All of my posts are free but if subscribers would like to become paying subscribers, they may choose to do so. I also have a Buy Me a Coffee link at the end of each of my pieces, allowing readers to tip me if they would like to do so.
Your description of what's happened on Medium crystallized for me my frustration and dissatisfaction with the platform. Who gets read and how much engagement matters feels utterly arbitrary, contributing to a feeling of powerlessness and futility - and that is not a good feeling! I am trying to hang in there with Medium but it is very discouraging to have no sense of control or influence, not to mention earning pennies on pieces. I have published almost 50 pieces on Medium and have made barely more than 10.00. When you take the lack of transparency with the lack of reasonable compensation for your effort, you have the makings of something that is not much fun for anyone to participate in. I am going to hang on for another few months for some improvement. I understand changes can take time to rectify the problems they may cause. But if nothing has gotten better by then, I will likely leave Medium. But I will be here on Substack, where I am having a LOT of fun!
You're definitely not alone Stephen. I felt the change on Medium too. I posted less on Medium, then last month only 3 pieces, this month 0. We share the same feeling about wanting everyone to be able to read our work. I don't paywall my stuff either but ask for those who can to support. I use substack's ''discounts' to offer subscriptions for as little as $1 per month / $10 per year. Maybe that's something you'd want to look into too, keeping them free but discounted subscriptions because you're right--that $5 is quite a bit, especially when people want to support multiple writers :)
Thank you so much for the heartfelt post. I'm brand new to Substack but share many of the same views.
All of my posts are free but if subscribers would like to become paying subscribers, they may choose to do so. I also have a Buy Me a Coffee link at the end of each of my pieces, allowing readers to tip me if they would like to do so.
Your description of what's happened on Medium crystallized for me my frustration and dissatisfaction with the platform. Who gets read and how much engagement matters feels utterly arbitrary, contributing to a feeling of powerlessness and futility - and that is not a good feeling! I am trying to hang in there with Medium but it is very discouraging to have no sense of control or influence, not to mention earning pennies on pieces. I have published almost 50 pieces on Medium and have made barely more than 10.00. When you take the lack of transparency with the lack of reasonable compensation for your effort, you have the makings of something that is not much fun for anyone to participate in. I am going to hang on for another few months for some improvement. I understand changes can take time to rectify the problems they may cause. But if nothing has gotten better by then, I will likely leave Medium. But I will be here on Substack, where I am having a LOT of fun!
Thank you, Polly. I guess I am not alone.
💙💙💙💙💙💙
You're definitely not alone Stephen. I felt the change on Medium too. I posted less on Medium, then last month only 3 pieces, this month 0. We share the same feeling about wanting everyone to be able to read our work. I don't paywall my stuff either but ask for those who can to support. I use substack's ''discounts' to offer subscriptions for as little as $1 per month / $10 per year. Maybe that's something you'd want to look into too, keeping them free but discounted subscriptions because you're right--that $5 is quite a bit, especially when people want to support multiple writers :)
Thank you, I may try that.
No, you are not! Lots of company, I think.