All I want for Christmas is 5,000 followers.

I sometimes want to write something light-minded but feel pressured to up the quality of my stories. Pressured by whom? Well, some of the pressure is internal, and some of the writing advice I come across calls for approaching writing like there is no tomorrow — giving it all you can in terms of quality, passion, and editing.

But to hell with it — this pressure.

I do look forward to hitting 5,000 followers. It’s a nice round number. It feels meaningful, though I sometimes question how adequately it rewards more than two years of consistent writing. I published 741 stories and have five thousand followers on Medium. If I were a rock band, what would be an analogy of five thousand followers? Playing in a club and having several dozens of guests notice your energy? I don’t know.

In the world of start-ups, companies sweat over their MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and the so-called product market fit — users or prospects wanting your product. How do you define the MVP and product market fit in the world of writing? You can’t go by dollars. It’s just too hard to make money early in the journey. I think your reach matters; it can be measured by the number of followers or subscribers or the number of reads. This is what I have: