I joined Medium initially as a reader a couple of years ago. After some months of enjoying reading, I posted a few non-fiction essays about writing and with some of my thoughts on erotica. Somehow they caught the attention of the wonderful JK Mill, who invited me to write for the Medium publication Exceptional Erotica.
And boy, did I!
The support and positive feedback I’ve gotten from JK and Celia McKinley and all my readers (I’m looking at you, Sifu!) has been nothing short of phenomenal and I thank you all from the bottom of my filthy little heart.
Sadly, as many of you have written or read, Medium is not the same platform as it was last year. My income has dropped to 10–15% of what it was last year, and my readership has dropped, even while the number of people following me has risen.
Not all of that is due to Medium’s changing payment schedule. I’ve done some experimenting with different types of stories, some of which may not have had the same appeal to folks as my earlier stuff. I’ve also had less time to write due to several personal reasons, so my output is down. So while I still see other authors getting tons of responses, I’m getting very little feedback. At least not on Medium.
I was toying with exploring other platforms when it was announced that Exceptional Erotica is going on indefinite hiatus after this month. My “Devil Inside” arc that was just published this week will be my last stories for them. Sad but I totally understand why they’re shutting down.
I could look for another Medium publication to join, and I’m sure I’d have no trouble finding one. But I’ve realized that writing for Medium is limiting (or driving) the way I write. Generally, the expectation is for 1500–2500 words per post, which demands a particular style of writing. If I have a longer story that I’m breaking up into multiple posts, I find myself trying to make sure I put some heat in each one, even if they story beats don’t really call for it. It also feels like I need to continually publish on a weekly basis to maintain interest, which is difficult to keep up while I’m still working a full-time job (fingers crossed that that will change in twelve months or so).
So while I will maintain my Medium presence for the near future and my previously published stories will still be out there, my new posting will likely be limited to newsletter/blog posts like this one while I explore other potential platforms.
In the meantime, I plan to continue to post stories on Literotica (you can find me at ‘flipnmelonfarmer’) and I will continue to put out the occasional novel or short story collection on Kindle. I’ve also submitted a couple of stories for consideration for an anthology that the Exceptional Erotica folks are putting together next year. Fingers crossed!
In no way am I going to stop writing, although without the self-imposed deadlines for writing for Medium, actual publication may be a little more sporadic. But that’s okay.
I’ve got at least a dozen potential stories rattling around in my head — no, probably closer to two dozen. Some of them would not be appropriate for Medium (or Kindle) anyway — I’ve got a very dirty mind, kids. So some of those stories will likely be exclusive to Lit, which gives writers a little more leeway. And oddly enough, I find Literotica readers are much more comfortable with longer stories than Medium readers are.
I’ll talk more about some of what I’m working in my month-end missive in a few days. For now, I just want to say again how incredibly much I have appreciated your feedback, your claps, and your highlights. Not gone, hopefully not forgotten, but a little quieter…
No comments:
Post a Comment