I am also on Medium. Here's an analogy comparing the two platforms in terms of helping me develop as a writer. Medium is like an exercise that works my tricep. Substack is a full-body workout - writing here works just about everything. And this is also another way of saying that I think my time on Medium is limited because, like working just one muscle all the time, it is neither interesting nor fun.
I wish medium was working better for you Polly! It's been a roller coaster over there lately. I post my work on both platforms. Actually Medium has been a better source of revenue for me for 4 of the last 5 months. I agree with you though, there are many things I love about Substack!
Maybe Medium will pick up. Who knows?! I am just going to keep cross-posting as much as I can and see what happens over the next few months. I will be writing no matter what. Might as well post it somewhere and everywhere I can for the time being!
Yes, that's my strategy too. Whenever I finish a post on Substack, I just copy and paste into Medium. Then I stagger out when I publish them. It's an efficient strategy. It only takes me less than a minute to copy and paste. I did that the other day and made $800 on the article, so that alone paid for the time of 6 months of cross posting :)
Ungh... that's very frustrating. I just looked it up. My first months went like this: Month 1 $0.27, Month 2 $53.60, Month 3 $145.93, Month 4 $858.04.
For one of those months I published 70 stories. You do keep earning on the ones that you published, so sometimes it takes a while to really see the payout. I went into medium with the goal of publishing 1,000 quality stories there, but I think you can get a pretty good idea how it's going to go after around 150.
Also, things are different now than they were a few months ago. With everything that's going on in the government and the world economy, I guess I just don't feel confident making any predictions. I wish I could! Just keep writing somewhere, writing is life!
And I too think all the time about this: “What would become of stories like Mr. Lindenblatt’s if the generation of mine that was supposed to inherit them had taken the privilege that came with another generation’s survival and decided not to listen? What would happen to these stories when there was no one left to tell them?”
I am also on Medium. Here's an analogy comparing the two platforms in terms of helping me develop as a writer. Medium is like an exercise that works my tricep. Substack is a full-body workout - writing here works just about everything. And this is also another way of saying that I think my time on Medium is limited because, like working just one muscle all the time, it is neither interesting nor fun.
I wish medium was working better for you Polly! It's been a roller coaster over there lately. I post my work on both platforms. Actually Medium has been a better source of revenue for me for 4 of the last 5 months. I agree with you though, there are many things I love about Substack!
Maybe Medium will pick up. Who knows?! I am just going to keep cross-posting as much as I can and see what happens over the next few months. I will be writing no matter what. Might as well post it somewhere and everywhere I can for the time being!
Yes, that's my strategy too. Whenever I finish a post on Substack, I just copy and paste into Medium. Then I stagger out when I publish them. It's an efficient strategy. It only takes me less than a minute to copy and paste. I did that the other day and made $800 on the article, so that alone paid for the time of 6 months of cross posting :)
I have nearly 50 pieces on Medium in 2 months and have made 11.32. 😅
Ungh... that's very frustrating. I just looked it up. My first months went like this: Month 1 $0.27, Month 2 $53.60, Month 3 $145.93, Month 4 $858.04.
For one of those months I published 70 stories. You do keep earning on the ones that you published, so sometimes it takes a while to really see the payout. I went into medium with the goal of publishing 1,000 quality stories there, but I think you can get a pretty good idea how it's going to go after around 150.
Also, things are different now than they were a few months ago. With everything that's going on in the government and the world economy, I guess I just don't feel confident making any predictions. I wish I could! Just keep writing somewhere, writing is life!
Great live 🎉
Thanks for listening, and glad you liked it!
Yes and yes! I would read, and I do read, any and everything Brodesser-Akner writes. She is among my top-ten favorite journalists, easy.
Love Olive Kitteridge! And other writing by Elizabeth Strout.
I recommend this essay by Taffy Brodesser-Akner about the burden of growing up with the Holocaust.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/magazine/holocaust-story-education.html
I love her Fleishman Is In Trouble!
And I too think all the time about this: “What would become of stories like Mr. Lindenblatt’s if the generation of mine that was supposed to inherit them had taken the privilege that came with another generation’s survival and decided not to listen? What would happen to these stories when there was no one left to tell them?”