10 Great Publications for Beginners
How to become a writer and get stories accepted by them
When I first started writing on Medium, I read and heard the advice that you need to publish into publications to gain traction. I googled how to submit to publications and came upon Medium’s help article to add a draft to publication. I then quickly went to one of my drafts clicked on the add to publication only to be met with a message that I had no publications.
I then simply self-published my stories as it seemed too complicated to figure out how to be added to publications. I didn’t know if I had to wait to be on Medium long enough or become big enough. If you are having similar thoughts, then this story is exactly for you. Two months after I started seriously writing on Medium, I have published in 20 different publications and have started gaining traction through their followers.
Ways to Access Publications
Because submission to publications is decentralized, each publication can choose how they want to add writers and have them submit their stories. The best way to find this information is to go to a publication and looking for submission guidelines, write for us, or submit tab. This will take you to a story written by the editors for how they prefer to add you to their publication. I want to quickly discuss the common ways to be accepted into a publication.
Form submission
Many publications require that you submit your information through a form that can be found on their submission page. This form can require that you include a draft link to your story for their publication or simply including your information on Medium. If the editors like your story, they will accept you into the publication and you will be added as an author. If they decide to pass on your story, they will ask that you submit a different story in the future to be added as a writer.
Comment on story
Another common method for becoming an author is to simply comment on the publication's submission guidelines. This should only be done if the submission guidelines specifically ask you to comment to be added. If they do, then you can leave a comment that you would like to become an author and include your medium username. The editor will usually add you to the publication within a few days.
One of the more uncommon ways to be added as an author is through email. In this case, the editor will leave an email for you to contact on the submission guidelines. You should only email once you have a story that you want to submit to that publication. In the email, you should include an introduction, a description of the story, and the story draft link. You will then get a reply from an editor either accepting your story and adding you to the publication or rejecting your story.
Publications for Beginner Medium Writers
Now that you know the ways to be added as a writer, here are 10 publications that are great for those who are just starting on Medium, how to become a writer for each, and best practices for submitting to them.
Writers’ Blokke by Benny Lim
Followers: 2,657 Topics: Broad topics with few exceptions Submission Type: Comment on Submission Guidelines
Writers’ Blokke is a great publication that accepts most stories and aims to provide a place for writers to write and readers to read good content. I find that my stories geared towards writing tend to do best on this publication. This is a great publication for beginners because of the wide range of topics that they accept and increased acceptance rate. This publication can help you start building traction and getting your stories in front of a wider audience than self-publishing.
Illumination by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Followers: 84,637 Topics: Broad topics with few exceptions Submission Type: Form Submission w/o story link
Illumination, similar to Writers’ Blokke, accepts many different types of stories but has a larger following. You are very likely to be accepted into Illumination as long as your story is of decent quality. Additionally, Illumination has its own slack channel that allows you to promote your stories. The editors will also promote your stories as well on social media platforms. Therefore, Illumination can be great to help you promote your stories and join a group of writers working together.
Yard Couch by Isaiah McCall
Followers: 1,095 Topics: Wealth, Health, Life, Productivity, and Writing Submission Type: Form Submission w/o story link
Yard Couch is very accepting to beginning writers and covers a decent range of topics. From my experience, if they reject your stories, they will give a reason as to why, which can help you enhance your own writing. To be accepted, your articles do need to be high quality, focused on the topics they suggest, and should have clear takeaways for the reader. Maintaining the typical Medium formatting fits well in this publication. From my experience, Yard Couch tends to have a fairly engaged audience despite its smaller size, which can help you to gain views on your stories.
Story Second Chances by Mary DeVries
Followers: 34 Topics: Critics of Published Stories Submission Type: Comment on Submission Guidelines
Story Second Chances is a more unique publication but provides a great resource for beginners on Medium. Story Second Chances is a place where you can receive constructive feedback on why your stories did not do well. In your stories, you can write a short description of the story and why you think it did not do well. Then, you need to read 2 other people's stories and provide comments. Then, you can submit your story and you will receive great feedback on your stories.
This publication despite its smaller following is a great publication for beginners for two reasons. First, it has a very engaged audience that all tend to be paid Medium members, which means both your original story and your submitted story is likely to have increased views and income. Second and most important, you will receive great constructive feedback on your stories that will help you develop as a writer and produce higher quality work.
2-Minute Madness by Toni Koraza
Followers: 1,452 Topics: Wealth, Health, and Art Submission Type: Form submission with story link
2-Minute Madness only publishes stories that are 2-minutes or less in read time. This short-form content can be rejected by many publications and yet it thrives in this publication. This shorter form can help writers to write stories more quickly and become more concise in their writing. Furthermore, the editors of 2-Minute Madness help with promoting your article through places like Quora and Twitter. This can help you to gain a larger audience than you can through self-published articles.
An Injustice by Zuva
Followers: 13,614 Topics: Culture, LGBTQIA, Society, Mental Health, Politics, and more Submission Type: Form submission with story link
An Injustice is a great publication for beginners who write particularly about social and cultural issues. To be accepted, your story should be relevant to their topics, high quality, and have a clear takeaway for the reader. While they sometimes take a bit of time to accept you, they will email you and/or leave a private note on your submission with you acceptance or improvements you need to be accepted. Because of their larger audience, this can help those starting out on Medium to gain traction with those interested in social and cultural issues.
Politically Speaking by Scott Tarlo
Followers: 2,914 Topics: Politics Submission Type: Comment on Submission Guidelines
While I do not write much about politics, Politically Speaking is a great publication for anyone interested in politics or who wants to dabble in it. The editor Scott Tarlo will help to edit your piece and give suggestions. This can help you grow as a writer. The narrow topic covered by this publication can also increase your views with the audience, as those who follow Politically Speaking are all interested in Politics.
Better Marketing by Brittany Jezouit
Followers: 122,652 Topics: Marketing and Writing Submission Type: Form submission with story link
Better Marketing has been instrumental in helping me to gain views on my stories. They have a great promotion strategy and will send you an email about how they are promoting your stories so that you can further promote them. While they are accepting of beginning writers on Medium, your story needs to be a high-quality submission with clear takeaways and no self-promotion. Also, make sure that your story is highly relevant to the topic of marketing. Additionally, they have very specific formatting requirements so read the submission guidelines and look at recent articles to ensure that your story matches the guidelines.
Post-Grad Survival Guide by Tom Kuegler
Followers: 43,193 Topics: Work, Freelancing, Life, and Money Submission Type: Form submission w/o story link
Post-Grad Survival Guide is a publication focused on career, freelancing, entrepreneurship, and money stories with clear, actionable takeaways for readers. I highly suggest reading their recent stories and extensive submission guidelines before submitting your stories. If they are not interested in your story, you will generally receive a blanket rejection private note. However, if they like your story but would like some changes, they will leave a private note with the requested changes. They will only accept very high-quality stories that are highly relevant to the topics that they cover.
The Startup by The Startup
Followers: 777,475 Topics: Entrepreneurship, Culture, Technology, and Web Design Submission Type: Form submission with story link
The Startup is the largest active publication on Medium. While it is difficult to get a story accepted into The Startup, it is well worth it as my story published in The Startup is my best performing story despite not being curated. Due to the large audience of The Startup, you can greatly increase your audience by publishing in the publication. However, you do need to ensure that your story is of high-quality with clear takeaways and relevant to the missions of The Startup. The reason that I include them is that they will judge your story on its merit alone and not on your length of time or following on Medium.
Don’t Be Intimidated By Publications
If you are just starting on medium, publications can become very intimidating. You may not know how to get started writing for publications, and facing rejections can be very difficult. However, to succeed on Medium, an easier way is to publish within publications. Start with the publications included on this list. As you publish and your confidence grows, look for other publications that are more specific to your niche.
Just keep writing and publishing. Implement the advice that you get and write again.