How Many Publications Do You Really Need?
I guess the question is … what really matters?
This is an interesting perspective. As writers, we know that our stories and the publication of our stories share a symbiotic relationship. Great stories help publications grow, and the growth of publications meant more readers for our content. It makes economic sense.
And from that juncture, it begets the question that might be often overlooked. Just many publications do we really need to thrive as a writer on this platform?
This is an important question because time and energy are our finite resources. There are only so many hours we can contribute to writing here. Even if we are full-time bloggers or editors, I believe that other active portfolios are screaming for our attention.
This is an energy equation.
Also, we have to consider the runway to grow readership. As with all good things in life, it takes time. If we can accept that kids take time to grow up, Mona Lisa takes time to complete, and dinner takes time to get ready — We have to accept that it takes time to grow our presence here.
Put these considerations together, and we have a practical constraint defined by the market we want to grow, matched our ambitions indexed by time and energy.
This is the “why” of this story, a reflection of the path I have traveled. I ask myself these questions too. In fact, the same question popped up 5 minutes ago.
As part of sharing my personal journey, I started as a naïve toot ignorant of this platform’s mechanics. All I knew was subscribers are growing, and Medium is getting hot. So, I threw my hat in the ring.
I wrote one piece daily and published it organically. And as if waiting for the gold dust to be blown on me one fateful day in the future, I buried my head and wrote without thinking.
About a month in, I realized that I have not been opening my eyes. There are many hyperlinks in stories that were published. After hours of research (okay, make it minutes), I realized that I was missing out on something.
I knew I had to contact Shreya Badonia. She is one of my dependable Linkedin connections whom I know will get to me on what I needed to know. She is a successful writer here, crossed over from Quora.
I texted her, and she responded. I am guessing that she must be amused by my naivety and choked on her chicken biryani as she watched my messages popped into her screen. She was polite and patiently explained to me that those were “Publications”. Different publications have different areas of focus and would accept story submissions that are aligned to their genre of choice.
I felt like I got hit by Thor’s hammer. Of course! This is a platform for writing, right? I am such an ostrich. Duh!
I went on a publication application spree. It was like shopping, except that then they get to accept or reject me as a content contributor.
3 months in, I found anchor publications I write to because of the topics I can contribute. These are the 3 publications I submit daily, if not weekly.
I am sure you will have your favorite/anchor publications to submit to. Ultimately, the choice is yours to make.
For me, these publications are growing. They are not at a point where they are so huge that I get ignored. Plus, I tend to gravitate toward writing about self-improvement, life lessons, business, communication, and technology. These platforms magnify my presence and amplify my voice.
And that is not all. The people matter too.
The editors in Illumination and The Innovation speak to me, often at the point of publication. They would point out to me issues that they resolved in terms of writing and the tools that I can use for free to improve my writing pre-submission.
In a nutshell, they help me improve my writing, going beyond rejecting my stories. They say “No” and then, “Why No”.
I am grateful to Dr Mehmet Yildiz (Illumination), Liam Ireland (Illumination), Britni Pepper (Illumination), and Esat Artug (The Innovation). Thank you for helping me improve my writing and readability.
Also, I do love a Few Words. It forces me to write concisely. After all, it isn’t easy to condense everything in my mind to less than 500 words. When I add in my boilerplate statements and attach stories published previously, it gets more challenging.
The important thing is these 3 publications help me grow professionally and personally. So, 3 publications are enough for me today. There will be room to scale for sure, and that would require an experimentation process that involves scouting for great publications, supportive editors, and people.
This is my take.
How many publications do you submit your stories to?
Thank you, kind editors and brilliant publications.
Aldric
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About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
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