GEEKY | SUBMISSION GUIDELINES | HOW TO

Submission Guidelines for the Geeky Pub (updated)

How to submit your article

I looked up for a pub about science in general or astronomy in particular to publish my “We Are Made of Star Stuff” article*, but found none that was suitable. Ethan Siegel’s pub is the most popular about astronomy, but he clearly writes solo.

The others I found were personal, long deserted, provided no option for new writers, or all of the above. Hence I decided to set up a second pub after VSS365. But I did not want to limit myself to astronomy, since I want to write about many other stuff.

So what articles are suitable for this pub? Like its tagline says, “Everything Geeky.” Let’s elaborate on that. You may write everything a geek like me would love to read. And yes, I will read them all.

So, these are the submission guidelines:

1. You may write about tech and science, about anime and manga, about philosophy, astronomy, psychology, math, physics, history, chemistry, computers, cellphones, gadgets, the web, gaming, programming, cryptography, privacy and security, even meta articles with a ‘geeky flair’. I mean you should comment on a tech aspect of Medium and/or its algorithm, not solely on revenue, followers, read-for-reads etc
2. You may also write sci-fi, fantasy, horror and similar book, game etc reviews. Even ‘serious’ book reviews are fair game. Geeks do not only read SFF and horror after all. Your word range is a minimum of 250 words and -since this is currently a one-person pub- a maximum of 1000 words. (edit: If you really need it add another 20% of words in total, but your piece should never exceed a 5-min read).
3. All other science is allowed, both positive and human, e.g. anthropology, theology, biology, archaeology, paleontology (geeks love dinos), sociology and whatever else I cannot currently think.
4. Please make sure it is properly edited and proofed, though I will not cap your knees if you make a mistake.
5. If it’s a trivial error or typo I’ll fix it myself, if it’s more serious I’ll notify via a private note. I request draft submissions solely because the old ones are buried in the darkest pits of Medium pubs. But if you’ve already published a piece off-Medium, and you hold the rights to it, you may republish it here. (edit: If you add one of the pub’s six tags it can also be self-published on Medium, since in that case it will not be deeply buried; just bear in mind that these tags might change in time, depending on submissions).
6. What this pub is not suitable for is poetry and fiction. Creative non fiction that blurs the lines is fair game — as long as it’s geeky.
7. In terms of tags ‘Geeky’ should absolutely be one of the five, so that your articles are easily found via the main page. You may use whatever you want for the other four tags, but if you use tags like ‘Science’, ‘Space’, ‘Technology’ etc you increase your Top Writer status chances.
8. Please always use at least a header image but no more than three images (edit: Up to five images in longish reviews of 750+ words) in total. Make sure you use a public domain, your own, Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, AI generated, or a Creative Commons image that is not NC (Non Commercial) licensed. If you use a CC image make sure to fully comply with the license, and finally if the CC license is ‘NoDerivs’ you are not allowed to modify it.
9. You may embed up to one video.
10. Shout outs. You may tag up to three Medium members in total -either at the end or throughout your article- in ‘normal’ articles and up to ten members at the end (only) in case of a challenge. Yes, challenges are allowed too. Provided they are geeky.
11. You may share openly one article of your own and one of another writer, preferably while also tagging them. By ‘openly’ I mean ‘Medium style with a preview’. Your article preview should be at the end but if you have a pertinent reason -e.g. to link to something you wrote to another story of yours for extra reading- you can place it wherever you want.
12. If you do not share an article of another writer you may share two open articles or an open article and an open self-shout (e.g. subscription or newsletter option) or two open self-shouts (e.g. both a subscription and a newsletter prompt — though if your newsletter prompt is discreet like my own below it does not count) at the end.
13. You may also place up to ten discreet (non open) links anywhere you want in your article, either to other Medium stories or ‘outside’. If your story is 250 words this is arguably excessive, but it’s your call.
14. Please also add sources and bibliography when an article requires research, either via discreet links or at the end. This one is not mandatory but you increase your chance at curation by Medium if you do — particularly if you cite sources ‘professionally’ at the end.
15. Comply with Medium’s Terms of Service, just like you must already do.
16. So, if you’d like to join as a writer write “I want to join Geeky Pub” and add your Medium handle (with @) in the comments.

Above all use common sense, and think both as a writer and a reader please. That would be all for now. I might update this guideline later. Thank you kindly for your interest in Geeky Pub.

*edit #01: ‘Star Stuff’ will be the sole article exceeding the word limit of Geeky Pub, since I wrote it before deciding to set up the pub. **edit #02: I feature only my guidelines, let all other stories ‘float’ freely and will also add another featured article per day for six days per week that is not mine. The second featured article duration will depend on submissions.

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