It's Been Awhile, But I'm Still Here

 

Mount Denali May 2025

It's been quite a while since I posted on this blog, but don't worry, I'm still here. I took the vacation of a lifetime in May, when I took a cruise and land tour of Alaska with my husband. It was magnificent, but a little tiring. It was well worth it. When I returned home, I had to make a few decisions about my writing. 

Before I left on vacation, I was just getting started putting in more effort on my Substack newsletter, and pondering my future writing on Medium, trying to decide what I wanted to do with my YouTube Channel, as well as how much effort I should put into this blog. Well, I've finally made up my mind what to do.

My original purpose in starting to write online was to earn a little extra money, and that hasn't changed much. My main focus is not making a lot of money, but enough to pay the expenses involved in writing, such as Internet fees, electricity, and grammar software, when I can afford it. Even if I can't make any money, I'll keep writing, but maybe not that enthusiastically,  ha ha. 

Writing on Medium, up until last January, spoiled me with earnings well over a hundred dollars a month. Then, drastically, it all changed. Medium wasn't distributing my work and most other writers' work, so people could read them. Then, Medium decided to pay about 1 cent per read for each article read.  This dramatically reduced almost everyone's earnings to a mere pittance. Writers left the platform in droves. A few weeks ago, I decided that I'm not going to publish every day or more, when no one can see my work, in hopes of earning a few cents. I am still on the platform, but no longer a paying member or contributor.

I have been spending more time writing my Substack newsletter. I offer my subscribers the choice of a free or a paid subscription. The paid subscription does not include any special benefits, other than the ability to show their support. I also accept one-time donations. I feel that what I have to offer in my newsletter articles is more important than earning a lot of money.

I also recently started a YouTube channel, where I can share some of my Substack videos or anything else I want to say. I never thought I could be able to do this, but once I started, I enjoyed it. I know I will never make any money, as you have to have at least 1000 subscribers to your channel to be able to monetize it. I currently have 33😂.

As I had previously said, I spend the majority of my time writing on my Substack newsletter. I predominantly write about politics and social issues, with a liberal leaning. I don't offer any "breaking news" or "investigative reporting", but what I do offer are my thoughts and opinions on what is happening to our country, from a gay, retired senior citizen - an average American like you. I feel it is important for people like me to get the word out, so we can save our democracy. Making big bucks from the newsletter is less important.

Finally, I am getting to this blog. Like I have said, I haven't spent much time on here, and I apologize to those few followers I have for not being more productive. I have decided that since politics is my main focus on Substack, I will use Steve Sovie's World, for everything else I want to share. Occasionally, I will share some material from Substack and my YouTube channel. If you notice, the title of this blog is Steve Sovie's World, while both my Substack newsletter and YouTube channel are titled Stepehen Sovie's World. My Substack link is Stephen Sovie's World. My YouTube channel is Stephen Sovie's World.

I hope you can visit each of my sites and subscribe if you like what I have to say. And if you are feeling generous and can afford to, please consider making a one-time donation or becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack newsletter.

I apologize for any mistakes you may have found in this post.  I used to use Grammarly Pro as an editing software, but I can't see paying the high price they are asking for. Hey, I'm on a fixed income!

Thank you for reading.

Why I Have Cancelled My Medium Membership and Concentrate on Substack

 

Photo by daniar ainun on Unsplash

 

 With the drastic decline of Medium, which began in November 2024, I found that my visibility on Medium was almost non-existent. Six months ago, I decided to start publishing my newsletter on Substack and occasionally sharing the same articles on Medium.
 

As readers of my newsletter know, I mainly write about politics and social issues, which are extremely important to me. As our democracy is now in serious danger of being destroyed by a fascist wannabe dictator, I feel an urgency to inform people that we may soon lose our rights and freedoms.
 

My Medium statistics revealed that my posts were receiving very few views and even fewer reads. I was earning only a few cents per article. In early May, I cancelled my Medium Partnership Program membership, realizing it was a waste of time and money. But to my surprise, Medium charged me my membership fee in June, even though I had cancelled it. I decided to give Medium one last chance and remain on the platform to see if my stats improved.
 

During the first two weeks of June, I published four articles, which I had also posted on Substack. For the articles I posted on Medium, I had a total of 50 views, while on Substack, I had 1583 views. I earned 36 cents for my articles on Medium. My posts on my Substack newsletter are free, so I naturally did not earn any money; however, I did receive one paid subscription, for which I am thankful.
 

For the first two weeks of June, on Medium, I got 60 new email subscribers and 14 new followers. Interestingly enough, all of the new Subscribers and all but 2 new followers were from India. Apparently, people from India are not interested in American politics, and I can’t say I blame them.
 

There are a couple of people I subscribe to on Medium who write about politics and publish a couple of times a day. I have noticed that their articles were not widely distributed, and the ones I read appeared to have had no interaction. This would mean they also would not have made any money from their articles. I honestly don’t know why they continue to publish on Medium if no one reads or even sees their work.
 

From my observations, those articles that seem to get the most attention are technology articles, and those articles geared to new writers on Medium wishing to make money by writing online. I feel that either Medium readers are not interested in the possibility that America is becoming an authoritarian state, or Medium chooses not to allow people to see such articles. Regardless, I feel that continuing to publish on Medium is a waste of money and a waste of my time.
 

I feel a little sad that I may be abandoning the few people left on Medium, whom I have followed and supported in the past, but hopefully, I will see them here on Substack. I may not earn much money on Substack, but at least here I am not invisible.

 

Hi, I’m Cato. Please help support my dad’s work by giving him a donation.

Please help support my work.

I Think It’s Time to Move On Over to Substack

It may not be the answer, but it beats stagnating on Medium

Photo by Handiwork NYC on Unsplash

It’s already been over two weeks since Medium began its death spiral; things haven’t gotten better; they’ve gotten worse. At the beginning of January, my reads and views more than doubled and tripled compared to previous months. But my earnings rapidly declined to where they are now, about 2 cents a day.

Every writer on this platform experienced the same devastating earnings and was searching for some answers that never came. Medium staff sent out a few emails that created more confusion. According to Medium, they were working on eliminating scammers, spammers, and other non-genuine members. This didn’t explain the extreme drop in earnings, though.

I cut back on publishing stories in hopes the situation would change for the better. They haven’t. In the past few days, my reads and views dropped significantly. My earnings amount to 1 cent per day.

What is annoying is the change in the number of notifications I receive daily. I now receive over a hundred notifications each day. The vast majority of these are “also highlighted” notifications. But I am getting more and more followers from people who haven’t read or interacted with my stories and have not published anything. I am also getting more replies to my older stories, asking me to “please read my work.” They must have escaped Medium’s spammer net.

I moved to Medium after spending years writing blogs that made little money and attracted only a few followers. I put in a lot of work and got little in return. Now, I have come to a complete circle on Medium. I have tried numerous strategies to increase my readership, including starting a newsletter on Kit in hopes of increasing readership. Unfortunately, most subscribers ignored my newsletters and didn’t open the emails.

I now see only three options left for me. Firstly, I can stay on Medium and do nothing but wait, hoping to survive on this site. Secondly, I can try to make a go at publishing on Substack. Or, as a last resort, I can return to my blogs, where I continue to maintain my custom domain. For now, I have decided to move over to Substack.

I am uncertain whether or not any of my followers or subscribers on Medium would see value in spending money for a paid subscription to my articles. Subscriptions to my Substack newsletter, Stephen Sovie’s World, are free. Hopefully, if enough people subscribe, I can offer a paid subscription in the future.

I apologize to my followers who have stuck with me for all the confusing changes I have subjected you to in my efforts to make my content more available and profitable. Once again, I am asking you for your support. If you would like to continue to read my articles, please subscribe. Thank you.

I’m moving to Substack. Please join me in Stephen Sovie’s World newsletter.

Please Subscribe to My Newsletter.

Yes, this is a shameless plea to promote my stories

Author’s Image

I have no shame. I don’t care. I merely want to get more eyes on my stories. That’s why I created a newsletter outside of the Medium platform to let my subscribers know I have published stories.

I know Medium has an Email subscribers option, but in my experience, it does not work well. First, every time someone publishes a story, an email is sent. If a writer publishes multiple times during the day, multiple emails are sent out, clogging up subscribers’ inboxes. Second, this function does not work. Many times, subscribers were deleted for no reason at all.

When I created my newsletter, Steve Sovie’s World, I intended to send it once a week, on Sunday. It includes links to the stories I wrote the previous week, plus an occasional message or photo I have chosen to share with my readers. Instead of receiving multiple emails throughout the week, you only get one!

I don’t sell courses or products, and I don’t try to entice you to view a YouTube video or click on mysterious links. However, there is a donation button at the end of the newsletter if you want to chip in a few cents to help put me in a higher tax bracket.

I’ve sent out six newsletters thus far. I don’t know how effective they have been. Either they go into your spam mailbox, or the recipient simply deletes them. Some, but not many, are opened, as my statistics have revealed. The good news is that no one has unsubscribed.

What puzzles me is that people continue to subscribe to my stories by using the Medium subscribe icon instead of my signup link in my rather large image at the end of every story.

I apologize for shamelessly trying to promote my articles, but sometimes, we older people act without shame. I worked hard on creating my newsletter, and it may not be comparable to a professionally designed newsletter. But it is 100% me.

If any of you have any suggestions for improvement, or if you have any complaints, please let me know. At least click on the link to see what it looks like, you don’t have to subscribe.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed reading this article and wish to subscribe to my newsletter, click below.

Author’s Image

Why I Feel Guilty About Not Reading All of Your Stories,

I hope you understand why.

Photo by Richard Horne on Unsplash

There are just so many hours in a day when I read stories on Medium. I prioritize the stories from writers I frequently engage with and subscribe to. However, there are times when they publish something that does not pertain to me. I don’t want to give them fake engagement, so I don’t read the story, and then I feel guilty about not supporting them.

I am retired. I don’t have to work to supplement my Social Security and pensions. I am enjoying my “Golden Years”—or, what time I have left. Part of being retired is the freedom from the unnecessary stress that often comes with a full-time job.

I have chosen writing on Medium as one of my hobbies, but not the only hobby. I write to share my thoughts and opinions and, most importantly, to keep my mind active. I don’t need the money, but who doesn’t like a little extra spending money?

But like many on this platform, I get caught up in the rush to produce, earn more money, compete with the “big” accounts, or solve the mystery of the Medium algorithm. I don’t want to get back into another rat race, and I get upset with myself when I begin to stress out over what I am or am not doing on this platform.

I don’t need to worry about any other goals other than staying healthy and alive. I don’t need to improve my productivity or set any new career goals. I also don’t need self-improvement courses or self-help tips. I am not saying stories about these topics are not helpful, but they are not for me.

As far as “side hustles” go, I guess you could call my Newsletter, Steve Sovie’s World, a side hustle. But for me, it’s like an experiment or a new toy. It will not make or break me as a writer or content creator. I do enjoy reading what others are doing regarding their efforts to improve their writing or earn a little extra money, but I don’t intend to change direction at this point in my life.

When I don’t read specific articles on the topics I have mentioned above, I feel guilty, but I am not inferring I don’t support the writers or that what they say is unimportant. I’m just an old guy passing the time of day, spouting off about politics or whatever is on my mind on a particular day, maybe wishing I had the youth, energy, and abilities to write for a career. So please don’t take offense if I don’t read every one of your stories. I hope you understand. Thank you.

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Have You Ever Wondered About What Your Fellow Medium Members are Really Like?

Profiles can’t reveal everything.

Photo by Julia Fiander on Unsplash

Last night, having trouble falling asleep, I began thinking about some of the people I engage with or have engaged with during my many-year journey on Medium. Do I really know who they are or what they stand for? Do I know how they spend their days, on or off Medium? Do I really want to know?

Most people I knew or interacted with when I first started writing here have vanished. I don’t know if they went elsewhere to write or quit this platform. I have remained in touch with only one of my acquaintances from the early days.

Presently, I can count on one hand the number of writers I would consider to be “friends” with, much like most of my Facebook “friends”. I think they know who they are.

I mostly learn about people through reading their profiles, but many times, these profiles don’t give an accurate picture. I truly get to know people when I read what they publish or through their comments.

I have discovered that a few people are not who they say they are. In one instance a fellow writer I read and followed, turned out to be rather homophobic. I am gay and liberal, and I don’t try to hide that fact. After publishing a few posts advocating gay rights, I noticed this person quit engaging with my stories. He suddenly started publishing stories where he pointed out that he was a “normal straight person”—a red flag.

Conversely, I got to know a writer, by whose profile, appeared to be a quiet and meek individual. But, in time, after reading her stories and comments, I found out she was really a liberal firebrand. I’m so happy I connected with her.

Sometimes, I wonder what some of the people I engage with do when they are not on Medium. Do they have a full-time job, a family, hobbies, etc.? There are writers who seem to be on Medium all day and all night long. They seem to be pumping out stories like a machine gun. Are they real people? Are they one person or a combination of people?

I didn’t intend to mention any names here, but I feel I must do so. I often wonder if he eats or sleeps or if he is a real person. He is quite a prolific writer, editor, reader, highlighter, and commenter, if he does indeed exist. I’m talking about Marcus Musick. He is what his writings and profiles say he is.

There are many wonderful people on this platform who we will never get the chance to know. I only wish there was a way to connect directly to them, such as a direct messaging option, other than leaving a private note on one of their stories. It would be nice if we could follow someone by seeing what interests or passions they have, instead of Medium suggesting articles to read. But I guess that is asking too much of Medium.

What do you think?

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I Have a Hard Time Promoting My Articles,

Maybe I should try something different.

Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash

I don’t know about you, but I have difficulty getting people to read my articles. If people can’t see them, they can’t read them. I share my stories on Facebook, X, and my blog, Steve Sovie’s World. I also tell my friends whenever I publish something they may be interested in.

I hardly ever get any results from sharing on X. Using Facebook, I see a little better results, but nothing great. I recently started a Newsletter to promote my stories within Medium. So far, I haven’t seen any results. For some reason, people click on the Medium subscribe icon instead of my huge Newsletter subscribe image.

When I tell my friends that I write on Medium, they say they have no idea what Medium is. No one I have ever talked to, either in my family, my neighbors, my long-time friends, or former colleagues, has ever heard of Medium. Why is that?

I consider most of my friends to be well-educated and informed, and many of them are avid readers. But they have no idea of what Medium is. Therefore, I not only have to convince them to read my articles but also to join Medium to do so. Convincing people to shell out money to read is the most difficult part.

After some thought about this matter, I have decided to change the way I promote my articles. While I promote my stories, I will also promote Medium. If people make the connection between my stories and Medium, they might be enticed to join Medium. It’s worth a try.

I would love to hear your thoughts about what I have written and what I intend to do.

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We Are Not In the Same Medium Boat,

We are in the Medium ocean, but with different size boats.

Photo by Anthony Ketland on Unsplash

If you’ve been writing on Medium for a while, you have seen many writers complaining about their stats and earnings. I am one of those many writers who have done their fair share of bitching. The responses to writers experiencing lackadaisical earnings and stats include the phrase,” We’re in the same boat.” I have said that myself. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that this phrase is inaccurate, at least in my situation.

People on Medium write for several reasons. Some who publish here earn substantial money, which is an excellent part-time income. They most likely also write for other publications or are accomplished novelists or journalists.

These writers are not novice writers, for the most part. They have many years of experience and have a formal journalism or writing education. I’m not saying they all possess these unique qualities, but most likely, the majority do. They have a solid foundation to shore up their writing. They know what works and what doesn’t. They don’t have to chase the numbers like other less experienced writers. To put this in nautical terms, they are aboard a large, sturdy, seaworthy vessel of experience to traverse the vast ocean called Medium. They are in one huge luxurious boat.

Now, for the majority of writers here, it is a different story. Some use Medium as a side hustle to earn extra income to support their families. They don’t have vast experience or formal training but have skills and ambition. They spend a lot of time on Medium, writing, publishing, reading, and commenting. It’s almost like a full-time job. It’s hard work for little compensation. These writers are in a different boat, not as prominent as the luxurious liner, perhaps more like a sailboat. When the winds are favorable, they have smooth sailing.

Then, some writers don’t write for the money. They could care less about their earnings. They write for the love of writing and are happy only to have someone read and appreciate their work. They are floating along the ocean on a comfortable raft close to the shore, not caring where they go.

Others, like myself, write on Medium as a hobby, with the extra benefit of earning a little money. We don’t spend as much time on the site and don’t feel compelled to be here all day. We write when we feel like it. We don’t make a hell of a lot of money, but again, we don’t need to. Yet we still rant and rave in those times when we aren’t earning much. We are all in another type of boat, a pleasure craft. We don’t go boating every day. Just when the weather is good, and we have the time.

Lastly, some writers on Medium want to make a lot of money but don’t necessarily know what they are doing. They join, write, and publish without assuring their work is correctly punctuated and with acceptable spelling and grammar. They don’t read the work of others, nor do they comment unless it is a nonsensical, irrelevant, sparsely worded response. These people are aboard an unseaworthy dingy riddled with holes. They meander at sea until the boat sinks, and they swim away, giving up on their voyage.

Other boats on this Medium ocean are not engaged in a safe and pleasurable cruise. They are pirate ships whose only aim is to steal from all the legitimate sailors at sea. They fly not under the skull and crossbones flag but under AI flags. There are no humans aboard these ships, Only artificial beings pretending to be humans to plunder our hard-earned rewards.

So, I will no longer use the terminology of being in the same boat. We are not all in the same boat. We are on the same ocean but in different boats.

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I've Been Doing a Little House Cleaning on Medium and with My Blogs

                                   Photo by Mark Hang Fung So on Unsplash

I know it’s not spring, but I’ve been doing some spring cleaning the past few days — not in my house, but on Medium and with my blogs. I have been thinking about doing it for a while, and after some hesitation, I finally did it.

For over 15 years, I have been writing and maintaining personal blogs on another platform using custom domains. Although my blogs never earned much money over the years, my stubborn pride prevented me from giving them up. As anyone who has written their own blog knows, blogging is a tough endeavor, almost always destined for failure, at least for amateurs like me.

About a year ago, I discovered that Medium writers could redirect their blogs’ custom domains to their Medium blogs. Before realizing this feature existed, I had been publishing articles on my Medium blog and then republishing them on my websites. I thought if I could point my domain to my Medium blogs, I could save some time and trouble, as well as benefit my stats on Medium and my websites.

I linked two of my oldest websites, Steveso Thinks and Stephen Sovie’s Blog, to my Medium publications of the same names. I published an article on Medium explaining what I had done and settled back to see if it made a difference.

One issue I did not realize I would have was that pointing my custom domain to Medium prevented me from doing anything with my websites. I couldn’t publish anything solely on my website. I couldn’t even access it. I was still paying yearly for my custom domains but could only publish on them through Medium.

I saw no difference in my statistics, so it made no sense to continue pointing my custom domains to Medium. I decided to return to publishing on my blogs on both platforms. But it wasn’t that easy. I managed to unlink my domains from Medium quite easily but could not access my websites.

Each of my custom domains is registered with a different web hosting site, and I have been wracking my brains out about this for two days. Since I am not familiar with the intricacies of setting up and maintaining domains, I am lost.

I can probably fix the problems with my websites if I want to spend a lot of time and effort on customer support on each one, but I have decided it’s not worth it. After careful consideration, I have decided to swallow my pride and let go of my two long-held websites with their custom domains. Instead, I have created a new blog on Blogger, Steve Sovie’s Blogs, where I can republish some of my Medium articles from my publications there. Maybe I will purchase a custom domain at a later date, but as of now, it’s not a priority.

I doubt anything I have done will affect the performance of my Medium blogs or other writing. I don’t expect my new blog to be a success. I just want another site to share my work on and to preserve the memories of my past blogging adventures. I’m never going to stop writing and I’m never going to stop trying.

The Grass isn't Always Greener on the Other Side,

                                               Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash 

 I wrote an article about people moving to Substack just three days ago. I was considering growing a subscriber list to earn a little money or reposting my Medium articles on Substack to improve my Medium statistics and earnings. I thought the grass might be a little greener on Substack. It didn’t take long, but I learned my lesson.

In the past few days, I have republished some of my Medium articles on Substack and have seen only a few likes and one follow. One person has subscribed to my newsletter. I wasn’t surprised, though, as it had only been a few days.

But more importantly, I realized that I would have to accumulate many subscribers to earn anything near what I am presently earning on Medium. I asked myself, “Would I pay money every month to read my articles?” “No way!” I also asked myself, “Would I pay $5 per month to read the work of just one writer”? Once again, the answer was no.

I would think for a writer to earn a substantial amount of money, they would have to be a damn good writer with a large and loyal following. I think I would have to write a great deal more and put in much more work to earn even a little money on Substack.

I don’t honestly think I would gain any benefit on Medium by also publishing on Substack. It would only mean more work for me, which I am not willing to do. I write as a hobby and to keep my mind active. I don’t intend to have another career as a writer, nor do I intend to get rich writing.

I earn a modest amount of money writing on Medium without being a slave to the platform or working too damn hard. I may complain at times about my earnings and stats on Medium, but hell, I have it quite easy here. I have also met some fantastic people on the platform who share my interests and genuinely support my work.

I had the itch to see if the grass was greener on Substack, and I found out it wasn’t. I realized that writing on Medium isn’t that bad and that I should be honest about my writing and my expectations.

I may still repost some of my articles on Substack, but with no expectations. I will probably rejoin the Friend of Medium program next month, too. Maybe I will push myself to work a bit harder, too. I might be able to make my own grass a little greener. Hey, I can’t say I didn’t try.