Writing — Photography
Submission Guidelines For In Living Color
Telling stories through words and photos

2/11/24 update: Tags! I’ve retired some of the menu tags we have been using although you are still welcome to use tags like food, home, travel, etc. Currently though we have “Monthly Challenge” for Monthly Challenge stories, and “Writing Challenge” for other challenge stories. Thanks!
The goal of In Living Color is to feature interesting and engaging photo stories.
Subject matter is fairly open: animals, gardening, travel, food, monochrome, experimental, journalistic, etc.
This may include:
- First person narratives
- Providing photo tips is fine, although all tips must be accompanied by your own photos as proof of whatever tip you are providing
- Poetry could be cool

Even though I’m aiming for a fairly open format, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a few ground rules:
- First and foremost, support the publication and fellow writers by reading, commenting, clapping, etc. And of course do follow the publication.
- Going forward, you must hold Medium Membership to be added as a writer. Sorry, but without this you will not be able to fully participate in our photo story writing community.
- No stock photos at all. All photos must be your own. Photos taken by friends or family members are ok, as long as you have permission to use them. Publishing them in In Living Color implies that you have been granted that permission.
- Always credit images. Under each image type “Photo by (author name)” or simply “Photo by author” will work. Also acceptable is typing “All photos by author” under the first photo, although I do recommend labeling each photo or group of photos. Check out this image policy I wrote for Globetrotters for more detailed information.
- Always edit and polish your work.
- If there are people in your photos other than you, it is assumed that you have asked their permission to post their likeness.
- We accept unpublished drafts or stories published within the last 24 hours.
- No nudity, violence or gross negativity (sorry to my nudist friends.)
- No mudslinging and watch out for too much bitching — constructive criticism can be ok… and ok maybe light bitching… the fun kind… but as far as actual bitching goes, bitch to your mama. I don’t want to hear it!
- Over-submitting to single publications can be seen as pretty spammy by owners/editors. For this reason we’ve decided to limit submission to two per week per writer in any rolling seven-day period. This way we can accommodate a variety of voices and you will have a chance to diversify yourself as far as publications go.
- Watch out for cultural stereotyping. It’s just a pet peeve of mine. For instance, stating that you visited Texas and didn’t see one person wearing a ten-gallon hat. It just sounds dumb.
- Consult Medium Rules for general platform guidelines.
- If distribution interests you, check this out: “Medium’s Distribution Standards: What Writers and Publications Need to Know”
- A great source for formatting articles: “The Best Medium Article Formatting Guide” by Casey Botticello (Casey has tons more helpful articles about writing on Medium)
- I’ve decided to put a cap on stories at 10 minutes.
- Pretty much any rule I have for Globetrotters will be similar to In Living Color, for this reason I’m attaching our FAQs for GT: “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Writing on Globetrotters and Medium.” The only real difference is that stories on ILC do not require a travel theme as do GT stories.
Additional helpful resources:
- “Writing and publishing your first story” from the Medium Help Center
- “Best Practices for Writing On Medium” by Siobhan O’Connor
What’s not a requirement?
Perfection. Perfection is absolutely not a requirement. No need to be an expert photographer.
If you would like to contribute to In Living Color, please drop your handle in the comments… for example, mine is @joannryan. Don’t forget to follow the pub as well. Your prior work here at Medium will be reviewed and if it seems like you are a great fit for this publication, I will add you. If you do not hear back, please know that there were likely issues found with the quality of your prior submissions.
**New requirement for submissions going forward: Please include a link to a photo story, which incorporates your own photo captures, either in draft form or that you have previously published, demonstrating your ability to write engaging photo stories. Also, this will show that you have indeed read these guidelines.
Please do not leave comments on any other In Living Color story asking to be added as a writer. Thanks!
Have a great day!
Follow In Living Color — Medium
