You raise good points, though my view is stuck somewhere between you and White Feather in the sense that the numbers for the internet do not always equate (for the common writer, such as myself) to the numbers of fully engaged readers that we expect to read (you mention views; you should mention reads).
IOW, the quality of those readers matter. Sometimes you get that in the internet, sometimes you don’t (seems like you’ve found it, congrats!). Subscribers have paid to read these magazines. On the internet, we usually get higher numbers and less engagement. That last number will vary, especially if you haven’t found your tribe!
Not to say you don’t have a fair critique of lit mags (and how writers like me view them), though I would rather see what the true numbers of readers are. Sure, some may sit in libraries, but people read those (well, I know I do; you mentioned the long tail and certainly that counts for lit mags on people’s coffee tables or in libraries).
Still, this is all conjecture. We should try to get some numbers, right? *
However, the internet (and Medium — in theory, at least) is a way around the gatekeepers of lit mags and such who tend to be staid but also don’t represent as wide a swath of humanity as they claim.
On that note, does Medium represent as diverse a swath of humanity as they claim? The featured posts pushed on me would say absolutely not. As far as fiction and poetry, I don’t see them pushing anything with any particular zeal.
This is unfortunate.
And I’m not saying that even I don’t enjoy getting on some of these magazines (that pride of mine). I recently got into Adbusters (with around 60,000 subscribers). I’m sure not everyone read my short story. I’m certain a few did. Probably more than the ones who have read my stories here.
Of course, we can’t know with print magazines. That’s a shame. I’m hoping that a place like Medium does change the conversation** about gaining more fiction writers.
Thanks for sharing your tips on how to keep reaching out to these readers. Let’s keep working to make sure Medium lives up to the highest of our hopes.
- There’s a similar issue with ads. One can get a million impressions for a product, like a book, but is that worth more than an ad on a magazine? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If you can focus those internet ads on people who care for your product, you’ll make bank. If not, it’s a waste. There’s a similar force at work with stories.
- **Like Instagram which has allowed a more brilliant, diverse set of poets to come into the limelight.
