Joshua Mason's Newsletter

Getting a story boosted on Medium gives it at least 500 views, possibly thousands more.

It will pay you anywhere from $100 to $1000. 

Even more important - it signals that you are serious about writing. 

If you're confused about how boosting works and how Medium's publications play into it, you're not alone. I've easily passed the 100-hour mark on learning Medium, and here's what you need to know:

Medium has over 90 publications that have been given the power to nominate a story for the boost. Once a story is nominated, someone from the Medium team looks it over and either agrees or disagrees. Most nominated stories are boosted.

Publications can nominate only a certain number of stories with their allotted "nomination credits." They don't have many and often run out of them before the end of the month.

If you want to maximize your chance of getting boosted, choose a boosted publication and avoid publishing the last week of the month.

Some publications have hundreds of thousands of followers, don't be fooled into thinking they are automatically better. They may have a lot of followers, but that also means your story will get buried quickly. They also don't have a niche, which means people may not care what's published there even if they follow it. 

Large publications also have more competition for their boost slots. 

There is a sweet spot that greatly increases your odds of getting nominated. 

It's publications with boosting power and between 2k and 20k followers. 

Also, do not write about Medium on Medium if you want boosted. There is a list of things they won't boost, and that's one. 

What I'm Working On This Week

Sadiah (@bysadiah on X) was nice enough to assemble a welcome sequence for my emails. I want to implement that and push to get more people signed up for this newsletter and make income on Medium.

Shout-out to Sharmarke (@morehujale on X), who's recently stepped up his Medium game and is making some money. 

One Tool I Love

Notion is where all of my stories live. I love it because it syncs with my phone, so I can write on my laptop and then later pick up the story on my mobile. 

All my writing starts there. 

Talk soon,

Josh