Simply looking at the site and its content model, it's obvious, to me at least, that it's the internet equivalent of a publisher's slush file. People have a greater appetite for reading, but are not yet willing to pay for it. So content pieces that wouldn't fit into a more serious publication can be shown there.
Authors can complain all they want about the platform, how there's little money in it, how they can't build an audience, and all these complaints do is highlight the author's naiveté. These things are set by the market's appetite, not your ego. If you want your writing to be taken seriously, then take seriously the craft of writing. Medium doesn't suck, you suck. And you're on Medium because you suck. It's about an efficient a market as you can find, because there's exactly zero barriers to entry.
Hmm, a bit harsh, ok a lot harsh, but essentially I agree with the premise that Medium is where you publish if you can't get published elsewhere (yet).
I for one am enjoying seeing how the markets around writing are evolving, in many ways they are much more effectively evolving than video and music markets.
For writers we got the great "Internet" where you put download blogging software put up a server and start posting. Except you were one of a trillion zillion people so discovery was basically impossible. Then we got blogging "sites" which collected people who want to write, and among those sites added some discoverability. Then we got "Blogzines" which are essentially all on the same topical area by a fixed stable of writers which feels more like a magazine. And of course e-books which are single topic / single author.
It is interesting to compare the likes of Blogger to Medium to Ars Technica to HufPo to Salon etc.
Yeah, I took a harsh tone because of the egotism displayed in the title. I don't think everyone on Medium sucks, but if you feel entitled to the same perks you'd get, say, with a magazine, then you really do need to come down out of the clouds. It's hard-ass work establishing yourself as a writer. There aren't any short cuts. Even if you get lucky and get a magic book deal, if your writing sucks you won't get another one. And no one will really respect you, either.
In fact, I think Medium is a perfect place to hone your craft. If I were looking to write professionally, I'd be working on my tone and content constantly. I wouldn't even think of the sorts of stuff the OP is thinking about until I was absolutely sure that all that's left to work on is the outlet. That's when you'd be getting comments like, "Wow, you're the best writer here!"
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Simply looking at the site and its content model, it's obvious, to me at least, that it's the internet equivalent of a publisher's slush file. People have a greater appetite for reading, but are not yet willing to pay for it. So content pieces that wouldn't fit into a more serious publication can be shown there.
Authors can complain all they want about the platform, how there's little money in it, how they can't build an audience, and all these complaints do is highlight the author's naiveté. These things are set by the market's appetite, not your ego. If you want your writing to be taken seriously, then take seriously the craft of writing. Medium doesn't suck, you suck. And you're on Medium because you suck. It's about an efficient a market as you can find, because there's exactly zero barriers to entry.
Hmm, a bit harsh, ok a lot harsh, but essentially I agree with the premise that Medium is where you publish if you can't get published elsewhere (yet).
I for one am enjoying seeing how the markets around writing are evolving, in many ways they are much more effectively evolving than video and music markets.
For writers we got the great "Internet" where you put download blogging software put up a server and start posting. Except you were one of a trillion zillion people so discovery was basically impossible. Then we got blogging "sites" which collected people who want to write, and among those sites added some discoverability. Then we got "Blogzines" which are essentially all on the same topical area by a fixed stable of writers which feels more like a magazine. And of course e-books which are single topic / single author.
It is interesting to compare the likes of Blogger to Medium to Ars Technica to HufPo to Salon etc.
Yeah, I took a harsh tone because of the egotism displayed in the title. I don't think everyone on Medium sucks, but if you feel entitled to the same perks you'd get, say, with a magazine, then you really do need to come down out of the clouds. It's hard-ass work establishing yourself as a writer. There aren't any short cuts. Even if you get lucky and get a magic book deal, if your writing sucks you won't get another one. And no one will really respect you, either.
In fact, I think Medium is a perfect place to hone your craft. If I were looking to write professionally, I'd be working on my tone and content constantly. I wouldn't even think of the sorts of stuff the OP is thinking about until I was absolutely sure that all that's left to work on is the outlet. That's when you'd be getting comments like, "Wow, you're the best writer here!"