Shifting Away from Medium

I’ll be putting most of my writing on Substack now. Link in the article.

Hello dear readers,

As some of you know, I’ve had my frustrations with this platform over the years, and it’s been a long time now that I’ve wanted somewhere other than Medium to publish my essays. These days, I actually think the Medium team is doing a good job staving off enshittification and highlighting quality content, so, props to them. Still, to me, the Medium model feels geared towards rewarding quantity over quality, and it’s not really sustainable for most writers unless you have bajillions of followers or are publishing constantly. Neither one of those is something I really desire or feel able to do.

The topics I write about are… kind of niche and not always the most accessible, and I think that’s okay. I’m not trying to push for mass appeal, and any time I’ve dipped into that in the past, it’s just felt incorrect in my body, like the wrong note being played. I’d rather stay weird and have a smaller audience than lose the heart of what I write about in an effort to appeal more broadly.

I’d also like to publish better, fewer pieces. I’ve started leaning into writing longer, more thoughtful essays, and it feels so, so much better than trying to write a new essay every day just to get something out and stay relevant to the algorithm.

But even with this slightly-slower pace, I’m still scrambling each week to keep on top of the essays I’m already writing, the public-facing ones here on Medium, and the weekly essays I write for Substack subscribers and Patreon patrons. At this rate, it’s still too much quantity, and the quality of each piece suffers as a result. It’s also kept me from putting time into larger projects like books and video essays.

I’ve tried to leave Medium in the past, but I didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Now, I kind of do. It’s a bit of a daunting step, since I have no sizable audience on any platform but this one, but it’s a step I’d like to take. I’m not leaving Medium completely. I plan to still post here once or twice a month, but going forward, I’ll be writing fewer (hopefully, better) essays, and the majority will only be released on Substack / Patreon instead.

If you’d like to follow me on any other platforms, here are the links:

• Substack: https://substack.com/@annamercury
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/annamercury
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@annamercury_

I’m still getting used to those platforms, so it may take me some time to figure out exactly how best to use them to engage with you all. I hope you’ll be patient with me!

I really hope some of you will join me, not just for financial reasons (though having more stable earnings does sound nice), but because I truly do enjoy writing for all of you. There are some of you whose names I see come up in my notifications again and again, and it always feels special, like I’m actually talking to someone instead of shouting into the void, like something I’m saying here might actually matter.

So thank you, to all of you. Again, I’m not completely leaving Medium behind, so if you don’t feel like migrating with me, there will still be essays for you!

If you do feel like following me elsewhere, I promise we’ll keep digging into all the same good juicy stuff we have been here. Magical deeds are afoot, dear readers, magical darkness, a must!

Yours sincerely,

AM