How To Be Crazy Successful Writing In Medium (Part 5 — Distribution to Publications).
Publications are key to any writer’s success. This is not immediately obvious to many, and I was one of them when I started out. This story is about Publications in Medium, and specifically how we can work with various Publications for pushing our profiles and stories further.
Everyone knows that Publications are a quintessential part of any writer’s writing arsenal. That is, except me. When I first started, I published without thinking. It took me 1 month to realize the presence of Publications and what they do.
1 month later, in September 2020, I started thinking that Medium is another scheme that does not deliver the bucks. It was then I discovered the presence of Publications and their importance.
This story focuses on the various points of my learning lessons about Publications as a distribution channel to our stories.
I will cover the 4 points below in this story: -
- Submitting Stories To Publications.
- Publications Behave Like Your Crush. They Reject You.
- How Many Publications Do We Need?
- Publication Strategies.
Let us begin with Submitting Stories To Publications.
Point 1 — Submitting Stories To Publications.
This is the how-to.
First, go to the triple dots at the edge of the screen. Then select Add To Publications. You will realize that the label on the green button changes from Publish to Submit.
This string of images illustrates that.
When you hit the Submit button, you will be brought to the page when you can verify the Publication you are submitting your Masterpiece to, and you get to add a maximum of 5 hashtags to your story.
My advice on the hashtags is simple. Maximize the hashtag utility. Insert 5 hashtags to your story. As a writer-reader on Medium, the stories that appear on my home page are directly tied to the topics of interest I chose.
How do stories of my interest appear on my homepage?
If you guessed hashtags that are used by other writers — You are right on the money. So, use the hashtags and let them funnel your story to the right audience.
Point 2 — Publications Behave Like Your Crush. They Love You Today, Reject You Tomorrow.
We have to take note when we are submitting stories to publications.
Publications reserve the right to reject your story. Most of the Publications I work with will send me a private note indicating why they reject my stories. I have been slapped with rejections for the following reasons: -
Reason 1 — Pick A Stand: Choose the American variant or British variant throughout the story. I know, I know. Some of us are Half-American, Half-British.
Hey, I am a Singaporean. I studied British English in school and listened to American English on YouTube and podcasts while mixing Bahasa Melayu and half-baked Chinese into the Singlish cocktail.
In any case, choose your side and stand on that side. When editor in publications gets confused, you get a rejection notice.
Reason 2 — Exceed by 1: I get rejected by Publications based on Word Count. Some Publications that believe in succinct and concise stories have word count limits. We have to play by their rules if we want to submit our stories to them.
If you are wondering how to word count limit on Medium — This is how you do it.
- Finish your draft.
- Execute Ctrl + A.
- Scroll to the Top Left corner of the screen, and you will see the word count of your story.
A bonsai is a piece of art because we prune them. Our stories are brilliant because we prune (edit) them. So, prune them.
Publications can be fickle. This is part of life. Treat them like your crush and you will see the uncanny parallels they share.
When they reject you today, do not give up. Advance again, tomorrow. Oh come on, you know the unspoken drill from palm to limb to triceps to …
Oh come on, you do not need me to spell it out. :)
Point 3— How Many Publications Do We Need?
The real question is How Many Genres Can We Write?
Publications have various topics of interest. I attach screenshots of 2 publications I publish into, and I follow for reading. You can see that they focus on several topics, and each of these topics relates to the purpose of the publication.
There are 2 ways to think about this segment. For one, we can find 1 publication that publishes the 7 genres we write. That saves the trouble of identifying the right publication for the story we write that day. I say this from a time-efficient perspective.
Plus, relationships compound over time. Behind every publication is a battalion of editors, and the more they know you, the easier it gets for them to publish your story.
For that, I am grateful to this brilliant group of editors for helping me along the way. They are Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Liam Ireland, Maria Rattray, Britni Pepper, Karen Madej, Agnes Louis, Dr. Preeti Singh, Lanu Pitan.
Thank you for publishing my stories and helping me get better along the way.
The second way to think about this segment is the audience population. Specifically, how many people do you want to reach? There are established publications with multi-thousand followers, and up-and-coming publications are growing at an exponential rate.
We are spoilt for choice. Choose the horse that you like and make your bets. One parting note — Mature and established publications take a long while to publish your stories because they have many stories to vet.
If you can wait — It might be worth it.
Point 4— Publication Strategies.
To me, there is a strict definition of Strategy. It has a course of action that allows us to achieve our goals.
Thus, I look at Publications as a way to pull my goals towards me. My overarching goal is to become a better writer, and to become a better writer — I have to write daily.
To kick my own ass to write daily, I seek Publications that publish daily. Even if they reject now and then, I learn from their whys.
On top of publications that publish daily, I seek publications that publish on a pre-set frequency. Take, for instance, Publication A that is known to publish every Wednesday and Sunday.
Publication A is a great supplement to my daily writing goals. Yes, I would love to write daily. A plan is a plan, is a plan. There are days where I can write more. And there are days when I want to follow Elon Musk to Mars.
I write more on those days where I can and send the second story to Publication A. That way, I give myself a break on Wednesday if I need it.
Over the long-run, it means that I am publishing daily without writing daily. This is a level of flexibility I build into my writing rhythm (err … I mean, algorithm?).
There Are Many Ways To Work With Publications.
Before that.
It is important to realize that Publications and writers like ourselves, operate within a symbiotic framework and relationship.
We will understand this better over time.
When in doubt — Write, and publish more. We will learn along the way.
Get Started And Happy Writing.
Aldric
Related Stories from the Author — The Writer’s Starter Pack.
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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