Based on my Stripe deposit this week, the new payment plan isn’t paying what the old one did. Assuming I write as much and the same sort of pieces for the rest of the month as I have in the past, my monthly income will be about $130 less. My claps and fans are staying consistent so it has to be the new calculation method.

I only wish this had been the case from the beginning. I held off joining the Partner Program until May of this year and was foolish enough to get my hopes up about the future. As I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t depend on Medium dollars to keep the lights on, but I was trying to build up the income potential so I could retire sooner than later from my business which is quite stressful and requires long hours.

It makes no sense for me to consistently try to increase my writing — especially since I write while working 40+ hours a week — if the income is no longer there. I will write but not at the level I was before because, honestly, I was putting many things on hold in my life so I could build up my following and income on Medium and if the money isn’t here, then I will reluctantly have to put even more emphasis on my business. I’ve worked 60 hours a week before so I can go back to that until I feel financially secure enough to retire. Not what I want but it’s certainly not Medium’s fault or responsibility. As a business owner, I should have been more cautious about depending on income that comes with no control, no contract, and no recourse. My stupidity.