Sep 16, 2017
An Open Letter of Gratitude to Medium
(Creator, Staff, Writers & Readers)
Last weekend I wrote an article titled “An Ode to Medium’s Brilliantly Ridiculous Policies and Standards”. Now in fairness, I am the opposite of a calm, cool and collected person.
So when I lost my membership privileges due to non payment, then saw the prepaid card company Medium tried to charge my membership fee to, had charged me an imaginary $15 they’ll never see for not having the $5 in there — perhaps I jumped the gun a bit in writing the article.
Now, I don’t think I was bashing Medium in the article. Sure, I may have vented a bit. The response I got from Medium directly as well as all that has happened since made me initially consider removing the article altogether but I’m a writer first and I happen to really like the post. I fucking nailed the feature picture too. It’s so money.
So I figured I’d write this instead.
After I posted the article Medium’s staff left a private note on it. At first it seemed their only interest was in making me a paid member again, which would make sense considering they are a business. However, once I informed the kind woman from Medium who reached out that writing is my only source of income at the moment and I would become a paid member as soon as I had $5 disposable dollars, I immediately received the following email
Talk about a humbling moment. Have you ever had an organization you just partially constructively but publicly criticized on their own platform immediately send you a gift, free of charge? Of course you haven’t.
So now that I’ve gotten the contextual details and back story out of the way, here’s where the gratitude comes in.
Before Medium, I wrote in inspirational spurts. And by spurts, I mean I wrote a 500 word post on WordPress once every six months and was shocked when doing so didn’t immediately make me famous. I wish I was kidding.
Medium has taught me what it means to be a writer. It has shown me what it takes, the work you must put in before you can even half seriously consider calling yourself one. Medium has been my source of both formal and informal education as a writer. The truth of the matter is I didn’t call myself a writer before Medium, because I wasn’t one. I was a dude who had the potential to be a good writer but never wrote.
When I was accepted into Medium’s paid partner program I must admit although I was excited and proud, I can’t say I necessarily saw a future in it. I was thinking it may amount to coffee money, at best. However, after they last updated their payment dashboard and I saw my posts had earned me just over $100 in the last week, I realized it’ll allow me to pay my phone bill this month.
One post has earned me $77 in the last week. A post titled The Power Of Words. One I wrote quickly and somewhat hastily, if I’m just being honest.
All I have mentioned above is just where my gratitude to Medium starts. The amount of responses I’ve gotten via comments, private notes and email from readers, thanking me for and praising my posts has been absolutely overwhelming. People who have said something I have written has helped them through a difficulty of their own or inspired them to take a positive step forward in their life or writing. There is no greater reward to what we do as writers than knowing your words have had a positive impact on someone else’s life. You all have helped me far more than I’ve helped you, I assure you. You give me purpose and remind me why it is I even write in the first place. Thank you.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank all the other writers on Medium whose stories I’ve enjoyed and whose craft and creativity has helped my own. As well as all the editors who have accepted my submissions, helped me get better and a very special thank you to the few who sought my work out by requesting me as a writer as well as for the kind words that came with them. I could not be more grateful.
Medium has provided us with an amazing and profitable platform to do what it is we were meant to and thanks to them as well as all of you — I’m able to call myself a professional writer today. Thank you, Medium.
