There is a double edged sword to writing in today's celebrity-ish focused culture. While it is very easy to publish work today, it is far harder to find readers. Writing and publishing had gatekeepers, hell - they had gatekeepers to gatekeepers. And we only had a few places where writing could be seen. Newspapers, maagazines, umm... books....

So people who were interested in what you had to say would seek you out and purchase your words. That is, if you could get past the hordes of gatekeepers whose job it was to protect their territory, NOT give writers a shot.

So we have Medium, lI, IG, FB, Substack, eleventybillion blogs, forums, magazines, books, and newspapers.

And a society far more interested in watching people fall on Tik Tok than engaging with the written word.

The most important advice I give to photographers, writers and anyone wanting to do this online... forget your stats for at least a year. At LEAST a year.

Write what youo want to write, make sure you market your writing as best you can, and stay focused on your message.

Stats lead to the algorithm, and the algorithm leads to quick highs and not much growth over the long haul.

Keep writing.