Less Spoken Challenges of Private Publications on Medium
Publications are not the police officers of Medium
Unnecessary drama in the form of storms in a teacup can risk the peace of a beautiful collaboration on this platform. Medium is a unique platform giving voice to thousands of writers and an opportunity for readers to consume fresh content.
My aim in this post is to reset the expectations from publications by providing a straight and transparent message to readers and writers. These are practical points based on real-life experience operating a significant publication on Medium.
For example, yesterday, I wasted several hours of my precious time on a drama created by a single reader who has no idea of the challenges that publications face on Medium, demanding unrealistic and selfish outcomes.
Publications may not be exactly what you think. They don’t run ideal operations. They have many challenges that you may not be aware of; therefore, I want to create awareness based on reality rather than the perceptions and tenuous understanding of the situations.
We need to understand and accept the challenges that private Medium publications face every day.
Writers and readers need to reset their expectations, considering the constraints of publications on Medium.
I want to point out several facts for those who don’t know much about publications causing drama with unrealistic demands.
CHALLENGE 1
Did you know that Medium does not pay a penny to publications?
I don’t know about the Medium-owned publications, but the private ones like the one I own and operate, do not bring any income.
The owners of the publications are not paid.
The editors of the publications are not paid.
The humongous administrative workflow costs to operate the publication are not paid.
Let me give you some examples.
I recently approached a top writer about whether she would be interested in joining ILLUMINATION as an editor. She said: “Yes, I’d love to. I can give you a special rate of $150 per hour to guarantee to edit three articles per hour as my favorite publication.”
Yes, the lowest price to edit a story is $50 on Medium.
My publication is publishing over 500 articles a day. Sometimes even 700 articles! Based on our reader demands, we are aiming for 1000 stories in a few months' time.
Based on this low price, I need a minimum $25,000 a day to edit articles on ILLUMINATION now.
A virtual administrator to handle inquiries from writers and readers gave a quote $20 per hour. ILLUMINATION generates 10 hours of administrative work on average a day.
I need $200 just to handle the inquiries.
I asked a marketing professional to promote our stories. I asked him to generate more readers for our content. He requested $ 1,000 daily to distribute content to mailing lists and social media.
How much does ILLUMINATION earn in a day?
ZERO DOLLAR.
In other words, the publication, which supports stories of 3,200 writers serving 30,000 readers, is run and provides service with ZERO DOLLAR.
Before demanding work from a publication, think about this reality!
CHALLENGE 2
Many tasks of publications are performed manually.
Even as a person from a strong technology background, I cannot automate the workflow at the desired level.
Did you know that the Medium platform cannot handle large publication workflows?
I didn’t know until I created my publication, so I don’t blame you if you don’t know this hidden fact.
For example:
We cannot perform simple tasks such as sorting our stories based on visibility and readability.
I must manually ask the Medium help desk to create a CSV file which I need to convert to a spreadsheet format and sort out details for my reporting.
Another major constraint is that the publication interface cannot allow seeing more than a few hundred writers. I cannot see my 3,300+ writers in the Medium publication interface.
Is there a workaround?
Yes, I put my own time into creating a workaround.
I need to keep a manual spreadsheet to see the writers who submit work to my publication.
I must use a bespoke spreadsheet to find offensive writers to remove them from my publication.
This constraint adds a tremendous administrative workload to running a significant publication successfully.
CHALLENGE 3
Did you know that Medium allows writers to edit and update their stories after being published?
You may ask what is wrong with that.
From a publication owner’s perspective, lots of things are wrong with that!
This capability poses a lot of risks to publications.
For example, editors screen offensive materials using their volunteering time to publish stories in publications.
Writers can change content after their stories are published.
There is a high risk of writers adding illegal materials after publishing stories.
Publications don’t have a tool to monitor content changes after publishing.
ILLUMINATION hosts thousands of articles.
The implication is that if an author adds illegal material to their content after publishing, the editors of my publication would not be notified and cannot notice the changes.
What happens?
Some disgruntled readers blame the publication owners and editors for not performing their duties. They even personally attack them and defame them on Medium and social media.
Owning and operating a significant publication is not for faint hearts.
CHALLENGE 4
There is no chat tool on the platform to communicate with writers.
What are the implications?
Editors have only one tool to communicate with writers.
As you guessed, it is a private message.
Some new writers are not even aware of the tool, and they don’t reply to questions from the editors.
Worst of all, some writers turn off their private messages. When this happens, there is no way to communicate with the writers.
Editors want to contact and inform writers of required changes. They try to find writers on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to convey essential messages and obtain validation for specific content.
Editors don’t have the social media details of all writers.
Chasing writers on social media consume a lot of the editors' time.
The submission queue grows, and the writers think that publications are ignoring their work. Some writers withdraw their stories and start shopping for other publications.
The blame immediately goes to the owner and editors of the publications for not being efficient and caring.
CHALLENGE 5
Some writers think that publications are a place to dump their articles and expect readers to find them. They get upset when their stories do not gain the desired views and reading times.
For example, some new writers submit 40 old articles with enthusiasm. These bulk submissions fill the queue, block the workflow, and create nightmares for editors.
ILLUMINATION allows three unpublished works within 24 24-hour period. We also allow some new writers to submit prior published work.
Submitting published content is a bonus feature that our publication adds value to the writers. Some publications rightly accept only unpublished work. ILLUMINATION is planning to transition to this submission model.
I witnessed that some writers submitted articles written in 2018.
The medium algorithm puts these articles at the bottom of the list in the publication interface.
For example, such an article created in 2018 automatically sinks to the bottom of 30,000 existing articles. There is no way for readers to see the article. End result = no visibility, no reading time. Publications are blamed.
What happens exactly?
When writers cannot see their newly submitted articles on the publication front page, they get upset. They say to editors that we have just published articles, but you did not publish our work in the publication. Readers cannot see those old articles on the publication page, and naturally, those articles don’t receive many views.
Consequently, publications are blamed for not giving enough visibility to writers’ work.
CHALLENGE 6
RSS feeder of Medium is discarding many stories while syndicating.
Why is this a problem?
Let me explain.
ILLUMINATION is using the RSS feeder of Medium to syndicate stories to external sites and social media platforms. It is also a tool used to create distribution daily lists.
For example, I syndicate stories of our publication to a Flipboard magazine, Pinterest board, Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora space, personal blogs, and Goodreads using the RSS feeder of Medium.
At least 40% of stories are lost in the target source.
Writers get upset when they don’t see their beloved stories in these target sources. They blame publications as they might be censoring their material.
In reality, it is the RSS feeder that drops the stories in transition, not the editors of the publications that censor them.
CHALLENGE 7
Storms in teacups and drama were created to waste the publications owner’s and editors’ time.
Some readers don’t like certain content against their political, social, religious, philosophical, economic, and other values.
They challenge publications on why certain content was published in the publication. They attack publications for materials that don’t match their taste.
Volunteering editors don’t have expertise in all disciplines and cannot assess materials to meet all reader expectations.
Some readers blame publications for the content and demand censorship.
This situation poses a dilemma.
When writers face censorship, they rightly get upset.
ILLUMINATION does not censor content as long as the stories adhere to Medium rules. But some rules are ambiguous and can be interpreted differently by different readers.
When readers see content against their values, they get upset.
What is worse, the publication owners and editors are blamed and attacked for the content published by Medium writers.
What do these points mean to writers and readers?
Both writers and readers need to reset their expectations considering these seven challenges faced by publications. There are more challenges beyond the scope of a single story. Therefore, I chose only these seven to make a big impact.
Practical considerations for writers
Submit high-quality content so that editors don’t have to spend too much time fixing basic errors, such as typos, spelling, and grammar mistakes. You may use Grammarly and other editing tools to address basic content issues.
Caption all your photos so that your content complies with the copyright requirements of Medium. ILLUMINATION editors waste a substantial amount of time chasing writers who forget or ignore captioning their photos. Captioning photos with image sources must be a common practice. It is not a hard job at all, but it saves headaches.
Check the Medium rules and ensure your content adheres to the standards.
For example, don’t submit materials that can be perceived as hate speech. It is the writer’s responsibility to comply with the rules. Editors may not have expertise in your domain.
Don’t blame publications when your stories are not curated and distributed to Medium topics. Publications don’t have control over the curation process.
Turn on your private message if you want to be notified by editors. There is no other viable mechanism at this stage on Medium.
At least we have a slack group which we use as a supplementary communication tool to address the communication constraints of Medium. However, not all writers are members of Slack. Therefore, I encourage writers to join our Slack group. Our Slack is not sponsored by Medium. The publication owner covers the cost of administration.
If your private message was turned on, check your notifications from editors.
If your stories are delayed for publishing, possibly they are holding the queue, and you don’t see private messages from editors. If you don’t respond to the messages within 48 hours, we have no option but to reject your non-compliant stories. Rejection doesn’t mean we don’t like your content. It means your story needs amendment to adhere to Medium rules, and no response is received in 48 48-hour period.
Unfortunately, there is no mechanism to schedule published articles. This is a missing functionality of the Medium publication system.
It is always best to submit a draft version of your stories to gain the best exposure from publication readers. Remember, published stories with old dates sink to the bottom of the publication page. Even a one-day-old published story is not available on the front page of the publication.
Practical considerations for readers
If you don’t like a story, choose not to read it rather than blame the writers and editors. We all have different tastes and expectations.
Not all writers can meet your exceptions. Different stories appeal to different audiences.
If you come across a material breaching Medium rules, stop blaming publications. Medium has a reporting function. So you can report the content for breach of regulations. Publications don’t have full control over the content.
Writers can change the materials after they are published. Instead of creating drama for publications, take personal responsibility and report the content.
Don’t waste the time of publication owners and editors if the content does not match your values. Be proactive and raise your voice by leaving comments on stories.
It is not the publication owner and editors who make the content match your personal views. We don’t know you and your preferences. But we do our best!
The bottom line is publication owners and editors cannot make every piece of content suitable for your reading needs and desires. Reset your unrealistic expectations.
Yes, we make our best effort to create the best material to give you the best reading experience, but in the end, the service from publications is based on the efforts of volunteers who run the show. Editors don’t earn a single penny for improving materials.
Conclusions
This post reflects the reality. I hope it helps you understand the challenges of publications on Medium.
Both writers and readers need to consider these challenges experienced by publications.
Please don’t perceive the publications as police officers of Medium.
Publications are not paid to perform policing duties.
Publications are designed to serve the purpose of amplifying content and giving a customized view to the readers.
Expecting more than these two functions is unrealistic and may cause disappointment and unnecessary drama in the ecosystem.
We need peace, not drama.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
2023 Update
We updated all our submission guidelines to align with Medium’s new strategy for quality improvement. If you are a writer, please review them.
ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023
Publishing and Conduct Guidelines for the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION
You may meet our editors in stories in the attached collection.
Profiles of our writers from their pen.
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
medium.com
Stories featured by our editors.
All publication-related stories can be accessed via this collection.
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