Dale’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2017)

Dale’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Carmel wrote: "Good to know all the ins and outs of how that works, Dale. Thanks for sharing. It all makes sense, but then there's that commitment to keeping it up in order to maximize the potential out there......."

You're quite welcome, and you're right about the commitment. That's another thing I should have mentioned. It does take steady effort, but the more good stories you have out there, the easier it becomes. I wrote something almost every day for the first couple of months, then started slowing down, partly because I couldn't keep up the pace. I noticed, however, that my earnings didn't really flag that much. I think it's possible to post less frequently once you have a body of work available, because people do keep finding those older stories, which helps keep your earnings up.

Thanks again, everyone!

Alex wrote: "This information is invaluable for anyone who wants to deal with Medium, so thanks for putting it out there, I just wish I could find the inspiration to write some articles, I haven't in ages."

Glad to help, Alex. Inspiration will strike sooner or later. Probably at the least convenient moment. ;-)

D.J. wrote: "Yep, still haven't done the publication thang!

It's a good month if I reach $20 these days, but it pays its way, so why not. I'm only at 267 followers. Sometimes I get a random clap on something I..."

Yeah, I can see putting the author profiles outside the paywall.

Carole wrote: "Wow, that was terrific Dale. You really cleared up so many of my questions. I think you are absolutely right in everything you say. I slowed adding followers and basically just add people with arti..."

Thank you, Carole, and you're very welcome. I'm glad it helped. FYI, I suspect some of what you write would work for a publication. You just have to find the right one.

But is it your good side? ;-)

Thanks, folks!

My next astronomy piece: The Celestial Twins

My first Medium story appeared in late February this year, so I've been publishing there for ten months now. Medium has changed some of its tools since then and I've discovered a few things through them. I've also been thinking about what comes next and done a bit of research on the side. I'd like to share with you some of the things I've learned and discovered along the way.

1. It's easy to make money on Medium, but hard to make a lot of money. According to their monthly partner program updates, around 60% of writers who publish at least one story earn money, but only about 9% of active writers earn over $100/month. My first paycheck was $5.25, but that only included a single week. My lowest full-month paycheck was $19.56. My highest so far was $71.22, excluding the month I received a $100 bonus for a story they liked. That month I got $119.71, so my regular earnings were only $19.71. For the last few months I've been hovering around $50/month.

2. Membership is worth it. Since an annual membership is only $50, you only have to earn $4.17/month for 12 months to make money, and based on the above I'd say that's insanely easy to do, so long as you keep writing and build up a following.

3. Stories outside the paywall? Bah, humbug! I know there are a lot of Medium writers who recommend putting a few freebies out there, but honestly I don't see the point. Excepting only one or two stories that don't qualify for the partner program, I set everything to earn money. Now that "friend links" are available, you can share a link to people outside the paywall if you want, and for those who are Medium members, what's the point in letting them read without taking a share of their contribution?

4. Following people early on can get you followers, but eventually you need to stop following the whole world. Mostly follow those whose writing actually interests you. Get new followers using the next point...

5. Write quality stories that will interest somebody. I'm of the opinion that every writer can find something to write that will interest some segment of the population. I write fiction, of course, and stories on the craft of writing. I have also started a series of stories on stargazing, because that's one of my own passions. I've written a few religion articles from a Baha'i viewpoint as well. All of these things are drawn from my own experience and interests . . . even fiction, which I've been writing since I was a child. Draw upon your interests and experiences, write good stories, and the followers will show up.

6. Write for publications. I know, some of you have expressed reluctance or even fear of doing so, but it's not really that hard. Search for publications that are interested in your subjects, check out their submission requirements (which are usually found from the menu on their Medium home page, either under "submissions" or "about us"), and submit something to them. Some publications do require a certain minimum level of activity to remain on their list of accepted writers, but usually these aren't too strenuous. The point in writing for publications is exposure. They likely have a lot more followers than you do. According to stats I've found, Lit Up (where I publish a lot of my fiction) has over 6K followers. The Writing Cooperative has over 138K followers.

7. Even when writing for publications, it may take time to get followers. I don't have a really wide social network like some of you, so my following has grown rather slowly. Yesterday I finally topped 400 followers. My sense (not scientific, just a feeling I have) is that the more followers you have, the easier it is to get new followers. I'm not sure why that would be, but it may be the case.

8. If you want to grow your earnings, you'll need to periodically branch out to something new. I've done that by gradually adding publications to my list (first Writing Cooperative, then Lit Up, then Publishous, which I was invited to join), and by adding my stargazing stories. I'm now looking to get myself added to a larger fiction publication. Lit Up and Publishous are actually rather small. If I can land a spot in one of the larger ones, it should boost my following and get more exposure for the stories I've published in the smaller publications. (People who follow you will often look at your older works.)

9. It may pay to leverage older stories by linking to them from new stories. Some of my highest-viewed and read stories are my older ones, which have continued to attract readers over time. My story "How to Use Writing Prompts" was published in August and now has 1.3K views. (It's the only story I've published to hit the 1K mark, although a couple others are getting close.)

10. And finally, if Medium's curators distribute your story, you'll probably (but not always) get a big boost. As far as I can tell, you'll only know that a story was distributed by checking the stats page for the story. If it was distributed, there will be an annotation on the page views graph. Usually stories are distributed the same day they are published, if ever. Stories are distributed based on the tags assigned to them, so you need relevant tags and (obviously) an engaging, well-written story to be distributed. I've had a number of stories distributed, which I think has helped boost my earnings. But even that isn't a magic bullet. It just gets your work in front of more people. You still have to snag them with your headline, subheading, and description, and then pull them into your story.

I hope this helps someone out there. Questions, comments, and rebuttals will be gratefully accepted. ;-)

I received a new review from blogger Jennie Rosenblum for Ice on the Bay. I love that she says, "By now I am hooked, so I can’t really say this could be read as a stand-alone – but why would you want to."

Her review is here. It's complete coincidence, but a good one, that this comes out just after I put the paperback editions of the whole series on sale.

Theodore wrote: "I was just out on The Jerusalem Post's Website, checking on the news in the Middle East, when an ad from Barnes & Noble popped up, featuring four of my books. Now, we all know that our movements on..."

They don't know you're the author, just that you did something that looks like interest in those books. And you are interested in them. ;-)

Mary wrote: "Hello all I am back from the Middle East, even Iran wearing a Hijab but anyhow I have published 50 stories on Medium.

https://medium.com/me/stories/public

It is thanks to this group that I ever ..."

Welcome back! I think you need to link to your profile page, not the "me/stories" page. When I click on that, I get the page with my own stories.

My next Writing Cooperative article: A Little Comma Sense. It's about comma usage. Of course.

(Let me know if the link doesn't work. For some reason I can no longer get to Writing Cooperative URLs from my office.)

Happy holidays to everyone!

We're in the process of shutting down One Voice Press and its fiction imprint Serpent Cliff. Serpent Cliff is the publisher of my Howard County Mysteries, The Fibonacci Murders, True Death: A Howard County Murder Mystery, and Ice on the Bay. In an effort to sell off remaining inventory, we've dropped the price to $5.95 on all three books. I'd appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word about this price reduction. All three books have received some good reviews, but are not well-known. They would make great gifts for mystery/suspense/thriller readers.

I will be reissuing the series under a new imprint with better covers in 2019, but we really need to sell off the Serpent Cliff editions if possible. Thank you!

My next stargazing story: The Bull in the Sky

My new short story at Publishous: Falling Star, a Christmas tale about a cat, a fake Christmas tree, and a meteor. ;-)

My next Writing Cooperative article is now live: The Cover Blurb, in which by way of example I slyly promote Alex's book An Unwanted Inheritance.

Carole wrote: "I hear Twilight Zone music."

Yeah . . .

Carole wrote: "I also go nuts over 1111."

That reminds me of something. Fair warning, though. This is not a happy story.

I had a coworker who joked about always noticing 11:11 on the clock. She mentioned it to me several times and said she'd been noticing it for years.

Then one day she got a phone call. I wasn't paying much attention, but at some point it became obvious it wasn't a good phone call. When she hung up, she looked at me and said quietly, "Eleven eleven." Which is when the call came in.

A bit later she told me the call was about the husband of a friend of hers, an electrician who had suffered a fatal work-related accident that morning.

She never mentioned 11:11 again.

Okay. Back to your regularly scheduled horseplay . . .