I Just Got Paid $.01 From Medium, Yeah!

So, I just got paid from Medium: $.01. Actually, it is down from a previous month when I made $.04. So, I am not as popular now as I was…

So, I just got paid from Medium: $.01. Actually, it is down from a previous month when I made $.04. So, I am not as popular now as I was previously. It is obvious that I am not making much money from this platform, but that is OK with me.

I know there are many here on Medium that use the platform to make a living and some write about it regularly: “This Month I Made So Much Money on Medium, I Just Bought France.” You know the stories. However, I am using Medium to develop my writing and even help me to market better.

I am a niche writer. Most of my published work is of that type and that includes three self-published books. My byline appeared in several magazines and I was even a regular writer for one of them for several years when I was in college. I then spent decades in my current career path which involved a lot of writing, just not the published kind. Medium is helping me expand out of that niche.

My niche is Catholic issues because Catholic ministry is my career path, but in the United States that media venue is horrible. It is either angry: “It is about time people understand that Hell is real and they will go there,” or it is saccharine: “Every morning I wake up and thank God that the sun is so wonderful.” I write neither. I write from a point of view that is more rooted in the style of such fringe but important publications like The Catholic Worker, but that style or viewpoint does not expand into mainstream Catholic media. I publish a couple blogs that are deep in that venue and some of those pieces can be found in versions tailored for this venue on my Medium feed. (Twitter Is No Place for Catholics, A Catholic Take on Conversion Therapy, The Ends Never Justify the Means)

In fact, I will have coming up in few weeks a story I wrote for a newsletter I edit, it was published in the September issue. The subject is the Catholic concept of evil in comparison to that portrayed in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

Medium, however, is obviously not just writing, it is reading. So I have the great chance of enjoying so much other writing, which I would not experience just reading the morning newspaper. No newspaper is as eclectic as Medium in its wide variety of topics. I can read a variety of topics, but more importantly writing styles.

Remember, when you are reading a publication online or in print, it goes through an editor who forms it to his or hers and the publication’s writings styles. Medium does not do this. I am reading what others wrote as they wrote it, not as an editor told them correct it.

I am still writing in my niche but also using Medium to expand out of it. For example, I will have an article about private prisons coming up on my regular feed.

Currently, I have twenty-three published stories here; I also edit a publication on Medium that I want to market better. It is this statistic that means the most to me. I am writing, enjoying it and eventually that writing will be read by more people. Meanwhile, I am training myself to write better which will allow me to expand my horizons. I also have a place that I can show editors my writing as I offer them articles.

So, yes, I made only $.01 on Medium, but I don’t care. I am using Medium to expand my writing horizons even if that is not making me any money. Money is not my ultimate goal. In time, I may do well, but I am more concerned with writing and improving. In that case, Medium is my school.