Oh, What Have I Done Now?

I’m an editor who can’t publish!

Yesterday, I wrote a story that I thought was more appropriate for The Partnered Pen or The Narrative than Rogues’ Gallery. I’m an editor for both pubs, thereby I don’t have to “submit” formally. I can publish my own work as well as other writers’ stories. Easy-peasy, right? Well, hold onto your Pandemic Pants because that’s no longer the case.

I’d been thinking about this piece for several days so I hunkered down in front of my computer and worked on it story for quite a while, then carefully selected my image and hit “publish.”

Whoa! I didn’t get the usual “publish now” prompt but received a “submit,” instead.

Naturally, my first thought was, “who did I piss off and when?” But then I checked my profile page and my publications and saw that I was still listed as an editor for both. To the best of my knowledge, no one has removed me.

To the best of my knowledge.

Nah. I just checked. Still good.

Here’s the weird part: I can publish stories on my iPhone but not on my desktop. And I’ve tried browsers other than Chrome. Nothing works.

And to compound matters, I STILL violate Facebook community standards with my posts. What an absolute cluster F.

Now, there’s a lot of weird crap happening with Medium of late so this could be anything. A temporary glitch, I’m hoping. But then again, it could be something quite different. Another algorithm shift, perhaps. Whatever it is, it’s aggravating as hell. I mean, I’m a card-carrying member here. I pay my dues, unlike some other people who expect a free ride wherever they land.

I emailed “our friends” at Medium and am awaiting a response. I’m not holding my breath. And with all the crap that goes on here, I have to wonder, do you think Medium messes with our heads? Punks us? Just for fun? For a lark when they get bored reading all the crap that comes their way?

It’s possible, right? In fact, this whole platform could blow up any second, sending us hard-working scribes hurtling into the unknown.

“Oh, God. Now what?”

If no Medium, “what” indeed? I guess someone would have to pick up the slack and launch a whole new platform where actual support extends beyond an automated response.

Yeah. I get that the folks behind Medium are busy, but so are we. Busy making them money. So I would guess that if they want us to continue to fill their coffers that they’d get on the case when writers here experience issues like the one I’m dealing with.

And no, it’s not life or death. But my five bucks a month deserves better. As does yours. And as of this writing, I’ve emailed the support staff four times now which each missive more overwrought than the last. They must be laughing their asses off at me.

“I don’t care, Medium. Laugh till you pee. Just fix this damn thing.”

Okay. I took a deep cleansing breath (bullshit) and went off to see my sister, just to get away from this noise for a while. Lo and behold, while I was out I noticed that I received a reply from Medium Support. Apparently, this is a “new thing,” and I’m not sure we weren’t apprised of it, but here’s what they said:

Sorry for the delay and for the confusion.

We recently released an update on the publication submission flow. Now, when you select to add your story to a publication, the button will be updated to “Submit” first. When you click on it, you will be able to define some details.

If you are the editor of the publication, you will be able to publish it after doing that.

Let me know if you have any issues.

It only took a day to receive a response so I give them that. But I have to wonder, what is the point of this switch? That’s my issue. Why do we have to jump through hoops to publish in our own publications?

And moreover, what’s next?

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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