Summary

An aspiring writer shares insights gained from submitting one article daily to various Medium publications for a month, detailing the challenges and rewards of consistent content creation and engagement with the platform.

Abstract

The writer embarked on a month-long journey of dedicated writing and submission to Medium publications, learning valuable lessons about resilience, content strategy, and personal growth in the process. Initially, the writer experienced a mix of acceptance and rejection, with early success leading to increased visibility and a taste of "Medium fame." However, the excitement was tempered by a series of rejections, which prompted a period of self-reflection and improvement in writing quality. The writer learned to embrace smaller publications as a means of gaining traction and confidence, while also realizing the importance of writing content that provides value to readers. The consistent effort paid off, with a significant increase in views and followers, underscoring the importance of persistence and a strategic approach to content marketing on Medium.

Opinions

The writer believes that initial success can be motivating but also warns of the potential for demoralizing rejections.
Rejections are seen as an opportunity to improve one's writing and tailor content more effectively to different publications.
Submitting to smaller publications is viewed as a valuable strategy for gaining exposure and maintaining motivation.
The writer emphasizes the importance of writing content that is helpful to others, rather than using Medium as a personal diary.
Consistency in writing and submission is highlighted as a key factor in growing one's audience and personal brand on the platform.
The writer suggests that the experience of rejection and perseverance leads to better writing and increased momentum in content creation.

I submitted one article daily to different publications for a month and here are 5 things I learned

Last month, I decided to take Writing on Medium seriously. Not just because work was slow, but I wanted the exposure Medium gives.

I think the article that got me in the groove was this. I submitted the article, and I got published. It was fascinating because it was my first feature in a popular publication.

I kept going, and I submitted every day. I don’t know how it’s one month already but, it is what it is.

Here are 5 things I’ve learned;

1. Your articles will get rejected…A lot

I don’t know whether to call it beginner’s luck or whatever, but the first 3 articles I submitted, got published, and immediately got curated. I think it’s what led to my initial momentum boost because from then on, I started submitting articles daily.

That first article brought a massive spike to my daily views. I went from having 0–5 daily views to about 600 views, and it kept rising. Mind you, before now. I posted on Medium casually. Probably twice or thrice a month, and I was okay with that. I was just on about 20 followers as at then, and the majority of people following me were people I knew. But after the first post, strangers started engaging with my content — That’s when I got a little taste of the Medium fame, and I wanted more.

I felt the blow when I got my first rejection. Then another, then another, then another. The knockout was when I was removed as a writer from the publication. I just went to sleep because I felt like a useless writer.

As time passed, I applied to become a writer in more publications, while some didn’t respond, I got welcomed by the others.

I got okay with rejections and started to add more depth to my articles and started to craft them to suit the publications I was trying to feature in — and the rejections reduced (but didn’t go completely)

2. You don’t have to submit to the top Publications always

Rejections give you thick skin, but getting rejected every time might make you lose confidence in your skill.

The top publications have been around for quite a while and might have seen the topic you‘ve submitted over and over. They get articles in hundreds daily, so they wouldn’t have the time to go through what you’ve written thoroughly because it’s not a new topic to them. Put yourself in their shoes at times when you get rejected.

Your article might be great, but the issue might be that they have seen it before, so it wouldn’t make sense if they published it again.

I’ve had several of my articles rejected by top publications for some reason. Then I immediately do some retouches and send it to another publication with a lesser following, and it gains traction.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to submit your articles to the top publications (it’s recommended), but the less popular publications would welcome your articles with open hands.

It gives me a massive morale boost seeing my work published — I can’t say the same for rejections. The best thing is to try to mix them up. Today you can submit to a top publication, then the next day, you can submit to a publication with lesser following.

3. Your Writing gets better and your momentum increases

When your articles get rejected, you would naturally want to know why. You go back to your article and become an expert editor. You check and rewrite everything a thousand times before you submit it to somewhere else.

Over time, these corrections you make will stick to your subconscious, and your articles read better to you. You would notice a distinct improvement in your Writing.

When you do this and get published, you would want to keep going. No day would pass that you wouldn’t want to create content and put it out. This, in turn, helps to increase your visibility on Medium, show your expertise to potential clients, and grow your personal brand.

4. Posting to publications markets your articles better than posting yourself

Posting on publications is like guest-posting on a blog. It helps you reach a newer audience. When you’re just starting out, you would have little to no followers, and when you publish it directly from your channel, it’s more or less posting articles that only you would read.

I’d advise applying to be a contributor to different publications first before you start trying to submit. It only makes sense to submit without a publication when you have a massive following

5. Write things that help people

Medium is not a personal diary. I did this a lot before now. I just wrote my thoughts and published it — whenever I felt like it.

I would go weeks without publishing anything. But I wasn’t helping anybody but writing my thoughts (that didn’t have any benefits to others)

Once you start giving out valuable content to your readers, you would begin to see traction. The more value you give, the more people would want to engage with you.

Final Note

Growth happens when you’re consistent. In one month of consistent work, my views went from 15 to about 3000+, and my followers went from about 20 to 100+(not much, but you have to start from somewhere, right?)

For anyone trying to grow on Medium, the only way is to hold yourself accountable for submitting content to publications every day.

Buy my book Here