Writing on Medium: Month 2

These are my statistics, earnings, and a new bit of advice I discovered pertaining to writing-backlogs.

Photo by Leah Newhouse on Pexels.

Sometimes we have slow months, and that’s okay.

My progress this month has notably been sluggish, but it’s been steady. Admittedly, I got distracted with work (my inevitable return to university was going to do just that) and, for March, I was only able to put out 4 articles.

So roughly an article a week which, in hindsight, is not bad.

As I mentioned in my previous writing update, this is really just a small hobby of mine, so I’m not particularly concerned about my output.

I simply write when I feel like it.

No pressure.

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Statistics and Earnings for March

I am happy that, as of writing, I’ve gained another 250 followers — which is steady, healthy growth — pushing the total to just over 1200. Thank you all for sticking around and continuing to read my articles, even if I’m a little slower than usual!

This month, despite the lack of articles pulling my total reads and views down, I was still able to pull in 2.7k views and 1.2k reads — averaging at 675 views and 300 reads per article. So, all in all, roughly 44% of all viewers remain long enough to become readers.

That central peak, really, is due to me publishing two of the four articles close together around mid-March.

Of the four articles, two were set behind a paywall (and both were boosted): my food-culture article in New East and another book article in Books Are Our Superpower. And, as usual, my book articles always seem to pull in the most amount of money — you could say I have a knack for writing about reading!

Incidentally, however, I’ve learnt the importance of having a backlog.

My previous update was only my first month on Medium, so naturally I had no prior articles to form a backlog, but now I do; and let me tell you, they still continue to add up to my total revenue. By the month’s end, I accumulated just over $130, which is very similar to last month’s total.

Of the total, however, you’ll notice that this month’s articles (that is, the ones I published in March) contributed $86,03 to the overall amount.

Meanwhile, my backlog (that is, articles published in previous months) contributed $50,07!

Despite only pay-walling two articles this month, a further 6 from the previous months continued to pull in some numbers.

So, when you think about it, in terms of this month I only really made $86 worth of content, but I receive an additional $50 bonus of “passive income”.

That’s $50 of doing nothing in March — all thanks to that backlog.

Thank you, past self.

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My new tip for beginners: the backlog

The importance of having a backlog, as a writer, has thus dawned on me.

Based on my statistics for the month, a surprising amount of my income has come from those articles which have been drawing constant engagement.

Now, that’s not to say they will always be bringing in numbers — in fact, I was relatively surprised at their current life expectancy. There is going to be a time when a topic simply fades from public interest or, more likely, your articles get buried beneath the constant onslaught of other articles over the months.

Thousands are published every day, so don’t be hard done by if your article doesn’t stand the test of time.Some articles will just have a lower life expectancy than others. That’s just the reality.

The good news is, if you’re constantly writing, you’ll always have a backlog to count on.

Moreover, it’s entirely possible for articles to be revived from the dead. Maybe one day a topic you wrote about makes headlines and now everyone’s searching the web for it; and guess whose article is waiting in a state of dormancy, just sleeping until the time is right.

It could very well be yours.

So, my number one tip for new writers that I’ve learnt from this month: keep writing until you have a decent sized backlog.

It’ll be of a great relief when that passive income starts trickling in, trust me.

You’ve just got to keep writing.

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Thanks again to all my readers and supporters. This article is part of my ongoing series to document my writing journey on Medium. If you’d wish to support me further, feel free to check out my blog!