Summary

The article provides guidance for new writers on Medium to increase the visibility and reach of their writing by focusing on quality, reader engagement, unique voice, and leveraging platform features like publications and tags.

Abstract

The web content offers a concise cheat-sheet for novice writers on Medium aiming to boost their exposure without an existing follower base. It emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity, suggesting that not all writings should be published. The author advises writing with the reader in mind, ensuring that the content is engaging, informative, and provides value. Personal flair and the use of personal experiences are encouraged to make articles stand out. The article also recommends subscribing to Medium to learn from successful writers, getting published in Medium's in-house publications to gain visibility, engaging with the community by following other writers, and using relevant tags to attract the right audience. By adhering to these tips, the author, who has achieved curation and publication acceptance within a month, assures that new writers can gain traction and monetize their work on the platform.

Opinions

The author believes that Medium's curation is crucial for exposure, indicating that curated stories are recommended across the platform, including the homepage and emails.
Quality is seen as paramount, with the author suggesting that Medium's algorithm and staff prioritize well-written and proofread articles over mediocre ones.
Writing should be reader-centric, offering takeaways and structured content rather than personal journals with no broader relevance.
Incorporating humor, sass, and personal experiences is encouraged to make articles more relatable and engaging.
Formatting tools should be used effectively to maintain reader interest, and misuse of these tools, such as pull quotes, should be avoided.
Subscribing to Medium is presented as a valuable investment for learning from experienced writers and improving one's own craft.
Publications within Medium are portrayed as valuable platforms for new writers to reach a wider audience, provided they adhere to each publication's submission guidelines.
Gaining followers is seen as a natural consequence of having work accepted by publications or being curated, and following other writers is suggested as a reciprocal practice.
The use of appropriate tags is emphasized as a means to reach the target audience and increase the likelihood of gaining followers interested in the writer's work.

Cheat-Sheet for Newbies: These 7 Things Will Get Your Writing Picked Up on Medium(Without Any Followers)

I know the feeling of wanting to get your voice out there for the world to read. You have so much to say and share. But self-publishing isn’t going to cut it; especially if you don’t have a following yet. I remember how disappointed I felt when I self-published my first few stories and my stats showed I got 0 to 1 reads. There had to be another way. So how do you get your work out there?

I’ve been writing for Medium for 1 month now, and in this short time, I’ve learned a lot! One of my first stories was curated within a day, and within the next couple of weeks, 4 more were.

Having your stories curated is the best way for them to get exposure. When a story gets curated, it means it is selected to be recommended across Medium’s homepage, emails, and recommended topics. But it has to meet a certain standard. To find out what that criteria is, keep reading.

I’m writing this piece to give you some tips on increasing your work’s exposure when you’re a newbie like me and have no followers. The more traction your work gains, the more you’ll be able to monetize from it.

Quality Over Quantity

My fingers are always itching to write about everything and anything that comes to mind. It’s good practice to write every day, however, I’ve learned that you should not publish everything you write.

A great starting point is to thoroughly read Medium’s submission guidelines. You can start writing your articles with those in mind.

Medium’s algorithm and staff are very intelligent, hence it’s important to take the time to write quality articles that you’ve proofread a few times to check for grammar and flow. Using writing tools like ‘Grammarly’ to spell check your work is also very helpful.

Medium is not going to pick up mediocre pieces that do nothing for the reader. Which brings me to my next point.

Write for the Reader, Not Yourself

Readers subscribe to Medium to gain something out of what they’re reading. Whether it’s self-improvement, inspiration, comedy/entertainment, or informative pieces, the reader has to feel your work is helping them somehow.

That’s why you should avoid publishing personal journals with no conclusion or take-aways. Always write as if you’re speaking to the reader directly, with a structured beginning, middle, and endpoint.

If you’re writing informative pieces, try to include a few links to scientifically back up what you’re sharing.

Don’t Write Boring Pieces

We all have our own unique personalities. As such, it should be reflected in one’s writing. By adding your personal flair, your work will stand out more.

If you’re funny, by all means, incorporate your humor into your writing. If you’re sassy, add sass to your words.

It’s also a good idea to use your personal experiences in getting your point across. There’s nothing more engaging to a reader than a story that has been humanized so he/she can relate to it and be impacted by it.

Break up long paragraphs with headings, subheadings, and photos so the reader doesn’t zone out.

Use Medium’s formatting tools in editor mode to keep the reader engaged. Learn how to properly use them; don’t misuse pull quotes for example.

Subscribe to Medium

Reading successful writers’ work on Medium is very helpful in learning from their writing styles, flow, and structure.

If you are not subscribed to Medium, that will be very difficult to do since you will be limited to reading only a couple of articles per month, which will not be helpful.

The fastest and easiest way to improve your writing is learning from writing veterans who have already figured out what works, rather than having to do all the grunt work yourself.

Publications

When you’re new to Medium and have no followers, another way to get more eyes on your work is to get publications within Medium to accept your work. The reason is those publications, especially the larger ones already have thousands of followers. If they accept your work, their followers will see it.

Every publication has its own set of submission guidelines. My advice is to search for publications your work falls under and read each one’s guidelines carefully. Follow them to a tee in your writing, and request to be added as a writer. After they add you, you will be able to submit your work to them, and if they accept it, they will publish it for you.

Followers

After your work either gets accepted by a publication or is curated, you will notice you will start to gain followers who are interested in seeing more. Just as they are following you, it is important to be supportive of other fellow writers and follow them back. Search for topics that interest you, and if certain writers resonate with you, follow them.