I wrote 9 articles in 9 days and earned $0

And I’m very, very confused.

Photo by Napendra Singh on Unsplash

I joined Medium on June 21st, and posted my first article. I kept going for 9 days, publishing a total of 9 articles. They were short, 2–4 minutes, but pretty good (I think!). Check out my stats:

• 45 views
• 102 claps from 18 fans
• 46 brand new followers

So why are my earnings $0?

Let’s split these 9 days into two parts.

Part 1

During part 1, roughly the first 7 days, I hadn’t completed my application for the Partner Program.

When I read about how to join Medium, I came across a point that said how your earnings can be backdated 30 days, meaning that once you join, any member viewing time/claps etc. from the last 30 days will be counted towards your earnings.

So I took my sweet time. I watched those claps and views accumulate, happily thinking about my climbing total, while slowly working through the application process.

Take 1: Set up Stripe? I don’t have the head for this, I’ll do it tomorrow.

Take 2: I need to verify my phone — hm, I’m abroad right now, can’t receive text… I’ll use my dad’s phone, I’ll call him tomorrow to check.