Summary

The article discusses the strategic decision for Medium writers to publish in Medium publications versus self-publishing on their own profiles to maximize viewership and engagement.

Abstract

The article addresses the dilemma faced by Medium writers who struggle to gain visibility when publishing in Medium publications. It suggests that writers with a substantial following should consider self-publishing as an alternative to relying on publications, which are often perceived as a quick way to reach a broader audience. The author, Zulie Rane, provides a five-step guide to help writers experiment with both publishing methods to determine which yields better results in terms of views, engagement, and control over content. The guide emphasizes the importance of data collection and analysis, encouraging writers to publish a series of stories on a topic that has proven successful, submit half to a publication, and compare the performance to self-published pieces. The article concludes that while there is no one-size-fits-all answer, the benefits of self-publishing, such as complete control and stability, may outweigh the potential increase in views through publications.

Opinions

Publications are valuable for new writers due to their established readership but may not guarantee high visibility.
The success of a story in a publication may be influenced by the publication's engagement level rather than its follower count.
Writers should look for publications with an active and niche audience to ensure better engagement with their content.
Self-publishing offers writers more control over their content and is less susceptible to the closure of publications.
Experimentation with both publishing methods is crucial for writers to understand which approach works best for their content and audience.
The article suggests that a higher number of views is not the sole indicator of success; the quality of engagement and the writer's autonomy are also important factors.
The author emphasizes the importance of enjoying the process of experimentation and writing, as it is a key part of finding success on Medium.

Should You Banish Medium Publications and Start Writing on Your Own Profile?

Do this if you can’t get views when you publish in Medium publications

I got a great email in response to my newsletter last week about an important issue for Medium writers. Here’s what Sandra P. wrote:

“I notice it’s harder to get traction with articles even when they’re in publications. I wonder if this is a message to us to start writing on our own profiles instead of publications? I have 3K followers but not sure follower numbers matter in this regard.”

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It’s not a secret anymore that many publications are dying. If you’ve been on the platform for some time, you know that PS I Love You, one of the largest and oldest publications, shut its doors last year. And sadly, more publications have followed since then. I even did a video about it.

But what does that mean for YOU as a writer?

To answer that question, let’s get into why publications matter in the first place.

Why Medium publications matter and how to make them work for you

Publications are like magazines inside of Medium. They’re run by regular people (often voluntarily) and built around a specific theme. But most importantly, publications have their own following of readers, which makes them super attractive for beginners on the platform.

For example, even if you’re new to Medium, you could submit to an enormous publication like The Startup with 760K followers. If they accept your story, you can piggyback off their massive pool of readers rather than writing to the handful of people following you. (If you need a complete guide for publications, you might find my course helpful!)

Unfortunately, there’s a small caveat: size doesn’t matter.

A large following doesn’t guarantee you thousands of views, even if your story is the best thing since sliced bread. You need a publication with an engaged audience. Here’s how you can find one:

1. Find beginner-friendly publications if you’re new on Medium.

You want a pub that is active, welcoming, and has a defined niche. You can check out the full process for finding the best beginner publications in this video.

2. Check the ratio of followers and engagement.

Size isn’t everything; it’s all about how you use it!

How can you find this important ratio? Go to a publication’s latest section by putting a “/latest” behind the publication’s URL. For example, the URL of The Startup is “www.medium.com/swlh”, so the latest section would be “www.medium.com/swlh/latest”.

There, you’ll see the most recent stories of that publication and its number of followers on the right.

Take your time to scroll down and explore the average claps and comments on stories. If a publication has 100K followers, but most stories get less than 100 claps and 0 comments, that’s generally a sign of low engagement. By contrast, you might find a publication with 10K followers that receives hundreds of claps and several comments on each story. That’s a hidden gem!

3. Understand a publication’s audience.

Most publications clearly state who their audience is and what theme they’re exploring. But usually, that theme is pretty broad, which leaves lots of room for niches within that theme.

To find these niches, return to the “latest” section and look for patterns among the stories with the highest engagement. Do they share the same topic? Style? Emotion? Really try to pinpoint the typical reader of this publication.

(Remember to also check the author of a high-performing story. If it was a top writer with 50K followers, the success is probably due to their following. For example, anything Tim Denning publishes in The Startup does tremendously well, no matter the subject. This makes him an unreliable data point, sorry Tim!)

Once you’ve identified a publication’s audience, you gain a lot of control over who’ll read your story. And that means more views for you!

Okay, so engaged publications are key to growing on Medium. But this brings us back to the initial question: What should you do once you’ve built your own following? Stay loyal to publications? Or banish them and start self-publishing?

I wish I could give you an easy solution, like, “Publish ALL your stories in Catness and your views will triple overnight!” But honestly? Finding your publishing style can take some intense experimentation. So, to take some weight off your shoulders, here’s a five-step guide to discovering the right path for you.

How to discover whether you should publish in Medium publications or not

Here are five steps you can take whenever you’re not getting traction in publications or you’re dying to find out if self-publishing is worth it:

Pick a topic that has worked well for you in the past. (If you struggle with finding money-making topics, check out this post.)
Aim to publish around ten similar stories on that topic. The more, the better!. This will provide you with reliable data points.
Submit half to a publication and self-publish the other half on your own profile. Find those “engaged” pubs using the method I outlined above.
Compare the stats of your self-published stories to the ones in publications. To keep it simple, look at views, read ratio, and comments.
Interpret the data. What can you see? Did one style perform better than the other? Can you identify trends in your engagement?

More views aren’t always better. If you get 1k views from self-publishing, and 1.2k views from publications, you can still call self-publishing a win. This is because self-publishing gives you complete control over when and what you publish. Plus, your favorite publication might shut down at some point, while self-publishing will most likely remain as long as Medium is around.

These benefits of self-publishing might be worth sacrificing the extra views you get in publications.

Keep experimenting

This post has largely been about data, which can be annoying, I know! But collecting data is a CRUCIAL part of writing online.

So if you only take one thing away from this, it’s that there’s no “get more views” button. It’s not like publishing in a pub is approved or disapproved of by Medium. It’s not a box to tick in the algo. The only bullet-proof way to get more traction will always be trial and error.

So dare to experiment and keep experimenting. And most importantly, try to make it fun! There’s no point in doing all this research if every step of the way is pure torture.

Happy writing (and experimenting!),

Zulie

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