As the title suggests, I’m launching a new Substack and Medium publication called Intriguing Times. It is all tremendously exciting.
I don’t think many people read this blog regularly – I mean, why would you? I post at most once a month. But some of the articles are read by people searching for whatever I was writing about. Usually, they are freelancers starting out on Medium, Fiverr, and, more recently, Substack.
If that’s you – howdy. I will keep writing here for now, although as I said last month, things are changing.
Here is a quick recap of how things are going.
No more Fiverr for me
I don’t really bother with Fiverr any more. It is a great place to start, and you can find potential clients, while upping your rate to something decent. I went from 5 cents a word to 15 cents a word in about a year. Once I had hit 200 five-star reviews (yes, that’s a bit of gloat), I slowly stopped.
It is a little soul-destroying, and you get asked to write some questionable things. I also grew to loathe enquiries, which is probably not the ideal mindset.
Returning to Medium
I loved Medium during the lockdown and had multiple mega-viral stories with over 50k views that made me over $1000 each. For example:
But then, the articles slowly started to earn less. Also, at the same time, I was writing fewer articles as client work picked up. In the end, I was writing two or three stories a year. I don’t think I will ever get the kind of money I used to, but writing on Medium is fun.
It has also made me think more about branding and cross-promotion and all that marketing malarkey. That isn’t something I bothered with all that much, I just let my writing do the talking. Now, after years of writing, the idea that I need an email list has finally hit home.
So, I started a publication on Medium called Intriguing Times and will migrate all my Medium stuff to it. There are benefits to having your own publication, such as being able to send a newsletter. Also, if it gets popular, you might be allowed to nominate stories – including your own, which seems pretty damn advantageous.
Consequently, I will be returning to Medium and writing lots there. One or two articles a week.
Check out the Intriguing Times newsletter and Substack here. It’s free! (For now.)
Substack is the new focus
I have literally just set up the new Intriguing Times Substack. A month ago, I was working on one called the Cosmic Scroll, which was all about Science Fiction and Fantasy. Because I’m a nerd. I should have given it more than a month, but despite a couple of subscriptions, it wasn’t taking off.
The main reason for the cancellation though, was that it was making watching, playing, and reading science fiction and fantasy feel like work. These activities are my hobby, and it isn’t as much fun watching a new show when you have to take notes and feel forced to watch something.
I also really enjoy history, culture, and generally fascinating and unheard tales. Like I write on Medium. This has the added bonus that I know there is definitely a market for them.
The plan for the near future – Intriguing Times
I will write what I consider to be fascinating tales, stories, and cultural insights on Medium and Substack. I will also move all my stories to both my Medium and Substack versions of Intriguing Times. This should build a following and cross-promote. At least, I think that is how marketing works.
I will also compile them into a book of the same name and publish on Amazon.
(This will hopefully provide a base income that will allow me to write my novel, although the sort of person reading this might just want the income. I’m not judging.)
As always, I’ll talk about how this pans out next month. I hope this has helped someone who’s looking into similar options. I really think Substack is the next big thing. Good luck!
Check out the Intriguing Times newsletter and Substack here. It’s free! (For now.)
