How Do The Self Publishers Do It?

Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

Lately, I noticed a trend popping up on my Medium feed. I’m not talking about the string of big-time writers leaving the platform. I’m talking about the people who gain more views self-publishing than with publications.

Like many Medium veterans, I’m old school when it comes to publishing. I don’t get many views when I self-publish, but there is a significant jump in views and reads when I go to a publication. When you’re using a system that pays writers by the minute, that’s a huge deal!

The difference in results was so big I created my own publication and opened it to other writers. It’s grown big enough that I’m starting to see other writers’ stories from there on my front page! I can’t help but feel like I earned bragging rights.

However, it’s hardly a blip when I self-publish, no matter how personal I get with my stories.

For example, let’s look at my story, “So Marilyn Manson’s A Christian Now?”. It’s about Marilyn Manson going to a Sunday Service with Kanye West and leading a prayer. I published that story on The Partnered Pen, and it got over 100 views within days. Most of those views are external views, but I’ll take it with a 40% read rate.

And then there’s this story, “Somehow, People Found A Reason To Get Mad At Big Bird.” It’s my attempt at humor talking about the reaction to Big Bird posting…