Unfortunately many reads by paying members do not pay--if a member clicks in through Twitter, Medium deems that an external read. https://medium.com/illumination/dear-medium-members-who-read-writers-stories-via-twitter-4ad88d1bb3be I suspect that other reads by members also do not count--I am in the process of gathering data to test that, but there is no question about Twitter reads--Dr Ylidiz has told me Ev Williams has stated that this is the case.