How to Get Into Any Medium Publication

Your 4-step checklist to get into your dream publication

Do you know what one of the biggest milestones in my Medium journey was? Getting into my dream publication.

It meant I’d written something that someone else said is good enough to be in with other pieces about the same topic. The first time one of my stories got into a Medium publication, I was over the moon.

Nowadays, it’s actually even harder to achieve for two reasons. One, some Medium publications are very exclusive and difficult to get into. Two, getting into a publication means you have to learn to write in a way that other people accept.

So why bother? Because publications have access to two things you don’t. First, getting into a publication means a built-in audience. Many publications already have hundreds or even thousands of followers, unlike most of us. Second, if a publication likes your story enough, they can email it out in a feature called “letters,” basically a Medium newsletter. Individual writers can’t do this, but publications can.

Every publication on Medium is looking for the same four things. Consider this a checklist as you learn to write stories that Medium publications will not only accept but will have them actually asking you if they can include them.

If you prefer video format, check out my video here:

1. Is It Written for the Reader?

In other words, is the reader going to get something from reading your story? It’s easy to mistake this for “written to be popular,” but it’s vastly different. You shouldn’t write something because you think it’ll take off. It’s very hard to predict what will do well. Then, even if your story goes viral, there’s no guarantee you can do it again. It’s harder than you think to crank out story after story that you don’t care about — we’re aiming for success in the long run here.

Written for the reader means it’s not just a diary entry. Medium is a place people come to because they want to learn, and publications on Medium are looking for stories that will give readers that.

This doesn’t mean it has to be a how-to guide on waking up at four in the morning. Learning doesn’t only mean productivity. You can write an anecdote about your travels. You can tell the emotional story of your first heartbreak. You can share your trials, tribulations, successes, and failures however you please. But as you read, think about what the reader is taking away from this. Try to move beyond your own perspective.

How do you do this? By maintaining the reader’s viewpoint in mind and ensuring that readers are getting something out of reading the story, whether it’s entertainment, a shift in perspective, or learning how to wake up at 4 in the morning.

2. How Does the Reader Feel After Finishing Your Story?

At the beginning of my Medium journey, I was desperate to get in the startup publication because I’d heard it was one of the biggest publications on Medium. But at first, I was only writing stories about my cats.

Obviously, the startup publication did not want feel-good stories about why cats are cute because that’s not what they’re about. It’s not that those stories were bad, but it wasn’t what the publication was looking for.

To get into your dream publication, consider how you feel after reading stories in the publication you’re aiming for. Does your story correspond with that? If it’s a publication about relationships, you may be aiming for uplifted, joyful, and poignant. If it’s a publication about self-improvement, you’re probably aiming for determined, motivated, and inspired.

Spend some time reading stories in your dream publication and analyze your own feelings after reading. Once you know what the common theme is, you know how to tailor your story to fit.

3. Are You Citing Your Sources?

My least favorite reading experience is when I am happily reading a story about something fascinating to me, and the author makes some kind of outlandish claim like “50% of marriages end in a threesome.” My instinct is always to say, “Oh, really? Prove it.”

It’s jarring and unpleasant to be taken out of your reading experience because you question how much the author is just inventing.

Publications add credibility and reach to your story. In exchange, they ask for the same from you. The best way to do this is to cite your sources. After every claim, say where you got it from.

If you’re going beyond your own experience, the way you should do based on the first goal I mentioned, you should be making some wider assumptions, some bigger reaches. That’s good. It means your reader will be much more likely to get something out of your story they can take with them. But when you do so, always back yourself up with a source.

A source can be anything from a peer-reviewed journal (ideal) or a blog post your friend wrote (less ideal), but any second opinion goes a long way to making you sound more authoritative, believable, and like a writer that a publication would be honored to have.

4. Are You Offering a Good Reading Experience?

This is the most nebulous of the four checkpoints, but luckily also one of the easiest to fix. Publications want to include stories that are going to be a credit to them, that make the reader associate the publication with a good reading experience.

What is a good reading experience? In an ideal world, your thoughts and conclusions would simply sublimate directly to the reader’s brain. Writing is as close as we can get to that, for now. A good reading experience is one where you’re close to that ideal, you barely even realize you’re reading words on a page because that’s how absorbed you are in the story. A bad reading experience is anything that takes you out of that state.

Typos, clunky formatting, weird comma placement, archaic words, all of this will be a bad reading experience. To fix that, there are two strategies. First, read it aloud. If possible, record yourself reading it aloud and play it back. It’s super cringy, but it is the fastest and most painless way to improve your writing. Second, send it to a friend and give them permission to be honest with you. A fresh pair of eyes will be able to confirm that the third paragraph describing your turkey sandwich is probably overkill, or that you need to break up your enormous column of text into more easily digestible paragraphs.

Both of these strategies are uncomfortable. Many of us hate reading our own stories aloud, and we may not be brave enough to send an unpolished piece to a friend. But those are the two best ways to guarantee a good reading experience.

Summary

In conclusion, publications on Medium are looking for good stories. There are four things all publications on Medium are looking for, and by keeping them in mind while you write, you’re opening yourself up to the possibility of getting into your dream publication.

Ensure you go beyond your own story and give the reader something of value, whether a lesson, a perspective, or a chuckle. Stay thematic with your dream publication — these are collections of similar stories, after all. You’re aiming for the same set of feelings as they current curate, whether it’s a publication about hiking or cats.

Be a credible source by citing your sources. Every time you state a fact, like that citing your sources establishes you as an authority, back it up ideally with a peer-reviewed journal article, but if nothing else, then at least a blog post.

Finally, give your readers an enjoyable reading experience. By reading aloud and sending it to a friend, you ensure your story is as objectively good as can be in the art of writing. Publications want to be associated with clean, clear, and consistent communication.

Once you can write a story with these four qualifications, you’ll be ready to get into any publication on Medium.