5 Things New Writers Should Know Before Publishing on Medium

Are you a new writer wondering whether you should start publishing on Medium?

This Ship 30 for 30 interview with Tim Denning gives you all the information you need to make an informed decision:

Tim is one of the most read Medium writers of all time and shared a ton of insights in this hour-long conversation.

Here are 5 things you should know before you start publishing.

Preview

1. What makes Medium special?

It’s the only writing platform where anyone can sign up, start writing, and earn money from their stories without needing a large audience.

(Only 100 followers are required to join the Partner Program and start monetizing).

2. How much money can you earn as a writer on Medium?

The top 1% are earning $10k per month.

Sounds amazing, but these writers are actually disenchanted with the platform. They were hopeful it would become the YouTube for writers, enabling 7-figure creators.

But Medium has not created millionaires because they “throttle” story views before anyone can earn this much.

Should this deter you?

No and here’s why.

The other 99% of writers can still do quite well. You can earn $1,000 a month or more on Medium if you use the platform well.

3. What does using the platform well look like?

First and foremost is quality writing.

Publishing high-quality stories twice a week is better than publishing mediocre stories every day.

Next, know your topics.

Some topics perform better than others on Medium.

Right now, (left wing) politics, social issues, marketing, and crypto are hot. Personal development has cooled off, but is still decent. And other topics like personal finance tend to flop.

4. Is Medium the best way to earn money writing?

If you just want to write without learning to create and market digital info products like books and courses, then yes. I don't know of anything better right now.

But these other pursuits currently have more financial upside.

5. What are some alternatives to Medium?

Publishing on Twitter, LinkedIn, and newsletter platforms like Substack, ConvertKit, and Beehiiv all have their pros and cons. But you’ll likely need to build a large following to have an impact.

Medium is still the best for directly monetizing your stories as a new writer.

They also have a higher quality readership than many other platforms.

chantelle @chantelle

Oh this is cool! I will check this website. Is it free to create an account?

Reply1 Reply0

trynotsuck @trynotsuck

Creating an account and writing on Medium is totally free! But reading other people’s writing isn’t always free. The way they allow writers to monetize is by selecting stories to put behind a paywall. So if you want to read more than 3 “member-only” stories from other writers each month, you need to pay for a membership, which is $5/month or $50/year.

Oh I see so there is a subscription. Okay I understand! Thanks!

Just for reading. You can still write and publish for free.

Reply0

jay_yow07 @jay_yow07

this is great! @younes started medium too after he wrote a couple of idea lists here! :)

Idea lists turned blog posts can do really well on Medium.

I'm planning on doing the same. In fact, I repurposed this one already!

https://medium.com/ @trynotsuck/5-things-new-writers-should-know-before-publishing-on-medium-4f5ddec8500b

Trynotsuck

5 Things New Writers Should Know Before Publishing on Medium

1. What makes Medium special?

2. How much money can you earn as a writer on Medium?

3. What does using the platform well look like?

4. Is Medium the best way to earn money writing?

5. What are some alternatives to Medium?

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