Medium is an online publishing platform for anyone to share their stories. Writers, journalists, thought leaders, anyone can join and start earning money from others reading their writing. That used to be the case; however, lately, Medium is swarming with angry writers complaining about how they’re not being paid what they are worth. This blog post will take a look at a Top Writer on Medium who’s published over 400 stories on the platform but doesn’t have much to show for it.

Starving writer

Mike Lewis joined Medium in October 2021 with hopes of developing a writing career. He’s a 4X Top Writer on the platform with over 4,000 followers. He publishes stories on Medium daily, and since joining the platform, he’s published well over 400 stories.

In a recent Medium story he published, titled 397 Stories Have Averaged $0.14 in Earnings This Month, he shares that during his best month on Medium, he earned $1,965, and during his worst month, which was September 2022, he only earned $228.

He also shared that during October 2022, at the time of writing the above-linked story, he had published 22 stories and only made $132.82. That averages out to be $6.04 per story, which is barely enough for a cup of Starbucks coffee.

These kinds of earnings are inhumane. It takes a great amount of time and effort to write content. Based on Mike’s October earnings, if it took him an hour to write one story, he’s being paid less than minimum wage. It’s not right, and many writers are fed up!

While browsing Medium, you come across many angry writers who are disgusted that they are contributing content to a platform that’s literally paying them pennies.

What’s the solution?

Since platforms nowadays refuse to pay writers a decent wage, it’s up to the individual writer to pay themselves. Writers must take back their power, refuse to give the platforms valuable content, and delete their accounts.

There are so many options for earning as a writer these days. You can start your own blog, take on private clients, and even start your own writing agency. Yes, it will take some work, but if you’re writing for sites like Medium, you’re used to putting in work and not being paid. At least put the work in for yourself.

Alternatives to Medium

There are many alternatives to writing for pennies on Medium:

While the earning potential varies based on what alternative you choose and your monetization method, nothing beats you taking your power back. You don’t have to settle for less when you know your writing is worth more.