Chapter 1: The Current Landscape of Writing on Medium

Navigating the world of writing on Medium has left me feeling perplexed. The underlying issue seems to be whether success is genuinely attainable here, or if it’s merely an uphill battle to achieve it.

My view count and earnings have dropped this month, and I understand the reason behind it — I’ve had limited time to dedicate to writing on Medium or to engage with the community. The cause? I recently finished a significant project: I published an anthology! This endeavor, which took over six months, culminated today with a successful upload to IngramSpark, following my initial submission to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). In the past two weeks, I've managed to sell 14 copies of this poetry anthology on KDP, and I couldn't be prouder.

The anthology features contributions from 25 poet-photographers across four countries and three continents. You might wonder, what is a poet-photographer? In this instance, these poets crafted ekphrastic poems, inspired by a piece of art, which, in our case, is the authors' nature photography.

To qualify for inclusion, both the photographs and poems had to focus on nature and be suitable for students in grades five through nine. Additionally, the photographs needed to be of high quality for color printing, requiring a resolution of 300 dpi. As the publisher, it was my responsibility to ensure that everything looked its best in the final product.

This concept of enhancing work to shine in publication should resonate with fellow publishers on Medium. I’ve had people express a desire to help my pieces stand out, yet I’ve often struggled to gain visibility for them.

While I have experienced moments of success on Medium — being featured multiple times and maintaining a few well-received "evergreen" articles that continue to generate income — this new venture into publishing has left me feeling isolated on the platform. Promoting the anthology seems to be frowned upon, and even sharing my experiences as an indie author-publisher hasn’t garnered much interest.

It baffles me. Aren't we all writers on this platform?

My performance on Medium appears to correlate with my level of engagement — actively reading and commenting on others’ posts daily has proven to be crucial. Unfortunately, my time constraints have hindered this engagement, resulting in decreased readership and revenue this month. I’ve produced several decent articles, yet even my travel pieces, which used to attract significant attention, are now only reaching a few hundred readers.

This leads me to question: isn’t Medium supposed to be about writing? Or has it become a platform reliant on reciprocal reading and following? I prefer not to operate that way, and perhaps that’s reflected in my current standing.

Is Medium a place for sensationalized headlines that lure readers in only to shift the narrative? I don’t write that way, nor will I compromise my style.

Do users seek genuine information? I’m uncertain. My informative articles, backed by sources, aren’t gaining traction.

I find myself at a crossroads, Medium. I’ll be sharing this article on my own, as I doubt a publisher would find it appealing. Like several of my other writings, it may not reach a wide audience, but perhaps it deserves to.

At the very least, it feels good to articulate these thoughts.

Writers should support one another, regardless of whether their work aims to inform, entertain, or persuade. Currently, I’m feeling quite disconnected from Medium.

And yes, a personal shoutout to myself for successfully publishing a book!

Chapter 2: The Journey of Publishing

In this video, we delve into the process of writing, publishing, and monetizing your work on Medium, offering insights into navigating the platform effectively.

Chapter 3: Getting Started with Markdown

This guide provides an introduction to using Markdown for writing online, perfect for beginners looking to enhance their writing experience.