When No Reads Mean No Income: The Brutal Truth About Relying on Medium to Survive

I’ve never been the kind of person who shies away from a challenge.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Life has thrown its fair share of obstacles my way, and I’ve always found a way to push through, to make it work, to survive.

But nothing prepared me for the crushing reality of relying on Medium to pay my bills.

The idea that I could write my way to financial stability seemed almost too good to be true. And, as it turns out, that’s because it often is.

When I first stumbled upon the Medium Partner Program, I was in a rough place.

My financial situation was precarious, to say the least.

I was freelancing, picking up odd jobs here and there, but it was never enough to feel secure.

The bills were piling up, and the anxiety of not knowing how I’d make it through the next month was becoming unbearable.

Then, I discovered that Medium would actually pay me for my writing, and for a moment, I felt like I had found a lifeline.

Writing has always been my passion, my refuge.

Growing up, I used to write stories in the margins of my school notebooks, creating worlds where I had…