Medium Introduces Newsletters

I was right predicting Medium’s pivot from letters to a proper newsletter function!

I’ve write many useful posts covering the ins and outs of Medium.

However, some of my most valuable posts to my followers have been posts dissecting the intricacies of Medium, and anticipating future product changes, to help writers stay ahead of the curve.

That is why I launched Blogging Guide.

---

For example, I previously announced the launch of Medium’s alt-text capabilities to my followers months before Medium announced the introduction of this feature:

Medium Blogging Guide Announcement (7/11/2019)

Medium Adds Alt-Text Function to Article Images

Medium Announcement of Feature (9/4/2019):

August Update From the Partner Program

---

Today I am excited to report on a new Medium feature, which was also predicted, after investigating some recent platform changes!

Introducing Medium Newsletters

Email and email text below:

Newsletters: coming next week

In the coming week, we’re excited to launch Newsletters: a new way to grow and connect with your audience through email. As an editor of __________, we wanted you to be the first to hear.

Newsletters are an update to our current email feature for Medium publishers. Now, you’ll be able to name your newsletter, promote it on your publication’s stories, share it anywhere with a signup link, and get replies from your readers. With this new rollout, you’ll keep all of your existing email subscribers as well as your sent and drafted emails.

We’ll email you in the coming week once newsletters are ready. In the meantime, if you’re ready to start brainstorming, every newsletter will need a name and description. And if you want to brush up on writing successful emails, we’ve got you covered.

Looking forward to seeing you in our inboxes,

Your friends at Medium

The link in the email directs readers to a page on tips on writing a Medium newsletter:

How to write a great newsletter

Source

This is another reason that all writers should create their own publication.

Eagle eyed readers of Blogging Guide, received a tip from me about this change a week ago, in my premium newsletter:

Medium Platform Insights

In the article that I sent out to paying subscribers a week ago, I wrote that:

Medium may be starting to realize that they are losing writers by not allowing writers to communicate directly with readers, and the change toward a clearly labeled “email system” (as opposed to “letters”) is the first step toward reassuring writers that Medium offers all the same functions that rival platforms offer. One of these functions is the ability to email readers (and ideally, to be able to build your own mailing list).

This was in response to a change in Medium’s website which changed their longstanding terminology of letters to emails, a move I described as significant since Medium “doesn’t change major platform functions without clear intent.”

This post was originally sent to and only accessible to paying subscribers. I have made it public now to verify what I said. But it is a good example of the premium content paid subscribers of my newsletter are supporting!

This is an exciting platform change that will have a potentially major impact on Medium!

To stay ahead of the curve, with Medium, and digital publishing in general, subscribe to my newsletter, Blogging Guide! We offer platform insights such as this, as well as strategies to monetize your online writing.

---

Join Today!

Please consider supporting my newsletter. In addition to accessing valuable premium articles, our custom digital downloads and private Slack channel, you are directly supporting my efforts to run this newsletter, manage multiple writing-related Facebook groups, develop content for several informational Medium publications, and compile my monthly Medium earnings report.

Thank you for your support! It truly means the world to me, and I will do my best to provide you with as much high value content as possible!

Until next time,

Casey