How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Your Medium Publication

Mind your P’s & Q’s. The interview isn’t over until you’re published.

How does a writer have a healthy relationship with a publication?

It’s a simple question and the answer is more complex than you think, especially if you’re trying to get publications to accept your work. If there’s so much good why are pubs spoken about so horribly?

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about how bad, unpredictable, and moody pubs can be. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how something so good can be so bad until I became founder of one myself.

If you think pubs are difficult and hard to get along with it’s probably because you are offending them without even realizing it.

Here’s the best advice I can offer. Treat a submission like a job interview. If you’re a writer this is your business. Treat it like one. Don’t forget that you want their benefits and you’re not hired until you’re published.

Know your pub

Do you walk into a job interview before you know what the company is about? Probably not. Not if you want to get hired.

You probably do some research. At bare minimum, visit the pub read some of its published pieces, and become aware of what it wants in the way of a submission. Understand the culture by knowing what subject matter the pub publishes and see if your writing is a good fit for its categories. If — and only if — you are compatible, then it’s time to submit your resume.

Apply to be a writer

This is your resume. It will ask some no brainer questions like your address and phone number — I mean your email address and links to your blog or where you’ve been published.

Pick your best pieces.

You want the interviewer to see the best of what you have to offer. This is where you want to shine so choose well. It will also want a link to the draft of the piece you want to have published.

If you get the opportunity to answer an unscripted question take advantage of the potential to share something of yourself that makes your writing extra appealing to the pub. Maybe it’s I’m an expert in the field of health, as noted by Medium and this is one of your pillars. Or, I’ve received such and such award as a public speaker for my work in… If you bring something special to the interview few other people have you will be more likely to get hired.

Edit

Edit your piece. If you are bringing a piece from your blog, Medium makes it easy to import with this tool. Your piece should not be identical to the one on your blog, especially if it’s been a while since you penned it.

Likely, you’ve learned a few things about SEO, how to use headings, and keywords. If so, improve your piece before sending it to a publication. It probably needs updating, a fresh graphic, or a new title.

Send your best piece to the publication, not just a so-so piece. Editors can make comments and suggest edits on your draft. Be on the lookout for them. The less time editors spend editing the more time they can spend publishing.

Submit your piece

Hopefully you’re hired and it’s time to submit your piece. Medium says you submit a draft of your piece by using the three dots. Use the three dots. They’ll turn your Medium life around. This is important. Don’t click publish. Add keywords and select the target publication to send the piece.

Don’t hit publish

What is the publication’s job? To publish great pieces; right? Do you publish first? Nope. Not unless you’re self-publishing a book. You send it to the publisher and let the publisher publish it. While some publications may accept pieces published to your profile this is not desirable. Don’t send a piece with highlights and claps to a publisher. It is not good practice.

If you are sending a piece that’s already on your profile here’s what you’re really saying. I’ve already published this piece. Just slap your label on it. There’s nothing warm and fuzzy or healthy about this kind of relationship. The publication should be your first stop when publishing your piece, not your last stop. Here’s something else you might not know is hurting you.

What you don’t know is hurting you

Some experienced writers who have been using Medium for quite a while don’t realize that an already published piece immediately appears differently, if you have previously published it to your profile.

If you have ever thought your piece has been published right away by an automated process, well probably not. More than likely this happened instead. The piece shows up with the pub logo before it is published. Some writers misunderstand this step and assume their work is published. Discourse with Medium support reveals the piece will appear differently and this appearance should only be shown to editors and the author. This is the way Medium is set up.

And, there’s a bigger problem.

The bigger problem

The problem is that the metadata of the link includes the publication name when shared across social media. The private viewing is actually public. How do I know? I know because I found pieces with my pub shared in writing groups that looked like they were published, even though they were still in my story queue — unpublished.

I took screenshots and sent them to Medium support. The fine friendly people in Medium support were unaware of this until I brought it to their attention. Here is the response:

“The metadata when shared on social media shows up as it is already part of the publication looks like a bug. I filed it with our engineering [department]”.

Medium is aware of the problem and is working to fix it.

The rub

Here’s the rub. It gives pubs a bad name. Writers who don’t realize they aren’t published believe the pub took down their piece when they were never published in the first place. It is not the writer’s fault and it’s not the pub’s fault either. It is just the way Medium is set up.

No matter how a piece appears, you are not published until you receive the automatic notification declaring your piece published. Pick up an incognito window in your browser and look at your profile if you want confirmation. You may find pieces you believe are with publications have never been published at all.

When I inquired about how to fix the problem Medium suggested to only accept clean drafts, every time. If you’ve ever wondered why some publications only accept drafts, wonder no more. Send a clean draft every time, and send it to the pub first. Then wait.

Wait

Tom Petty says, “the waiting is the hardest part”.

We know you’re anxious and we don’t want to keep you waiting any longer than necessary, but getting published is a process and it takes people who aren’t always sitting at their computers waiting for the gift of your words to grace the pub queue. Behind every publication is a group of people who have lives too.

I am new to writing for The Mission, who attempts to publish pieces quickly, within 48 hours. I also write for Thrive Global, The Ascent, The Writing Cooperative, P.S. I Love You, and others, like Publishous and more. Some of those are large publications. I have not been published by any of them in 24 hours, and I don’t expect that kind of service. Most take at least 3–5 days. I have waited more than a week to be published by more than one of the above, and I wouldn’t dream of following up before at least a week has passed.

If you are in writing groups that have timed threads soliciting writer friends to interact with and promote your work then you should plan ahead. It’s disrespectful to send a piece and ask that it be published in less than 24 hours. Sending it the morning of a blitz and expecting publish is unacceptable. Moreover it’s just plain rude.

Publications can make mistakes. If you haven’t written with them in a while and they clean out their writer list it’s possible you can be accidentally removed. If you’re treating your pub in one or more of the ways above, or on multiple occasions, it may not be as “accidental” as it seems. It may not be the pub after all.

Take a look at yourself

Before you accuse your publication take a look at yourself. Introducing Eric Clapton:

Do you have a healthy relationship with your publications? If not, it’s time to re-evaluate how you interact with them. Don’t forget to treat it like an interview and not overly tap your personal connections.

If you like what you read clap with gusto so others will see it too.

And, if your ready to mind your p’s and q’s, come write with us right here.

Check out the website www.publishousnow.com and sign up for our newsletter while you’re there. The weekly magazine publishing tomorrow’s best sellers will come straight to your inbox.