Curated Collection
Easy Access to New Submission Guidelines for ILLUMINATION Publications
Updated submission guidelines for ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications to increase the chance of boosting your stories
This post aims to give easy access to our updated submission guidelines and provide practical tips on how to use them. Thank you for joining our friendly writing and reading community on Medium, supporting 25,000+ writers contributing to ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications on Medium.com.
This diverse and inclusive community gives voice to every ethical writer who wants to delight their readers. Our publications include:
ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, Technology Hits, SYNERGY, Readers Hope, Illumination Videos and Podcasts, Illumination Gaming, Lampshade of Illumination, and ILLUMINATION’s Blog. Details are provided in the onboarding pack.
Please save this story for future reference, as the next versions of submission guidelines will be updated in this resource.
Links to Updated Submission Guidelines
The key rule for all publications is to submit one story per day, preferably as a draft and self-edited, while meeting each publication’s specific requirements.
Since each publication has its own set of criteria and caters to a distinct audience, understanding these guidelines is crucial for getting your stories accepted and published promptly.
So, please review the submission guidelines for the publications to which you contribute.
ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023
Publishing and Conduct Guidelines for the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION
Change of Perceptions for Expectations
Unlike perceptions, ILLUMINATION editors don’t publish every story. Your stories must be well-crafted and valuable for our readers. Our focus is curate-able and boost-able stories.
Critical Policy Documents for Our Writers
In addition to guidelines, please check these critical policies. We are open-minded, but these are non-negotiable rules to keep you, our readers, and the general platform safe.
Every writer contributing to our publications must review these guiding policies before submitting their stories. We are tolerant, but these are non-negotiable rules.
We invite our readers to consider a new Medium Friendship subscription to support our writers.
Why We Updated Our Submission Guidelines
Starting from August 1, 2023, Medium introduced significant changes affecting the Partner Program, writers, and publications. The most crucial shift is from emphasizing quantity to prioritizing quality.
Medium provides various ways to share stories and increase their visibility, with a key focus on the new Boost Program. We’ve updated our submission guidelines to help our writers enhance their chances of getting their stories boosted.
Essence of the Boost Program: The BOOST program began around November last year and gained more prominence in August 2023 due to Medium’s commitment to favoring quality over quantity.
This change signifies a move from writers concentrating on producing more content to reaching a wider audience. Medium now rewards well-crafted content to fulfill writers’ objectives and satisfy readers. The Boost program serves as recognition for impactful and skillfully written stories.
In simple terms, human curators evaluate stories. If they agree on the quality, impact, and alignment with Medium’s standards, they boost the story by programming it into the distribution system. This strategic move maximizes the platform’s automated capabilities to extend the story’s reach.
Boosting is crucial for writers as it significantly increases the visibility of their stories and brings in more income. It’s like a shortcut to growing an audience on Medium.
For readers, it’s essential because humans carefully choose boosted content. Experienced editors, experts in the subject matter, and Medium’s official curation team validate and approve this content.
The stories selected through the BOOST program go through strict criteria, similar to how scientific journals review papers. This means readers get content that has been curated, and they don’t need to worry much about its quality.
This process is vital for the platform itself. More boosted stories contribute to a higher-quality content environment filled with reliable and valuable information.
This, in turn, increases readers’ confidence in finding valuable content and rewards writers by giving them more visibility for their valuable work. So, it’s a win for readers, a win for writers, and a win for the platform. Everyone benefits.
Medium has outlined a process for boosting. Unlike the previous algorithmic approach, the community, including selected boost nominators (primarily publication owners), can now nominate stories to a portal with justifications. Additionally, Medium’s curators also have the authority to boost stories.
To provide you with more information, we interviewed our chief editor, who is also a boost nominator for our publications. You can learn from his approach and experiences to gain insights into navigating the Boost Program effectively.
How ILLUMINATION Publications Support the BOOST Program
Curation Checklist
Dr Yildiz wrote a detailed article about it explaining the criteria in July. This checklist can be helpful for all writers to increase the chance of boosting and building their audience quickly.
Many writers desire to make a living from their craft. Using Medium as a single source is not a viable option. There are other opportunities that you need to consider. We believe this story will give you valuable perspectives. Here is How to Write Content to Generate Steady Income.
Practical Guidance for Absolute Beginners
This section is provided for new writers who joined Medium recently.
1 — How to submit your stories to publications
Now that you have joined Medium and written your first story, please follow these simple instructions. Once you do it a few times, it will be second nature. Not knowing this feature caused many new writers to wait for days.
When you draft your story, please click on the … (3 dots) on the top right side of your screen. Click on the add to publication, choose Illumination or other relevant pubs, and submit your story. When the story arrives in the publication queue, editors will review and publish it if your story qualifies. If not, they will leave a private message and return your story to fix, resubmit, or transfer to one of our other publications if it does not suit ILLUMINATION.
We no longer publish certain types of stories on ILLUMINATION and ILLUMINATION-Curated, so please review the new submission guidelines.
2 — Use Copyright-Free Images and Remember to Caption Them
A crucial issue is some new writers forget to add captions to photos and use copyrighted images. Violating copyright rules can lead to substantial penalties imposed by legal institutions.
Several writers got hefty fines; our editors don’t want this to happen to you. Therefore, our editors are diligently working to safeguard our writers. We kindly ask that you honor their requests, as they have your best interests at heart. You cannot use every image on stories behind the paywall.
If you are a new writer on Medium, please review the Photo Handling Policy before starting, as it is the most time-consuming issue for our editors and causes delays in publishing. Writers failing to meet our photo handling policy will be removed from publications.
3 — We don’t accept AI-generated content per Medium’s new strategy except for one dedicated publication [the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION]
Our publications do not accept content written by artificial intelligence tools, but we have a viable solution to make writers and readers happy.
Those writers who use generative AI tools like Jasper or ChatGPT can send their stories to our new publication, the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION. Details are attached.
4 — What is Slack, and why should our writer join this group?
Slack is a collaboration and communication tool. Unlike social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Slack is a private tool. Therefore, it is not just another social media platform.
We use Slack because Medium lacks a chat tool, making it challenging to communicate with writers, editors, and publication owners to address issues. For instance, when your stories encounter problems or questions, you can easily access our editors, who can help resolve your concerns.
Our Slack is free and moderated, boasting over 18,000 members. Additionally, you can share your story links and garner more views. Joining our group can provide numerous benefits.
Slack is a valuable tool to build your audience easily. Furthermore, it is configurable; for example, you can simply turn notifications off if you prefer not to receive notifications. You can learn more about Slack from this story.
Please remember to submit only one story daily, preferably as a draft. We don’t accept multiple stories as our focus is on quality to increase your chance of being boosted by Medium.
How to Increase Earnings from Content Creation
Apart from the boosting opportunity on Medium, which can increase your income, our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz, recently answered this frequently asked question by many writers on how to increase income from writing engagement.
Many writers desire to make a living from their craft. Using Medium as a single source is not a viable option. There are other opportunities that you need to consider. We believe this story will give you valuable perspectives.
Collaboration and Promotion
You will receive an invitation to our Slack workspace to collaborate with other writers, share your story links, and contact editors and our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz. It is a free and moderated service.
You may meet some of our editors from the attached collection.
Introduce Yourself in a Story
Please consider introducing yourself in a story and post it to ILLUMINATION or our other publications. This might bring you new followers and expose your profile to new readers.
Our editor Aiden (Illumination Gaming) compiles and distributes these bios to our subscribers. You may get bio ideas from the attached collection.
You may also self-curate your stories to gain visibility. Aiden provided a sample example, as attached. You may follow a similar format by categorizing your stories based on topics.
You may also enjoy a recent story from one of our new writers and editors, Mike Broadly — Healthier Lifestyle, who made significant progress in the last two months. You may contact Mike on our Slack workspace, who volunteers to support our new writers.
Recent Writer Introductions
We enjoy introducing writers to our community and subscribers. Recently, we introduced Zondra Dos Anjos, Thomas Allen Moon , Omni Essence, Sneha Nagre, and Sridhar Pai Tonse — Leadgen Coach- Tech Startups
You might also check recent editorial introductions from our team.
You can learn about our other editors’ backgrounds from this collection curated by ILLUMINATION-Curators.
Recent Announcements for Connection
You may check the following two announcements to meet other recently joined writers, including links to their profiles. This is a good opportunity for new writers to build their audience, as writers are great readers. We enjoy enabling collaboration on Medium by encouraging meaningful engagements.
Welcome to our writing and reading community, and we look forward to the meaningful and high-quality stories.
When you have questions, please feel free to contact our owner and chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz, on our Slack workspace. He is also happy to speed up publishing your stories if they are delayed 48 hours or more.
Critical Policy Documents for Our Writers
Every writer contributing to our publications must review these guiding policies before submitting their stories. We are tolerant, but these are non-negotiable rules.
Writing Challenges and Prompts for New Writers
Helpful Resources for Beginners
Starter Kit for Writers of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications
Improving the Quality of Writing Using an Editorial Checklist
Five Tips to Become a Prolific Writer Despite Full-Time Work
You may find more helpful stories from the content management collection of Dr Mehmet Yildiz typically written to help new writers joining Medium.
Sample Curated Collections for New Readers
We curate and feature stories from multiple editorial accounts.
Here are our latest curated collections by ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION Amplifiers, and ILLUMINATION-Curators for your enjoyment.
Invitation to New Writers
To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link.
We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a writer on Medium. Please mention the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request.
ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications include:
ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION-Curated ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR ILLUMINATION Book Chapters The Lampshade of ILLUMINATION Technology Hits SYNERGY Readers Hope Illumination on YouTube Illumination Gaming ILLUMINATION’s Blog EUPHORIA by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
New writer inquiries and applications for Illumination Integration Publications are through the registration portal. Please review the onboarding pack before submitting your stories. I look forward to supporting your stories on Medium.
