It’s Been a Year Since the Implosion

A short reflection on the changing world of online writing

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I stumbled across an old spreadsheet on which I used to keep track of the articles I published on this platform. I was organized. I recorded how many pieces I published and kept track of the number of views and reads I had on each one. I also kept track of which publications I submitted my work to so that I would know which publications were getting me the reads, and just as importantly, the pay.

I looked at my spreadsheet to see my earnings from last year. Last September, I made $1468. This September, which ends in a few days, will net me around $150. That is quite a drop.

I looked down the column where I kept track of my earnings and smiled. It was a good run. I made over $1000 in eight consecutive months. I signed up to be a friend of Medium. It seemed like the thing to do since they had been so good to me. Life was good.

Each month, I would gain around 200 new followers, as well as a healthy number of subscribers. I got tips fairly often. One time, I even got a $75 tip because the person liked what I wrote so much. I was stunned. A steady stream of new followers, a reasonable number of tips, and a paycheck north of $1000 each month made writing on this platform a pleasure.