Hey buddy, I can cheerfully say I agree with you wholeheartedly about working to earn money when writing. Like you, ole son, there's nothing wrong with earning your monthly membership fee and doing that took me a long time. I bet I had written 500 stories before those earned me more than $5 a month. Today I do a little better, this month I'm above $50 and have been as high as $80 and on those two months I wrote political articles, Michael. Fiction, diary, memoir, it's all in another ether. Occasionally I'll have one story that captures readers attention. "About Me" is my biggest earner over the months. Nothing of poetry, fiction, fact, sc-fi, gets much more than a $1:25 in a month. I have over a thousand stories on Medium!

I've never been turned away by a Publication as of yet. I think that's because I'm not writing on the best publications, which basically don't hold my interest.

I am now of the mind that when posting a story I think of it as another 25 cents in my pocket and write on.

I know that some writers go to extreme lengths to make their stories visible. One example in the continual putting other writers names in the ppst or at the bottom in order to generate views, but views mean nothing. Reads count, but that's all worked out by some magical formula that I certainly haven't cracked my friend. Is $50 worth it the effort. Yes, because I donate memberships to new writers, and occasionally buy Jenny a cream donut.

Love you, mate. Keep at it. 🤎