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Melissa Corrigan, she/her's avatar

I just had a piece boosted after a couple of months of being iced out. The people I worked with were close with the former administrator of the Boost program, and when she was fired it truly felt like those who had been close with her were (intentionally or not) iced out of the program. I've been boosted over 60 times, so to then get nada.... it was a bit frustrating, for sure.

A big thing I truly love about Substack is all that data. You can see how a Note made an impact, and dozens of other data points that are so valuable in considering future content and methodology. I wish Medium had that. So much of our frustration, and it has been clearly voiced for leadership to pick up on, is the lack of transparency. We just want to know wtf is going on. That's it. Whether through more robust data analytics available to writers or just more and better communication from the exec suite.... just give us something!

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Hi Melissa. Your work would fit in great at Cultured. I remain a Boost nominator, but honestly we've lost so many writers that it's hard to find quality stuff to nominate lately. If you want my opinion on something, please reach out (walterrhein@gmail.com). I can give you suggestions and get it nominated. I'm glad you had one get in recently! I haven't gone a month without at least one Boost since the start of the program, but I haven't had one this month yet, so we'll see. I used to get as many as 15 per month! I agree with what you're saying about Substack and the need for transparency. It's still worth going for a Boost because a Boost earns well, but if you're not Boosted the content does well on Substack. Cheers!

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Zuri Stevens's avatar

Thanks so much for featuring me Walter, I am so incredibly grateful. Thanks also for your writing and for your outrage at what is going on in the world. I learn a lot from you, plus it’s also very therapeutical to read your work. I appreciate you.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Hi Zuri! Thank you for your kind words!

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Laurence Baudot's avatar

Thanks for sharing all this Walter!

I have to renew my subscription and don't know what to do yet. After reading what you wrote, maybe I'll stay.

(love the image by the way!)

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Walter Rhein's avatar

I believe that if you're in the partnership program, you're likely to earn back the money you spend if you publish a few articles a month. There are some signs that things are getting better, so hopefully those will continue to come through.

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Laurence Baudot's avatar

I just made 2 bucks more than waht it cost me (lol). Thanks to a boost I got a year ago (don't know how I got that).

But I don't publish much. I may be able to write more in a few months, so I guess I'll keep trying and see how this medium situation evolves.

Also I don't really want to quit because I'm close to the 1000 followers threshold (953) and I'd like to see if I can cross it.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Medium is a good place for a person who writes a couple dozen articles a year. It's the best way to get maximum visibility even if you don't have time to write daily for something like a Substack newsletter. The next time you have a story idea, please let me know and I'll see if it's a good fit for one of my publications. I'm a Boost nominator, so I can provide some direction for you!

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Laurence Baudot's avatar

Thank you!

Should it be sent as a draft?

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Send to walterrhein@gmail.com

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Yes, a Google doc file is most convenient.

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Kristina God's avatar

Hey Walter, didn't hear back from you via email. Guess you're super busy. I'll take this link and date and time and promote it inside eht school, alright? I can also write a little update tomorrow about Medium too. They will take all meta stories from the paywall also the old ones 😂 reminds me of the referral link 🔗

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Hi Kristina! I received your email about the video and I am planning on doing that today. I did send a reply, but maybe it got lost in cyberspace (I was on my phone and in a place with bad connectivity). I hope you're feeling better! Yes, please promote the zoom chat for Friday. I hadn't heard that about Medium removing Meta stories. Thanks!

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Kristina God's avatar

OK will do!

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