Why Medium rather than Huffington Post or somewhere that PAYS?
I’ve been answering this question for myself over the past year and here I am, committing to publishing something every other week for the next year here (sometimes re-prints) because I think I know the reasons.
For decades, I’ve been writing about culture and bodies, privilege and oppression and the meaning of life in general. Sometimes for pay, sometimes for love and activism. How does one reach the folks with which one wants to discuss things? That’s the question. I’ve never been “just” a words-for-pay kind of freelancer. I want to say there’s nothing wrong with that, but actually, I think there is: inane content leads to fluffy thoughts and often to relationships based on nothing but profit rather than cultural improvement or creative merit. I want to use writing, art and creativity to make a better world not just to make a living.
“I want to use writing, art and creativity to make a better world not just to make a living.” — Tweet this
To be clear, I want to be paid well for the work I do. I have no problem asking for pay. And reward is a complex concept.
I’ve had a log-in for Huffington Post for years. For those who don’t know, when HuffPo accepts an essay or OpEd for publication, the writer also gets log-in information with which to publish future writing. It’s easy to control one’s own content. I imagine one could send something through the portal that wouldn’t be published — I mean, there’s a human in there somewhere, though nameless and inaccessible.
The primary problem with Huffington Post that makes a lot of writers shun the outlet and deride it mercilessly is that they don’t pay writers despite making a pile of money advertising around and positioning the content we write. Sure, lots of media outlets don’t pay — especially the literary ones — and that’s a problem too, but they aren’t making money they just don’t share. (There’s a similar problem with academic publishers, but that’s for another essay.) I’ve written for some great publications that don’t pay (Full Grown People and The Nervous Breakdown come to mind.) They are not making much/any in addition to not paying it out.
So, why does anyone work with Huffington Post? Two reasons: Some find them credible enough to read without recognizing the author’s name. And also, writers can publish pretty much what they want. I haven’t posted to HuffPo in over a year because their credibility has diminished as my ire has risen. Medium seems to have created a way to do these things better. I aim to find out if it’s true.
For years I’ve used Huffington Post as a place to reprint the stories and essays I write for general audiences but that have appeared in academic publications. Once something’s been published anywhere, generally no other outlet wants it as a submission. But wow. I specifically write to engage and entertain, so that writing shouldn’t languish in academic texts where twelve people read it. Mind you, I like those twelve people and we have great discussions at conferences and online, and that forwards my work and thinking, but I like having an outlet for re-publication.
Also, I want to be in charge of what I publish sometimes. This is a conundrum because I also love a good editor. Some of what I write shouldn’t be published ‘as is’ and I don’t always know which is which at first. I want editors and writers to work more often together and each make a living doing it. The sad truth is, a lot of outlets want writing “publication ready” because the editors have been escorted out of the building.
There are fads in writing and I don’t always agree with what’s in fashion. I like a personal essay that discusses social scaffolding and circumstances. I like to entertain and sometimes speak to small or undermined audiences. I believe, as Gloria Anzaldua did, that we should be discussing and re-embodying the borderlands that we literally and metaphorically inhabit. It’s good for us as a culture. It’s satisfying to us as readers. If that puts me out of style in a given moment, so be it. I will continue what I think is best.
“We should be discussing and re-embodying the borderlands that we literally and metaphorically inhabit.” — Tweet this
I also want more control of my time. Submissions and finding-the-right-fit with publications is time-consuming. This is the experiment: What if I spend this next year doing more writing than submitting writing for publication? On Medium, it’s still published, shareable and able to generate discussion, no? Being late to this party means it’s already fairly established too. Until publishing partners become more amenable to the more of the things I want to discuss, I’ll take the conversations elsewhere as so many who have harnessed the will of the internet have done. I will, however, still publish with the media outlets I like and who already like me during this year.
To be clear, most of the outlets that publish what interests me don’t pay enough that I’m going to miss the income. The ones who do will still receive my work for hire. So here we go. The one year experiment begins now. First week of September 2016. Let’s see what we can do, Medium. Me and you.
Note: If you’re not already familiar with my work, you can visit my website.
