Member-only story
Pimping my Articles
Selling my Soul on Medium
I got hooked on writing on Medium in late January when I realized I needed some other avenue of expression besides academic research. I sold a few things previously to paying publications and thought, damn—Instant Gratification. I can write without waiting for weeks, months, or years to be published. Write a decent draft; submit; publish. Okay. Cool. I’m in.
After a month of barely any reads, I realized, oh hell no. I have to do what I once took for granted— I needed to pimp and promote my work — Bummer.
Academic scholar turned pimp in a blink of an eye.
The verb to pimp has a curious history dating back to the early 1600s and referred to an individual who organized and scheduled opportunities for sex with a prostitute. (I’m not doing that yet. Although I have thought about it as a side hustle in my later years.) The noun pimp is the person or thing that performs the action of the verb to pimp. By the mid-17th Century, the noun pimp evolved to mean an individual who panders to an immoral impulse. To pimp, then, is the act of promoting the activity of engagement.
Have I become a desperate pimp, pimping my articles for engagement? Will you read? Will you clap? Can I give you a blow job for 50 claps? (Oops, that’s meant for my husband.)
