Thank you, Julia, for the tag and for the excellent, thoughtful piece. I never know what to think when people call themselves an “independent writer” on Medium because, by definition, a writer is their own best selves. It’s our society that compartmentalizes and assigns weight and worth. I’ve been on Medium since 2013 and I’ve been grateful that it’s given me an outlet to share my work directly with people who want to read it instead of going through the nonsense of submitting to lit journals no one can afford to buy or read.

I never thought about the size of my audience either. People have been here a hot minute and have way more followers and attention. People have published more books than me at fancier houses (eh-hem, Knopf), but I’m just happy that I can write and people can enjoy my work. I’d rather have 100 people who truly care about what I put out in the world than a legion. Frankly, a legion frightens me. I can barely respond to comments on my stories out of anxiety — I can’t imagine what having a level of fame (or familiarity) would do.

I think so many people obsessive over the cult of more when they don’t actually know what more means. Does having more followers give your work more value? Are you more important than someone else because you’re known? IMO, no. I just focus on my game and ignore the business of it until I have to.

This might be the longest comment I’ve ever left. Haha.