February Writing Round-Up
What's happening in the world of writing today?
Hello Friends,
Another month has come and gone, only 47 more months to go :).
By and large, February didn’t treat me all that bad. I managed to finish my 22nd American Birkebeiner. That’s a 50km race in the middle of Wisconsin winter. This year we had a start time temperature of -9. I finished, though it took me 3 hours longer than it did in my prime.
But hey, I still made it. When I cross the finish line, the volume is turned down and I feel a connection to what’s important.
I’m still splitting my time between Medium and Substack. Last month, I nominated 13 stories for a Boost and 6 were accepted. That’s a 46% acceptance rate, which means I’ll probably get my quota lifted next month.
But the thing is, I’m not finding good stories to submit. I think that the drop in earnings has caused a lot of writers to leave Medium. But that means it’s an opportunity for those of you who are just starting out.
You also need to consider that there is value in allowing me to edit your work even if it doesn’t get accepted for a Boost. For me, it’s worth giving an hour of my time to provide you with some feedback. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the insight I can offer will help your work succeed on Medium, on Substack, or anywhere else you care to send it.
So, try not to be frustrated by whether or not the curators at Medium accept or decline your story. Focus on the positive insight you get when editors like me, or the other editors on Medium, provide you with feedback.
Stay the course!
Writing success doesn’t happen overnight unless your parents or uncle own a publishing house. The real writers struggle. But we persist because we’re real, and it’s a calling. The entitled people out there just produce novels out of boredom and then discover they’re just as miserable even after they push people with real talent out of the spotlight.
Anyway, here’s my Medium month:
This is the first month since the Boost program began that I didn’t get anything Boosted. I think just about all of my stories were nominated and rejected. However, I know I still understand what a Boosted story looks like, because I sent 6 through. Also, I’ve already imported most of these stories to Substack, and they’ve performed well here.
I’m probably most disappointed by the last one. That was a book review of the recent release by Loretta Ross and it only made thirty-six cents! Ha!
What troubles me about that is that Ross is such a fantastic and famous activist. She’s reached out to me, and I think if they’d been smart enough to promote that story, they might get more work from Ross featured on Medium. That would help elevate the clout of the entire platform.
But nah, they passed. It seems like a missed opportunity. I already imported the story here to Substack and included a voiceover. I hope she sells a million copies. She quoted me 3 times in this book! I am so amazingly honored!
At this point, my strategy for March will be the same as the one I used in February. I’ll write 5 or 6 articles with the intent of getting them Boosted. There are a few editors who are still very active on Medium, and I enjoy reaching out to them a couple times a month.
When/if those stories are rejected for Boost, I’ll bring them over to Substack.
I’ve also been publishing 5 or 6 articles on Medium that I don’t think will be Boosted. There are a couple publications where my work performs well whether it’s Boosted or not. I might start having to send more articles to An Injustice. Those always seem to do well.
As for Substack, I’ll continue doing 3 posts a day. I’ve been doing an article, the audio of an older article, and an extemporaneous talk. I’m liking the morning talks. It’s a good way to take the edge off my racing mind. It helps me settle down and get to work.
I’m also planning on doing more interviews and Substack Live recordings. I’m closing in on 7,500 subscribers and 300k views in a month:
Again, if you have a great story and you want to get my opinion on whether or not it will be Boosted, don’t hesitate to reach out. If you’re only doing a story a month, or a story every two months, Medium is still the best chance to get a decent return.
The key to Substack is to produce a lot of content. I keep urging people not to wait until they’ve attracted an audience to start writing. The content is what connects you to your people! Publish!
Remember you can always feature your older work again when your people find you!
That’s it for today. Looking forward to another great week. Here’s a little hint of what’s coming (some of it anyway):
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I definitely plan to read Ross’s book!!
Always appreciate your updates Walter, and somehow it's reassure to hear that even someone like yourself is struggling with the same things as I am (re Medium)