Summary

Katie Michaelson discusses the challenges and strategies for writers to adapt to Medium's new curation and boosting standards, emphasizing the importance of crafting original, memorable, and well-constructed content.

Abstract

Katie Michaelson, a writer and curator applicant on Medium, shares her experience and insights into the platform's new curation process. She acknowledges the difficulty in finding curatable content, even among her own work, due to the stringent standards set by Medium. Despite this, she encourages writers to focus on producing engaging and high-quality articles that align with Medium's goals of promoting constructive, original, and thought-provoking content. Michaelson highlights the need for writers to leverage their unique perspectives and experiences while adhering to the new guidelines. She also provides practical advice for writers to enhance their visibility on the platform, such as using SEO principles and sharing on social media, while reminding them to write for their intended audience and personal growth.

Opinions

Michaelson is skeptical about her chances of being selected as a curator due to her publication's size but values the learning experience.
She expresses concern that Medium's curation standards might inadvertently exclude certain voices, such as those from lower-income environments or non-native English speakers.
Michaelson appreciates Medium's commitment to giving stories a wider audience without requiring authors to build their own audience.
She questions whether the emphasis on constructive content implies a predetermined standard narrative and worries this could limit diverse perspectives.
Michaelson is uncertain about how the new curation standards will be interpreted and implemented by curators, given past statements from Medium.
She emphasizes the importance of trusting one's voice and writing for the reader, offering value and authenticity.
Michaelson encourages writers to use their unique knowledge and experiences to create original content that stands out.
She suggests that even if an article is not selected for distribution, the effort to meet the new standards will result in better writing.
Michaelson believes that writers should not feel pressured to conform to the new standards but should strive to write their best work.
She invites feedback and collaboration among writers, emphasizing that the community is stronger together.

CONVERSATION WITH WRITERS

New Boosting and Curation Got You Down?

Your very own Katie Michaelson just applied to be a curator, and “Houston, we have a problem!”

It’s no rumor, I did indeed apply for the new Medium curator position. I don’t really expect them to choose me because the powers that be likely view me as small potatoes, given my main pub, The Daily Cuppa is a Medium short-form publication. But, I thought I’d learn something going through the process.

As part of applying, I had to submit an article published anywhere on Medium that I thought was overlooked and should be curated. Well, most of my long-form articles had been distributed, so I figured it would be easy to know what they were looking for.

I spent four hours prowling around in various pubs looking for articles to submit. It took forever! I found lots of good stories in many pubs and profiles, but — not exactly what I’d deem curatable pieces by their standards. It was easy for me to write distributable stories, and I taught a lot of writers how to do it too.

I couldn’t find many I’d recommend, not even my own recent pieces.

But I know we can do this; yes, we can write engaging and memorable content that rocks the curators!

Part of the problem is that when Medium stopped marking stories ‘distributed’, we just figured, ‘oh well’.

We need to start over.

We all read Tony Stubblebine’s announcement:

A new Boost for top stories Suggested by our community, confirmed by humans, delivered by robotsblog.medium.com

Interesting, he didn’t use a title analyzer. Sorry for the negative slip.

Reading: A new Boost for top stories

Stuff I liked in our CEO’s post

This quote:

An important reason authors choose Medium is to give their stories a chance to be seen by more readers. Authors shouldn’t be required to build their own audience or mailing list to share their ideas and knowledge. Often, the best writing comes from people who don’t want to be audience builders. With the rise of the creator economy, these doers are often left out. Our goal is to find the best individual stories, regardless of who wrote them, and give those stories a wider audience.

This sentence:

Authors shouldn’t be required to build their own audience or mailing list to share their ideas and knowledge

One concern:

This contradicts some past statements, so are these words understood, or how will the curators understand them?

This Quote:

What we’re looking for from curators, for lack of a better word, is taste. The definition of taste varies by topic. For some, taste may lie almost entirely in the personal preferences of each reader. But on many topics, taste comes down to having the experience to know what is true, what matters, and where there is debate. Readers have a lot of say in what curation they’ll see simply by which publications they follow. Importantly, we expect this change to do a lot for niche and specialty publications.

This sentence:

But on many topics, taste comes down to having the experience to know what is true, what matters, and where there is debate.

One concern:

Will they interpret this to exclude writers from lower-income environments or writing in English as a second language? I love authentic voices.

Reading: Medium’s quality standards: how we review stories for distribution

I am concerned the word distribution is being used. No wonder I read stories about creators being confused.

Stuff I like about the new standards:

This quote:

Is it Constructive? The reader feels that they’ve leveled up in some way by reading the story. They’ve taken something away from the story that will help them do their job better, adopt a new skill, navigate their relationships with greater ease, help them better understand issues of the day, reconsider past perspectives, or elicit a real laugh or emotion.

This sentence:

The reader feels that they’ve leveled up in some way by reading the story.

One concern:

Does ‘help them better understand issues of the day’ mean the standard narrative is already determined? I know I don't care for most of the ‘Medium Picks’, as I like more thoughtful pieces and stories about plants.

This quote:

Is it Original? The story is original in that it explores something previously unknown or not frequently examined, or it re-examines something we think we know a lot about to shed new light, voice, or perspective on the topic. (The story does not need to be originally published on Medium.)

This sentence:

The story is original in that it explores something previously unknown or not frequently examined

One concern:

Will writers have the confidence to use their experiences and knowledge, and trust themselves?

What do we do now?

The first step is to review the guidelines and take notes. Remember that you are the only you! Your knowledge and experiences are unique to you. Think about everything you read in Tony Stubblebine’s article and the new curation standards and take notes.

What do you love to write?
What are your areas of experience and knowledge?
Trust your voice
Plan articles with an opening story to grab your reader
Informational pieces need some subheads
A personal essay needs a storyline
Poetry should use poetry formatting
If you want others to read your work, write for them — give value
If you want to write for yourself, entertain yourself — it’s okay
Close your articles with a tie-back and/or takeaway, but don’t call that sucker a takeaway
Write your best or don’t.

Medium has always been clear about what they want. Medium Boosting is one way to get more eyeballs on our work. We control whether people read the bloody thing.

We also have ways to Boost our work and the work of others.

Share on Twitter, Facebook, or other platforms
Cross-post to websites
Cross-post to Newsbreak, Vocal, etc.
Use thoughtful SEO principles
Newsletters

Know who you are writing for. Are you writing for Medium readers who are writers? Are you writing to an existing group of fans? Are you wanting to be found on search engines? Are you writing for yourself to sharpen your skills?

So there we go!

Don’t let the new Boosting and curation guidelines get you down. What I learned by applying to be a Medium curator is to go back to paying attention to how I construct my articles. They need to be well-crafted, original, and memorable, according to our CEO.

I don’t have to. You don’t have to.

However, even if a story does not get selected, it will be a better piece because of the extra thought we put into our creations.

We can do this! We can write engaging and memorable content that rocks the curators!

I’d be interested in your thoughts. We are better together.

Thank you for your time. I remain, humbly, your friend, Katie

If you are not a Member and are reading this; interesting, isn’t it? It is great fun reading on Medium and now you can take those stories anywhere — even where there is no internet access! If you sign up with my referral link to read unlimited stories, I get $2.27 US of your monthly $5.

Join Medium with my referral link — Katie Michaelson

There is no fee to write, but if you use my link to sign up, let me know. I’ll help you get started as much as possible. I love hanging out with other writers.