Now I'm Just Confused

 When it comes to Medium, I'm always getting thrown a curveball. For the entire time I've had work on the platform, every time I think I have something figured out, the opposite happens. Like today when I checked my monthly earnings. After making a few strides last fall, I ended up with only $0.03 earnings in November and a big fat $0 in December. I thought this meant that impactful and lasting royalties came from non-fiction content rather than the creative content I had been posting. So I started the A Taste of Money series and nothing. Few reads, no bites from paying members. Then I post another poem from last year's prompts, and I immediately earn $0.03 in a day. After about eight days, I end up earning $0.10. Go figure. 

I know that this doesn't account for all of the other variables that dictate who gets paid and for what, but this is showing me that it would be much easier to stick with poetry that I know I can put in publications (that aren't of my own creation) and get things moving. 

In other jumbles of confusion, one of the platforms I create content for (day job stuff) has completely changed its ways, leaving me without a clear picture of my future with them. What was once a great place to come and go as I pleased for work has now turned into a highly competitive cutthroat environment. While it helps for writers' work to to sell faster, it's leaving me without a way to grab the work that I want and get it done without the fear of someone coming up and writing an article out from under me before I get my thoughts together. I worked for this platform specifically because you had a choice between being highly competitive and taking the slower route, giving customers the content they wanted without twenty other people trying to steal it from you. 

So how do I make these changes work for me? I don't know, because it looks like to get the work I want, it's going to be a game of waiting until midnight on the first of each month to grab something before someone else gets it. Not only claim it, but actually sit and write it as soon as I get it. That just doesn't work for me. And because of the rules on these new changes, it is up to the individual clients to change the way they buy work for it to resemble the platform I used to know and love. I know it's only been a couple of days so far, but if it continues to look like I can't even attempt a consistent work pattern on the platform, I would probably be better off concentrating on creative work that is less likely to pay the way this work did, but would remove a huge level of stress. Did I ever tell you about my love/hate relationship with change? 

The First Seven Days

 My plan for 2021 was to move my weekly blog posts to Tuesday--it would work out better for many reasons, including the ability to get those posts out more consistently. But without a planner to write my little to-do lists, I was in a bit of a mess on the first week of the year. That's changed, because my bullet journal/planner/whatever you want to call it arrived on Tuesday. That doesn't mean my world is suddenly organized, and I know that I have to rush through January without great thought to design, but so far it's getting the job done. And I can't begin to tell you how much I love having an excuse to use Micron pens again. 

So I thought I could easily push out a blog post for the beginning of year yesterday, but then yesterday happened. On my best day it's hard to pull myself away from breaking news, so I usually just settle in and try to absorb what's going on. Needless to say, yesterday's productivity was near zero. 

Now I'd love to tell you what grand plans I have for 2021, but getting a bullet journal planner started was my main focus in the last week of 2020. Beyond that, I'm not sure where to go next. I have released the first article in my series A Taste of Money with a follow-up coming tomorrow. I plan to publish 1-2 articles a week for that one, but what I really need to get out is the publication guidelines so that others can have their chance at publishing work in Frugal and Freelancing. 

I'm still looking into other Medium publications to get my work out there, as well as those good ol' literary journals. I need to make a list and pay more attention to submission dates because I tend to miss some good opportunities when submission windows close before I get the submission sent. And all of my longer projects? Those are all still waiting in the wings for when I get inspired again. And since its January, you know I'm already planning for a project to do for National Poetry Month in April. All this leaves me now with plenty to do, and I better get to it. 

News and Notes from the Writing Desk: September Edition

 The year is going by fast--but then again, it's dragging on pretty slowly too. I'm in one of those moods this week where I feel like I have to get thirty things done all at the same time, which always leads to nothing really getting done. So what have I been doing? It's a varied list. 

To Medium or Not to Medium

While I've been slightly obsessing over my stats on Medium, I know that there's a lot that goes into the decision to publish specific pieces on Medium. While I want to write fresh stuff, I still have a vast backlog of things that I would love to get out there. The question is: should I post on Medium or keep submitting to lit journals? It's not an easy question, and there's no right answer for any and all of these pieces. While lit journals rarely pay, they do get the work in front of people who have a specific appreciation for writing. However, if I publish something on Medium, there is a chance of getting paid for it. Then again, with low views/reads on most of my work, I'm not provided with reader insights that can help me tailor my work to my audience. 

Like I said, not any easy question to answer. I occasionally get discouraged, especially when I know I have a good piece. I just don't know where it belongs, and I don't know how tightly I should hold onto it to make sure it finds the right home and the right audience at the right time. 

Intense Publication Research

Since I have so many pieces without a home, I'm back to scouring all my emails for places to submit. I'm finding it harder and harder to avoid journals with reading fees, but there are still quite a few out there that I haven't submitted to yet. I've also looked into Medium publications, and those are all looking pretty good to me right now. There are plenty of options and I know that these publications could lead to bigger and better things on the platform. The only issue with all the list-making is that I have to not bury this list in my desk. I have to plot, plan, and take action. 

Considering Long-Form Options

Although I haven't been that focused on longer works, I do need to get back to those novels. I'm considering which one I want to work on next. I could take the easy route and start from something that only has a few chapters, or I could tackle ones that are in the depths of revision. I could start completely from scratch. With the way my days and weeks are structured now, I don't know if NaNoWriMo will be an option this year. Too many things are pulling me in different directions, which leaves little time for the writing that comes after both the writing for work and the short-form writing for career advancement. If I get a few more short pieces out of the way, maybe I could make room for the long stuff. But as it happens to everyone, you plan, plan, plan and the world laughs in your face. 

That Bullet Journal Thing

I started a sort of practice bullet journal in just a small, regular notebook turned sideways, because, you know, lefty here. I'm not a huge fan of it right now, but that's why I'm practicing so the 2021 journal comes out pretty and I keep the process fun. That, and I'm not about to jump right in with the more-expensive journal options. 

News and Notes from the Writing Desk: August Edition

 Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, stanza by stanza, things are slowly moving along. I am still rotating in and out of a few projects, but this month I have mostly been focusing on distribution of my work. Specifically, I think I have finally found how to use Medium to my advantage. 

The Importance of Publications

Up until two weeks ago, I had posted my work on Medium without any expectation of having my pieces curated for any publication on Medium. If you get curated, especially by a Medium-created publication, you could see thousands of hits overnight. But there are also many smaller publications--in fact, anyone with a Medium account can create a publication, build an audience, and find a niche group of contributors to supply a stream of new work. 

By accident (or the daily Medium emails I get, whatever) I stumbled upon a specific publication (The POM) that I thought might be the right fit for some of my existing published pieces. So I read the guidelines carefully, as any good writer would, and submitted some of my work. Once I made sure that I had proper credits for my photo, it was accepted, and suddenly I had more eyes on my work than I had in the past year of writing on Medium. Getting into publications? Essential to success. 

Get That $$$

Before the start of August, I had earned exactly $0.01 for my work on Medium. Not really anything to brag about, but I also didn't have to do much to get it. When I started publishing pieces in The POM, I noticed right away that money was coming in. Again, it's not impressive, but so far this month I have earned $0.10, which is a clear improvement from what I was getting previously. As with any website that depends on various algorithms to pay contributors, you can't see exactly how or why money is doled out, but there are a few clues. 

First, I received dozens (in some cases more than 100) claps for my work. After seeing these numbers I immediately went to my dashboard to see my dozens of views. The views were still low, and pretty consistent with previous months (I have yet to get 20 lifetime views on any one piece). That's when I figured out claps. When you clap for a story, you don't have to just provide a single clap. You can clap as many times as you like, leaving a large number of claps from just a single view. Claps also seem to be important in determining which pieces will pay out. 

Views seem to be much less important, but anyone on Medium knows that views have to be from a paid member in order to pay out. Free members who read it are still good, particularly when they like and share it with others, and it still boosts numbers. I admit that I'm still a free member, because I want to be able to pay for Medium with Medium--once I reach a steady earnings of $5 a month, Medium will get a new paid member. 

The Road Ahead

As much as I like placing my poems in The POM, I'm still looking and researching new publications to work with. However, the fact that some of these publications have locked their submission guidelines behind a paywall is very frustrating--and lucrative, probably, which is kind of shady, though completely within the TOS. I'm still creating new work and I want to diversify where that work ends up. You never know--maybe one of these days I'll be in the mood to run my own Medium publication. 

Planning to Plan

Aside from all the new things I discovered with Medium, I've also been looking into starting a bullet journal, rather than trying to manage a calendar, planner, to-do list, and other stuff. I think I can get around the idea of making it pretty with spectacular artistic talent by using a lot of stickers, stencils, and my very favorite skill--collage. I have a stack of Vogues in my closet; might as well put them to good use. 

New Flavors

Lastly, what gets labeled as totally random: I tried a couple of new flavors today. Both good, but I wouldn't try them at the same time.