Is Medium my friend again? Boosting, $, and August changes

I've got my fingers crossed

Last time Medium made changes, it basically killed the platform for me.

It felt like they wanted clickbait content on tap.

Big NOPE from me.

I’m not a clickbait writer. I’m pretty confident you’re not either.

But when they launched changes again in August I decided to give it a go. The results are encouraging.

And also, not so much…

Let’s start with the positives:

This is what I’ve been waiting for!

I’ve published 3 stories this month, all one after the other.

1. A republished health article (originally commissioned for an off-Medium publication and already paid for).

2. A book review list

3. An original personal essay

Here’s what happened:

That hopeful feeling…is Medium my friend again???

• The personal essay was boosted immediately and has earned $170 in 2 days.
  A rate of around $6.50 per hour of member reading time.

• The book review wasn’t boosted and has earned $6 in 3 days.
  A rate of around $3 per member reading hour.

• The health article was boosted today, 5 days after it was published.
  So far it’s only earned $7.49 but that’s for just 1 hour of member reading time.

What does this mean?

Boosted articles not only get more exposure and internal reads, but the rate per hour of member reading time is better.

The thing that really excites me about this is they are finally rewarding personal essays and well-written hybrid pieces (personal experiences mixed in with well-researched information).

Basically—human writing!

I LOVE this development.

What’s not so great?

It’s early days. I’m yet to make any final decisions about the sustainability of writing on Medium.

One thing worries me. Old articles are earning far less per day for many people.

I’m talking hundreds less.

Building a large library of stories used to be how many writers supported themselves.

It meant you could take a vacation. Have sick days. Take a much needed mental health break and your monthly Medium payment wouldn’t drop much.

Will boosted stories become un-boosted after a few months and die too?

So far other writers have told me their boosted stories have continued earning anywhere from a few days to a few months.

Time will tell.

A boost doesn’t always pay

The other thing I’m watching is how much a boost pays off.

Various boosted writers have told me it can range from $50 to $2K. That’s a huge range.

Let’s play that out…

• You write 8 pieces. 4 of those are boosted and they earn $50 each.

• You earn $200 for a month. Plus maybe $30 for the other 4.

Worth it?

$50 is a very low rate for a story in the off-Medium world ($200+ is typical).

But you get to write anything you like, on any topic you like. Is that bonus enough on it’s own?

People do blog for free.

Ultimately, it depends what your priorities and goals are.

Worth a try

Overall, I think it’s worth a try.

Republish or write originals and aim for a boost.

If nothing else, it will push you to improve your writing quality.

That’s always a positive!

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Are you going to test out the new Medium rules?

I’d love to hear how it’s going for you.

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