5 Pubs That Helped Me Gain Traction on Medium
None are big guns
These past 5 months on this platform has been quite the ride and I thought it would be a great idea to take a moment to appreciate the pubs that have been an important part of my journey.
You may be surprised to know that these are not big pubs with massive followings and yet they have not only taught me a lot about writing articles but also connected me with some exceptional editors & other wonderful writers.
Some folks are under the misconception that a writer can only gain traction by publishing in big pubs but not only do I beg to differ but I highly recommend publishing in smaller pubs.
Why, you wonder?
Well, I can give you 6 reasons why I love publishing in smaller pubs.
- The sense of community: I was going to write on this in detail until I read my friend, B.R. Shenoy’s wonderful short form article titled “Medium: My New Social Network.” I think she has perfectly embodied what I wanted to say about this topic.
- Amazing feedback: At the start of my journey, I barely received any comments on my articles. But I didn’t let that bother me and I just kept writing. Today, I do receive a lot of comments which I appreciate and enjoy responding to. I sometimes miss some of the comments my lovely readers leave on my articles, not on purpose but because I did not receive a notification. I’d like to thank Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh for pointing this out to me. Has this happened to you too?
- Co-elevate: This is a wonderful word introduced to me by Kyomi O'Connor. I have been fortunate to have more experienced writers like Krishh, Myriam Ben Salem🦋, Dr. Preeti Singh, Donnette Anglin, Vishnu*s Virtues, Muhammad Nasrullah Khan, Lanu Pitan, Gurpreet Dhariwal, William J Spirdione, Ching Ching, Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀who take the time to read, clap & encourage me in my writing journey and I strive to follow their example. I feel like life is so much better when we co-elevate.
- Views/reads/Chosen for further distribution: My experience shows that all three are consistently possible with smaller pubs.
(Image by author)
- Note: None of my articles have gone viral
5. Earnings from going with smaller pubs: I am not going to declare my earnings just for the sake of it but what I’d like to point out is # 4 makes a big difference in earnings and I believe that was the reason I was awarded the Medium bonus in June. I’d like to thank my medium friend, Kristina God for tagging me to check my MPP for the bonus — looks like she was more confident in me achieving the bonus than I was!
6. Timely manner of publishing: I think Jack Heimbigner in his article for the Startup says it best when he talks about the publishing turn around time for smaller pubs “Most of the time, with smaller pubs, you can send something to them and expect to see it published within 24 hours. Sometimes sooner. I love this because I hate waiting for a few days, let alone a week to know if a post is going to be published.”
These are the 5 pubs which have helped me gain traction on Medium:
- Thank You Notes: This is a wonderful pub by Trista Signe Ainsworth which always gives me good vibes. I started writing in Feb but it was only until May that an article of mine, “Where does your gently used clothing donations go?” got chosen for further distribution and this one was with Thank You Notes.
- Know Thyself Heal Thyself: I don’t think this pub by Diana C. needs further intro. I would say this pub has had the most influence in my growth on this platform.
- The Daily Cuppa: Katie Michaelson is a wonderful, supportive editor and am fortunate to be part of her team.
- Write to Inspire: One of my most popular articles to date was published by Samra with this pub. I am pleasantly surprised by the response it has received and happy that a lot of my readers & new writers have found my tips useful. One has since achieved the top writer badge- see Orla Kenny.
- “Doctor Funny”: I don’t think Michael Burg, MD (AKA Medium Michael Burg)needs any intro. All I’ll say is I’m glad I decided to attempt humor and go with his pub.
So here they are, the 5 pubs that have played an important role in my writing journey. I hope you check them & Be Open too and see if they are a good fit for your articles too!
If you like this, you may also like
What I’ve Learned from Earning $5 to $20 Per Longform Article
How I Build my Audience as a Newbie
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