11 Lessons Publication Creators On Medium Can Learn

From Dr Mehmet Yildiz of ILLUMINATION

ILLUMINATION is no doubt one of the fastest growing publications on Medium. Less than a year old, the publication according to its founder has almost 6000K writers and 52,000+ readers.

When I was accepted as writer about two months ago, I had not realised that the publication had only been a few months old by then.

I love writing for ILLUMINATION. It’s the one publication on Medium where none of my stories have ever been rejected. I have been asked to rectify a few things here and there though before my stories were eventually accepted and published. I don’t want to spread the narrative that ILLUMINATION is a publication where anything goes.

I recently created a publication called A List Of My Favourite Things and I have been doing my research in order to find out ways to grow it and ILLUMINATION has been my core benchmark on this journey.

Here are lessons I picked from ILLUMINATION and the owner of the publication Dr Mehmet Yildiz.

Diversity and Inclusion

Illumination publishes many different kinds of stories covering as many areas as possible. From poetry to essays, to stories about innovation, technology, agriculture, humanity, medicine, love, relationships etc.

That way the publication attracts writers and readers from diverse backgrounds and interests.

Do you not have a place to publish your story about lettuce farming in your backyard? Don’t worry. Illumination will share your story with its thousands of readers.

The creator of the publication must be the kind of person that embraces diversity and encourages it. He believes in never leaving anyone out.

In my estimation, this is one of the core reasons ILLUMINATION has been able to grow that fast in such a short time period.

Collaboration

Dr Mehmet Yildiz believes in collaboration.

He provides a platform for other publication creators to introduce their publications to ILLUMINATION followers to seek out followers, writers and readers. He also provides a forum for writers to introduce their mailing lists and newsletters.

I can attest to this firsthand as after I created my publications A List Of My Favourite Things, I wrote a story about it that was accepted and published in ILLUMINATION.

As put by Dr Mehmet Yildiz himself, “I see Medium publications as a collaborative extension rather than competition to our publication.”

Empowerment

ILLUMINATION is the kind of publication that is run by a person that believes in giving people chances.

Illumination is one of the few publications on Medium where your story is least likely to get rejected. And before the editors reject it, they will let you know the reasons why and ask you to rectify the errors.

It’s also a place where your stories will find a home even if they have been previously rejected by other publications. Some of my stories that have been rejected by other publications for one reason or another and are eventually published on ILLUMINATION end up doing very well.

From what I have noticed, Dr Mehmet Yildiz believes in giving people chances and in the process empowering them and helping them to achieve their objectives and to succeed.

Freedom

There are also very few rules when publishing for ILLUMINATION. Other than the core Medium guidelines for publishing a story, Dr Mehmet Yildiz allows the artistic expression of writers to thrive.

As an avid reader of stories on the publication, I see all kinds of stories written in diverse styles from diverse writers.

ILLUMINATION is not the kind of place where all stories are about writing, making money on Medium, or love and relationships — which are topics covered thoroughly on Medium.

Here you will find stories about languages, farming, frogs, antelopes, etc. This freedom also goes hand in hand with diversity.

The two also help inform my own writing and will help guide the direction of my publication.

Stories written for my publication will be accepted in as many different formats as possible. This a tip I picked from ILLUMINATION.

Creation

Apart from ILLUMINATION, Dr Mehmet Yildiz also runs ILLUMINATION-Curated and Technology Hits among other ventures.

He is usually creating something new every now and then. He never settles for just one success. He pushes the limits and ventures out for the next one.

He is also looking for ILLUMINATION to be among the top ten publications on Medium and I am confident that this is a fete that will be achieved very soon.

That is what we can borrow here. To reach out for more.

Engagement

The regular stories and updates about outstanding stories on the publication, daily digests, welcome notes to new writers, etc. constantly keep me engaged on what’s going on in the publication.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz will mention you in a story when relevant and that will draw your attention to it.

Daily digests and outstanding stories are also my to go to places in reading stories from the publication. They help ensure that I don’t miss out on what’s going on in the publication.

Connection

Other than just engaging Illumination writers and followers, Dr Mehmet Yildiz connects with them.

Out of his busy schedule, you will find that he connected with you on your story that he resonated with by clapping or commenting on it.

He also adds that you may mention him in a story that you would like his personal attention to, that you may contact him on Medium or email. To top it all, he has created a Slack workspace- a way for ILLUMINATION contributors to communicate easier and to connect.

This connection has made me more engaged in ILLUMINATION than other publications that I follow or write for.

Community

There is a sense of community on ILLUMINATION as opposed to other publications. You will regularly receive emails and notifications about new stories from other writers with Dr Mehmet Yildiz reminding you to engage with them.

The engagement, connection and communication that Dr Mehmet Yildiz nurtures is what creates the sense of community on ILLUMINATION.

Passion

In my estimation, Dr Mehmet Yildiz is able to successfully do all these things because he has a passion for it.

Due to his background in and passion for Technology he created Technology Hits to allow writers in this area to contribute their stories.

Here we learn to have a passion for what we do. It will help us in fueling our ventures to success.

Leadership

Dr Mehmet Yildiz does not run ILLUMINATION alone. He has a team of editors who help him.

To ensure that his dreams, goals and objectives for the publication are achieved, he displays leadership in the selection of editors and in communicating his visions clearly with them.

He also does this regularly to followers and contributors to the publication through daily digests and newsletters.

That to me is a portrayal of leadership. Guiding those working alongside and with you on your vision and how best achieve it, and informing and updating those whom you serve regularly on all matters in the community.

Hard work

Running successful publications on Medium, among his other ventures and his personal life notwithstanding must be taxing and must also require a lot of hard work.

Accepting stories, reading and publishing them. Writing daily digests and newsletters must occupy a lot of his time and energy.

While running these publications, Dr Mehmet Yildiz also writes and publishes non publications related stories on Medium and on other platforms.

If that is not serious hard work, I don’t know what is!

He teaches us to work hard.

In order to grow my new created publication, I plan to borrow these points from Dr Mehmet Yildiz. I will get back to you in due course to report on my findings in my practical application of them.