In October of 2019 I got banned from curation. The ban appears to be permanent. If you're unaware of what curation means, this is Medium's formal process of accepting (or rejecting) a story into a specific category.

There are something like 30 curators for 30,000-plus active Medium writers, so the numbers don't look good.

The curators are overwhelmed and outnumbered.

This means if you've been curated before you're likely to get curated again. If you haven't, it's likely you'll go the other way.

I used to get curated a lot.

Now I don't.

It's my fault.

You can avoid this path, or you can choose to go down it with me. For those who are having trouble getting curated I won't able to help you. If you get curated frequently, keep doing what you're doing.

I rocked the hell out of the boat and paid dearly for it.

My Medium income is now one-third of what it used to be, almost entirely due to my lack of visibility from non-curation.

Non-curated stories can't be seen by most readers. They have to search a tag to see them. Your followers might see your non-curated stories if they've been reading your work frequently.

But to get a new reader — it's a lot harder when you're not curated.

Keep reading.

I'll show you what I did to get banned, how you can avoid it, or how you can use my strategy to do something even better.

My big Medium mistake

I use a three-part structure for most of my Medium stories. At the ens of each story I've got a call-to-action for readers to enroll in my email masterclass.

Originally, I had a single link that enticed people to join.

This weaker method worked, but the results trickled daily.

I wanted a bigger bang for my typing buck. So, I started to get a little more aggressive with my email offer. I began to use the entire last third of every story to encourage readers to join my tribe.

Man, did this work better.

Of course, you've got to write content people want to read. And titles readers want to click. But by creating a long-form call-to-action at the bottom of every story, I get a lot more subscribers per day.

The consequence of my actions — curation banning.

When you get banned you don't get a letter in the mail or a certificate for the fridge. All you get is, well, not curated.

At first I though it was my terrible writing.

Nope, it was my aggressive approach. I probably wrote 250 stories since I've been banned. Many published on other writers publications.

Still — crickets. Not a single curation.

Now that I know my fate, it's freeing. I don't have to write to the curators. While my Medium income was hacked and chopped I still make a nice check every month.

Now I get paid to grow my email list.

So, the decision is yours. If you only want to earn money from Medium, I suggest you take a humble approach to list-building. Play inside the fence and play nice.

If you want to grow a legacy-level writing business, let your freak flag fly. It's time to build an email list — aggressively. That list won't grow itself.

Get banned on purpose

I now use the bottom-third of my Medium stories to generate new subscribers. I talk openly about this practice.

I believe building an email list is crucial for the longevity of any commercial writer.

If you don't keep a list of your best customers — a list you own and control — your income can disappear overnight.

On Medium, they own your followers. Same for Facespace and Tweeter. While a more-aggressive email approach will likely get you banned from curation, it will help you build a legacy publishing business.

Email is the long-game.

It's like a traffic insurance policy in case your social traffic disappears overnight. Unlike paid ads, you don't have to pay to reach your email subscribers (once you pay for an email service provider account).

You can contact all your readers as often as you wish.

You've got the same rights to your reader's in-box as the giant companies.

I operate an international publishing business in over 80 countries. I do this largely from my phone. I have no employees or sub-contractors. I couldn't do it without the staying power of email.

If you want to get your first 1,000 subscribers (or your next 1,000) and you'd like to join the proud ranks of the curation-banned writers, enroll in my 7-day, free, email masterclass.

Email is the long-game.

Curation is for quick cash.

The choice is yours.

Tap the link.

Guarantee your seat before that 'other' writer takes it.

We're waiting for you.

Enroll in my Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it's created. When he's not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.