Not Feeling the Love — Medium Publications and What You Can Do to Limit Your Frustration
Learning different ways to think about submitting to publications can help you decrease some of the frustration you may be feeling.
I’ve read a number of posts lately in different Medium related groups about the frustration involved in submitting to publications. I can understand this, as when I first started writing on Medium, I also found myself becoming frustrated about different aspects regarding becoming a writer for publications and submitting articles to them. This included the amount of time it took to hear back about stories I’d sent in.
As I started learning more about the platform and publications from articles, official guidelines and posts in Medium groups, it got easier. Since then, I have discovered several things about publications that help my articles get accepted and have determined a few ways that I could limit feelings of frustration, that I’d like to share.
Writing for Publications on Medium
This list is based on my experiences with applying to become a writer at different publications and submitting articles to them. As such, they are based on the 19 different publications I currently write for. Some of the things mentioned here you will probably find to be obvious, others perhaps less so, but hopefully, you’ll find the list helpful, especially if you are getting frustrated about submitting your work to publications.
- Don’t Take Shortcuts — When I first started trying to get added to publications as a writer, I did so through Smedian, a publishing exchange that enables you to search for different types of Medium publications. I was thrilled when someone suggested this app, since all you have to do is click a button saying you want to write for a publication and Smedian supposedly does the rest. Days passed, then a week, then two weeks and I still hadn’t heard back from any of them. I went to the homepage for each and discovered all of them required you to send an email to the editor or complete a form, including things like a bio, a list of your interests or topics you wanted to publish on, or links to articles you’d published. All but one also required you to provide the link to a draft that you wanted to publish in the publication. It took me another week to re-apply to all of them but I subsequently was added as a writer at every one. The message here is while it’s easier to click a button or not send everything asked for, this may prevent you from getting accepted. Minimally, it will likely mean you have to apply again.
- Pay Attention to the Guidelines — This should go without saying, but the closer you stick to the guidelines as they are stated in the publication, the more likely your article will be accepted and won’t need revisions.
- Topics, Voice and Themes — One thing I have gotten in the habit of doing when considering a new publication is to first skim the titles of what they have published in the past year. By doing this, I have found several publications that I might not have otherwise considered just based on the name and short description they provide. A publication might include a wider range of articles than you would have thought from the topics areas included in their “About” section. Some of these descriptions may also have been written years ago and the editor may have changed since then. The best way of really knowing what they are accepting these days is simply to read what they are publishing. This doesn’t mean they won’t take articles on other topics relevant to the publication, but editors likely feel more favorably towards their areas of interest and might possibly be quicker about reading articles on these topics. I make a point of reading several articles a publication has included recently to get a feel for the specific types of stories they focus on and the tone and voice they seem to prefer. The tone and voice can be important in whether your article is accepted. Some publish predominantly first hand accounts while others want more formal magazine style articles with documentation in the form of references. For example, The Ascent requires you to have a personal account and first person POV as part of your article for acceptance.
- Stated Review Time — Another obvious point is to pay attention to is the time a publication states is the norm for reviewing a new article. If you haven’t heard back and it has been longer than the amount of time stated, then it’s perfectly permissible to contact them and ask about it. However, it is best not to do this before then. Remember they have a lot of submissions to work through and other demands on their time as editors. While it may not matter, if after two days you are asking about your article when it states they may take up to two weeks to get to new submissions, this may predispose them to not view your submission favorably. At best many will simply ignore your inquiry.
- Top Publications Often Take Longer — If you have submitted to one of the top publications, it is likely they will take longer to get back to you than other publications. This is because they are probably getting a ton of submissions and it takes time to get through them. So if you want to be published in a top publication, just be prepared to wait a bit for your submissions to be reviewed.
- Submitted and Scheduled Articles — One thing that many writers miss is an indicator that can sometimes let them know about the status of their submission. When you submit an article, if it hasn’t been reviewed yet, on the left side of the draft it will say, “Draft Submitted to [Name of Publication] and on the right side in a green box it will say, “Submitted to Publication.” Some publications publish articles as soon as they review and accept them. Others however, publish on a schedule such as first thing in the morning on weekdays or they may only publish a certain number of posts a day or only one new post an hour.up until a certain time of day. This is aimed at getting you the most exposure possible. These publications may decide to accept an article but then schedule it to be released on a certain day or at a specific time. If this is the case, the green box on the right will say, “Scheduled.” Although the day and time of release aren’t provided, knowing that your article has been accepted and will soon be published can help with the frustration of waiting.
- Number of Editors — When you see a review time given in the guidelines, one thing that can help you better gauge whether it will be closer to the shorter or longer estimated time is to see how many editors the publication has. This is not always the case as the number of editors is likely often determined by the number of submissions a publication gets and other duties required of the editors. But still, it stands to reason that all things being equal, a publication with one editor will take longer to review submissions than a publication with ten editors.
- Patreon Contributors — Some publications have Patreon programs associated with them. Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that lets people contribute a certain amount monthly in return for special benefits. Most of the publications that I have come across that are funded through Patreon, state that submissions from writers who are Patreon members are reviewed first. So for example, while Patreon members may hear back in a day or two, non-members may not hear back for three or four days. Patreon contributors also may be provided with special services like personalized feedback and editing, have their articles kept on the front page longer or may be able to submit to special sections of the publication or to contests with cash prizes.
- New articles/drafts vs. Old Articles — Another source of frustration for some writers is around what you can submit to publications. Most publications want new articles that haven’t been published on Medium before. A few may let you submit posts that you just published, if you immediately add them to the publication for review. None of the publications I have considered submitting to or published in so far will let you submit older stories.The complaint about these practices again involves the time involved, with some writers asking why they can’t publish an article so it’s able to gain views and generate earnings while it’s being considered, especially when the publication editors take a while to review submissions. Others also question why they can’t submit older articles they wrote before they were aware of the publication. These stipulations are actually for your benefit as these guidelines are in place to ensure your articles receive the greatest amount of exposure possible. To better explain this idea is the following, taken from The Ascents instructions for writers:
“When drafts are published, they appear at the top of the timeline in the “Latest” section of our homepage. We do accept previously published pieces, however they are added to the publication based on their original publishing date. For example, a story published on September 18, 2016 will show up in the timeline based on that date, not the date it is accepted into the publication.”
I think a big part of the problem with becoming frustrated with publications is that on Medium we get used to the ability to write an article on our own page and see it go live as soon as we hit publish. This can make us less patient about waiting for an editor at a publication to review and publish one of our articles.
Remember though, that other stand alone publications, including literary magazines, can take weeks or even months before they get back to you. While the model at Medium is different, publications here still require that your article is reviewed and accepted by an editor before being published. It’s important to understand this and find ways to alleviate any frustration you may be feeling to avoid developing a negative opinion of Medium and it’s publications by having unrealistic expectations of things like the time frame for reviewing and publishing new articles.
Keep in mind that it is always in your favor to engender goodwill when interacting with editors. This means following stated guidelines. If you need to contact an editor to inquire about your application as a writer, or an article you submitted, make sure to be polite and thank them for taking the time to help you. This will help ensure the best possible outcome and establish a good contact for you within the publication for the future.
What have you learned about Medium publications that either helps you get articles accepted or alleviates your frustration about submitting to them? Please share any insights you might have in the comments below.
