How Getting Personal Helped Me Get Paid on Medium
A happy report on April earnings
April was my best month in terms of earnings on Medium since July of 2022.
Every month, I tell the tale of the top 5 earning stories.
I tend to write about consumer issues or education policy or sometimes, some short fiction.
But in April, I took a new turn. I started writing more personal stories about my journey with alcohol.
This serves two purposes:
- It’s a bit of a journal for me, reminding me of where I was — and where I don’t want to go back to.
- I’m hopeful that reading about this journey is helpful to others facing similar struggles.
A funny thing happened as I began to open up here on Medium.
People started reading. And responding.
The engagement has been strong — and it has even meant more reads for some of my non-recovery stories.
While it is nice to earn a bit of money here on Medium, I love the site because I can write what I want and build connections with other writers.
It is nice, though, to find a thread of writing that earns both views and income — and has the added bonus of introducing me to new friends.
With all of that said, here’s my top earning story from April:
It’s a story about my earlier days of recovery — and one trick I still use to help keep me sober.
Of course, publishing in a publication focused on sobriety also helped, I’m sure.
My number two story was about writing — and writing on NewsBreak, specifically. Stories about writing (and making money writing) seem to always earn some money.
