How The Hell DO You Get “Noticed” As A Writer On Medium (& Elsewhere)?

I’m a new writer on Medium. I’ve so far published around a dozen pieces on the site. Like other writers on here, I started posting here to try to gain more exposure to my writing and maybe make a few extra bucks in the process. (Of course, I’ve enrolled in Medium’s “partner program” like a lot of other writers on here have done.)

And, as other writers have undoubtedly noticed, there are countless articles on Medium purporting to tell you how to make hundreds of thousands of dollars not only on Medium but as a “freelancer” as well. Some of these articles have eye-catching titles like “How To Make Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Your First Week On Medium” and the like. Now, the question remains, do these writers really make that kind of scratch writing about how you can make that kind of scratch on Medium-and elsewhere-or are they just trying to get clicks or “claps” so they can in turn make more money on Medium? Who knows! Now you might be asking what’s my own “advice” for making tons of moo-lah on Medium (and elsewhere)?

Beats the hell outta me!

If you were expecting to read yet another one of those “money-making” articles, sorry, but you’re barking up the wrong literary tree! I mean, I’ve been at this writing game for years and I’ve made a little-and I do mean a LITTLE-money at it publishing books and whatnot, and, if there is a “magic bullet” to make a ton of money at writing, I sure as hell haven’t found it yet!

One thing I have found in all my years of writing is that there is NO shortage of those who’ll offer you their, uh-hum, advice on how to write, what to write, where to write, what you should avoid writing, etc., etc., etc. But perhaps the best writing advice I’ve ever read was from an article published in Writer’s Digest years ago (back when, of course, people were still reading AND buying magazines!). And that piece of advice was this:

Just write.

That’s it. Just write what you want to write and worry about the rest of it later. And, if you think you know which piece is going to get you the most attention (or “going viral” as the kids like to say!), well, forget it. Another thing I’ve found out about writing is that you never know what can push people’s buttons. For instance, I penned what I thought would be a rather controversial piece about Donald Trump that I thought would get a lot of reads, but so far that hasn’t happened. After my Trump article, I penned a rather snarky review of the controversial Star Trek Discovery show (also known as STD!) and it’s so far gotten more views and reads than my Trump piece. In fact, my most “popular” piece on Medium is how much women’s armpits turn me on, so there you go!

So, there again, my best piece of writing advice for you is just write and let the proverbial chips fall where they may. As for making money on Medium and/or as a so-called freelancer, well, I think Han Solo said it best in the very first Star Wars flick: It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense!

And, if anyone DOES happen to know of a “magic bullet” to make a ton of money from writing, by all means let me know in the comments below!

Thanks!