Why Isn’t Medium Offering More Pricing Options?
Not everyone wants the whole chocolate factory. Some just want a taste
The other day, someone asked where they could read my stuff.
“Medium,” I told them. “It’s like Instagram, but for writers.”
They genuinely seemed interested. Not the polite kind where someone asks what you do and immediately regrets opening their mouth.
They wanted to read my stuff. Great!
Then came the awkward bit.
“It’s five bucks a month.”
Five dollars isn’t much. But suddenly, they’re not just reading my article. They’re paying for an entire library they never asked for. All they wanted was to read something written by a weird human they met. And sure, Medium already has readers who don’t write. Plenty of them. I’m wondering about the ones who don’t want a subscription at all.
And it got me thinking: why doesn’t Medium offer more ways to pay?
Not everyone wants unlimited access to millions of stories. Some people just want one. Or two. Or they want to read from that one strange writer they met at a party.
Why not give them another door?
What if this popped up in someone’s Instagram feed? Cue jazz hands:
👐 HEY, READER! 👐
For $2 a month, come read your fellow Earthlings. The ones you read get paid. 📚💰🥲
Wouldn’t you like that?
Look, writers are readers too. I don’t think I’ve met one writer who hates reading. That’s like meeting a chocolatier who hates chocolate.
But even a chocolatier can eat too much chocolate.
What if we tapped into a world of pure imagination, full of chocoholics with no desire to make the stuff, only to stuff themselves silly? People who come to Medium not to write, network, build an audience, or become the next literary sensation.
Just read.
I know. Revolutionary.
The Friendly Ghosts
I went down a rabbit hole and found an interesting figure quoted by Zulie, a Medium staffer:
“In fact, as I write this, there are around 50 active (but silent!) readers per single active writer on Medium.”
Another writer, Vritant Kumar, cheekily responded in the comment section that he’d believe it when those silent readers showed up on his stats page.
Fifty to one.
That’s a lot of people lurking in the shadows.
I can’t independently verify that ratio, mind you. But it does raise an interesting question.
Where the hell are these people? And couldn’t we have more?
I’ll call them the friendly ghosts. And honestly, I like the idea.
Readers who come, read, and leave without saying a word. No clap required. No comment. No transactional rituals. We read books by dead authors like this all the time. We sit alone with their words and somehow connect with someone who died a hundred years ago. A little telepathy across time and some other ungodly dimension.
Maybe the friendly ghosts are just doing the same thing from the other side of the screen.
But here’s what interests me.
How many more ghosts could Medium attract if reading didn’t require the same financial commitment from everyone?
Millions of Stories. But What If I Want Just One?
I looked at how Medium sells itself to potential readers.
On its membership page, the pitch begins:
“Support human stories. Become a member to read without limits…”
Without limits.
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Sounds wonderful. Unless you’re someone who only wants to read one article. Our time is precious. I’m trying to discipline myself, and you’re selling me infinity.
Can’t I just have a little?
On Google Play, Medium also advertises access to millions of stories.
Millions?
That sounds less like abundance and more like homework. Of course, some readers love unlimited access. They devour articles the way I devour chocolate when nobody’s watching.
Good for them.
But what about someone who doesn’t want an all-you-can-eat buffet?
Someone who wants one particular chocolate, made by one particular chocolatier?
Medium’s standard membership makes sense for regular readers. I’m not arguing otherwise. I’m questioning why it has to be the main doorway for everyone.
Give the Ghosts Another Door
The Washington Post¹ experimented with more flexible access, including cheaper subscriptions and pay-per-article options.
That got me thinking.
Why couldn’t Medium experiment with something similar?
A $2 reader tier, perhaps with a limited number of articles each month.
Or let someone pay a dollar to unlock one story, with a chunk going to the Earthling who wrote it. No subscription commitment. No pressure to explore the entire platform.
Just a reader, a writer, and a story.
Naturally, there’s a catch.
Some existing members might downgrade to a cheaper plan. Processing tiny payments costs money. And Medium would have to figure out how to compensate writers fairly. I’m not pretending to have solved the economics of digital publishing between breakfast and lunch.
But surely the possibility deserves consideration. Because a person unwilling to pay five dollars a month might happily pay one dollar to read something that catches their attention.
And that person might return.
And eventually, who knows? They might become a paying member.
A Mediumite.
For me, a Mediumite is someone plugged into the ecosystem. A one-time reading experience doesn’t make one.
And that’s perfectly fine.
Not every visitor needs to become a resident. A friendly, transient ghost will do.
What About the Writers?
I suspect many of us spend an awful lot of time circulating inside the same ecosystem.
We write. We read. We clap. We comment. Someone follows us. We check out their work. Maybe we follow them back. A little literary village where everybody seems to know everybody. Nothing wrong with that. I participate in it myself.
Article after article, we’re telling one another how to gain followers, grow our audiences, and get noticed within the same ecosystem. But are we spending too much time trying to attract people who are already here?
Preaching to the choir.
Meanwhile, outside the village, people might enjoy our writing but have no particular interest in Medium.
They’re not looking for a writing community. They’re looking for something worth reading, before returning to the other (lamer) realms of Instagram and company.
I’d like more of those people around. Even if I never hear from them. Especially if I never hear from them. Let the ghosts come and go in peace, while filling the chocolatiers’ coffers along the way.
Come to think of it, most people on Instagram aren’t there to create anything. They’re there to consume.
So maybe next time someone asks where they can read my stuff, I’ll correct myself.
“Medium is like Instagram, but for readers.”
Cue Jazz hands:
👐 HEY, READER! 👐
Met a weird human whose writing you want to read? Come in. One buck. Help keep them typing. No need to become a Mediumite. Promise.
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