How I Made 34 Cents on Medium With One Story
By the time I hit 29 cents, I knew I had what it took
I’m new to Medium. But I sometimes wonder if my newness to Medium is inversely proportional to my level of skill.
Let me start with some advice for other new writers. Just write. Put. It. Out. There. You cannot succeed at this game without putting in the effort. If you’ve ever watched a baby trying to fill his or her diaper, you know that some things require a little grunt work. New Medium members: level up.
Patience
In my first couple of days as a writer, I was still sub-twenty-cents. Yes. In the teens. Halfway to decent pay, maybe. But I questioned my work — my innate ability. Maybe I did not have what it took. But I was wrong to question. All I had to do was give it some time.
Crushing It
Hone your skill. Don’t just write. Read what you wrote. While it’s true you should get to a place where you never edit your work, you don’t have to be in that place right away. Read articles on how to make money on Medium; better, write those articles. If you take anything away from this article, know that the best way to make money on Medium is to write articles about how to make money on Medium (I know, it gets real meta real fast). Submit your work. Allow your success to germinate for a while.
One Week In
One week in, I’ve not only passed twenty cents but thirty. There was that time when I was back in the teens when I questioned that this was even possible. I don’t know if I was curated, or what. But my income on Medium has grown by one hundred percent.
Reflecting On the Past
As a child, I used to enjoy writing reports. This meant rewording sentences from other books. I was good at it. The original author’s “the Osprey’s massive wingspan often extends to twelve feet” became my succinct “the large wingspan of the Osprey frequently can be twelve feet long”. I remember my cousin being aghast that I liked writing reports. While my early knack for the written word was an indicator, I wouldn’t say success was destined.
Looking Forward
In the future, I may publish more. I don’t want to oversaturate my profile. I may wait for my initial work to take a dip in traffic/income. If I let this thing sit, I might even hit that sweet, sweet penny-centennial.
Questions to the reader: what has been your experience? How have you dealt with unexpected success?
Postscript
I’m now up to thirty-five cents.
