12 & 35 Ways To Churn At The Content Mill
Medium Is Alas The Message
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Full disclosure.
I write mostly fiction (and occasionally politically/culturally driven diatribes).
It is what I have done (along with visual art) since at least age 20—around a half century ago.
After calculating my age it is easier to understand why I have reached the full blossoming of a get-off-my-lawn curmudgeon.
Additionally, these days my MisanthroMeter™© is quite steadily in the red.
(So what the hell are you doing here, ya fool?!)
Well, my partner introduced me to Medium about four years ago as she was publishing her short stories here. Since all my work over the years has been self-published anyway (on paper and digitally) I thought I could continue it here, online, and get a few more readers.
And I have, a few — thank you!
(It amuses me—considering how little that word means nowadays—that many writers use “published author” as some sort of credential. Because you put your words on Amazon with a book cover graphic, ignoring what that devil organization is doing to publishing, you get to soak in a bubble bath of self-satisfied authorship.
I propose they’re fart bubbles rising, and little more.)
I had no illusions when I jumped aboard — I could see from the start that Medium was not a literary review, no New Yorker or The Atlantic. (Smiley face emoticon.)
But as the years rolled by — and the membership numbers almost doubled since 2019 (up to 725K)—this vast Sea of Words has become diluted to being some weird blend of Readers Digest, a first year college writing course, and a stack of How-To pamphlets.
Beyond the maybe 20% (being generous) of serious, truly well written, important contributions, most content on Medium has little more credibility or shelf life than something on Facebook or Twitter.
(Yes I know this is subjective. But, as the guy over there with the glass of whiskey just said to me— “You’re entitled to your opinion.”)
So. First and foremost — the medium of Medium is not about publishing.
It happens to be yet another of the…
