5 Reasons I Don’t Try Very Hard to Get Into Publications on Medium

And 4 reasons why you might not want to what I do

Paul Ryburn, M.Sc.

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man, on stool, reading a print publication, with more publications on the floor; text “I DID IT MY WAY” to his left
Image created by author using Canva

You may have heard that Medium recently sent out bonuses of $500 to 1000 writers who had high member engagement during the month of April.

I published 20 articles during the month of April. 18 of those 20 were self-published, meaning I did not submit them to publications that operate on the Medium platform.

I got the bonus anyway.

That advice a lot of the top writers (especially those peddling courses) give you — that you HAVE to be in publications to be successful? It’s not universally true. The month I had in April is proof. I’m not to the point of making quit-my-job money yet, but I’m making paid-my-rent money. Without being in pubs.

Today I’ll discuss why I don’t care a whole lot whether my work appears regularly in publications. However, I’ll also list a few reasons why you might come to a different conclusion for your own writing career.

I’m tired of writing for others’ approval

I remember the senior term paper I wrote for AP English class. It had to be about British literature, which I hate. I had my choice of using footnotes or endnotes, both of which I hate. I…

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Paul Ryburn, M.Sc.

I write about writing, ideas, creativity, homelessness, intuition, spirituality, life lessons. Ex-college teacher Twitter: @paulryburn