer them.
The most frequently asked questions were:
- How do I make sure my story is seen by Medium’s editors?
- What subject areas do you focus on? How do you decide which stories are featured?
- Do you consider stories that aren’t written by writers enrolled in the Partner Program?
- How do you avoid favoritism? How do you make sure you’re promoting diverse voices?
- Do you work with non-English-speaking writers?
For the answers, check out our blog.
January payments
On 1/30, we processed January payments to your bank account. As always, these payments were based on the depth of engagement from our members (distributing each member’s $5/month based on his or her applause, reading time, and overall engagement last month).
Based on member engagement from January:
- 58.9% of authors or publications who wrote at least one story for members earned money.
- 8.1% of active authors earned over $100.
- $8,390.03 was the most earned by an author, and $4,290.43 was the most earned for a single story.
Stories our editors loved this month
This month, instead of sharing writing prompts, we’re trying something new: detailing a handful of Partner Program stories that resonated with our editorial team. Sometimes, a great story can inspire writing much more than a prompt alone — and we hope these stories will be inspiring for you:
- In “Reclaiming My Writer’s Voice,” Kay Bolden chronicles her path to finding freedom and authenticity after years of ghostwriting speeches and press releases. Through journaling, long walks in the woods, and dreaming up “one horrible paragraph per day,” Bolden rediscovers herself and her craft.
- UX designer Adam Lefton encourages his colleagues to find more nuanced words for the people who engage with their products in “As a Designer, I Refuse to Call People ‘Users.’” As Lefton writes, “saying ‘user’ strips a person of their circumstances,” overlooking their context and motivation.
- In her personal essay, “What My Mother Risked in Smuggling Me Out of Tibet,” writer Rinzin reflects on crossing the border from Tibet into Nepal as an eight-year-old. Her story is a tribute to any parent who takes a risk for their child.
For more stories we’ve featured this month, head here.
January’s special collections
Our editors have launched some great new collections in the past month, which feature stories published through the Partner Program.
- The February issue of our magazine focuses on the unknowable. It’s themed Reasonable Doubt, and we’ll be publishing new stories in it every weekday this month.
- Navigating awkward work social events. Making the most of a bad boss. Dating a coworker without getting fired. Our Office Politics collection features stories with actionable advice on how to find your way in the workplace, no matter where you fall in the company hierarchy.
- Joint Accounts is a new weekly advice column from writer Kristin Wong, covering the intersection of finance and interpersonal relationships.
This monthly newsletter is emailed to all writers enrolled in the Partner Program. Learn more about earning money for your best work on Medium here.
