Kudos to you, Manila, because it sounds like you have been submitting articles to various publications outside of Medium? Perhaps ones that pay per article or per word?

Like you, the pandemic became my impetus to finally pursue my passion and love for writing. However, after getting over 50 articles published in Medium publication, I've made a grand total of about $200 so far. The Medium Partner Program will continue to pay small dividends on the articles thus far written, but how AMAZING it would be to be paid $200+ for just a single article! I've been trying to nudge myself to submit to pubs that pay per article - it just takes more research and work to figure out than merely continuing to submit to The Ascent, Warm Hearts, Tenderly, and all my favorite Medium publications that are already like my cozy "writer's homes." No doubt they accept a much higher percentage of my articles than other sites would!

So congratulations for being a step ahead of me, and for racking up all those rejection slips. I applaud your courage and persistence. Still I feel your pain and exhaustion, how writing tests your toughness in new ways, and you deserve a break sometimes to feel at ease and accepted. Thank you for sharing your journey as a fellow writer - it's great for me to not feel alone.

I believe in you, and I can't wait to see what happens next! By the way, I hope this comment wasn't too awkwardly long, but I really loved reading your update and wanted to say hi. :)