J. F. Shumate

My SECRET to Earning BIG BUCKS Writing on Medium

Right now, my wife is planning how to spend my $3.78

My wife thought I would be a bust as a writer. She told me to get a haircut and get a real job like my big brother Bob. Hah! I showed her!

 Many other successful writers on Medium have shared the secrets to success. After writing 12 stories, I think it’s time to share my secrets to success.

Reading about the volume of stories some folks write is exhausting. There is not enough coffee in the world to get me cranking like they do!

One success story was a guy who wrote 250 stories in 6 months. Boy, I bet he is a lot of fun. Assuming he works 5 days a week, giving him time off for video games, he was cranking out 2 stories PER DAY. I read one of them. Now I understand clickbait and AI.

Another highly successful Medium writer is claiming a six-figure income. Over several years, she wrote over 500 stories, probably a lot about making money writing. Assuming 5 years of writing, that’s 100 stories a year or 2 per week. She has almost 80,000 followers. I have 34.  I’m closing in on her.

Writing Like O. Henry

For comparison, the American short story writer O. Henry wrote mostly when he was starving, which seemed to be frequent. He would get an advance from a print publisher, buy bread and wine, and crank out a short story. He wrote about 400 stories, poems, and a book or 2, before dying at 47. He also served time in prison after living in exile in Honduras.

Does living in Honduras fit into your writer’s lifestyle?

The obvious advantage of writing for Medium is you do not have to go to jail, you don’t have to be a drunk, and life experience isn’t required before grinding out hundreds of stories before turning 30. I’m not criticizing being a drunk mind you. I’m not sure but maybe Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Poe, and Williams drank to keep their minds calm between writing spurts.

Right?

And Now My Secret Is Revealed

Now (drum roll) the SECRET TO MY STUNNING SUCCESS ON MEDIUM.

Just sit at your computer and start typing!

That’s the secret.

Just start typing.

Yes, my children, by following my simple plan, you too can soon earn over $0.31 a story!

When I started writing a few months ago, it was for my enjoyment in retirement. I wanted to be employed, not retired, then tell people “I’m a writer.” Thanks to my loyal 34 followers who sometimes read my stories, I can honestly say I earn money writing.

Your Goals As A Writer

But money isn’t everything. For those who want a different lifestyle and don’t want to earn the BIG BUCKS I do, here are 3 rules for writing.

#1 Set up a non-monetary goal for writing stories. What would satisfy your need to publish your thoughts?

#2 Write the best story you can and then go goof off. Maybe come back tomorrow and rewrite it. David Caro makes changes while his books are at the printers. Go ahead, rewrite the heck out of it. And follow the Medium editing guidelines.

#3 Find a sympathetic editor at a Medium publication who is so desperate for articles that she/he/they will publish your early-stage drivel. Or one who recognizes something special in your writing.

Find A Big Bucks Career Elsewhere

If you want big money, find a new career. Try gathering shopping carts at Publix Supermarket.

Seriously.

I met an 80-year-old man working at the local Publix gathering shopping carts 4 hours a day in the Florida heat! He has been doing it for 20 years and has built up quite a sizeable amount of Publix stock from their ESOP. This after spending time handling Agent Orange in Vietnam, becoming a cop, surviving Agent Orange caused cancer, and retiring before starting at Publix.

Imagine the stories he could write!

And that’s how to enjoy your writing experience AND earn BIG BUCKS on Medium, just like me. 

You’re welcome!

Thanks to George Thorogood for Get a Real Job. I was the big brother Bob. My advice is do what you love!