Submitting to Publications is Like Applying to Colleges
Put the best version of yourself forward and hope they like you
If you’ve ever applied to college, you know how stressful it can be on the mind. We do our best to polish our SAT/ACT scores, write down all the extracurriculars we did, and pray they like our personal statements.
Very much like applying to college, submitting to publications is the same. Especially when submitting to a prestigious thread such as Better Marketing, The Startup, or P.S. I Love you, I make sure to put out my best work.
Arnold Schwarzenegger started his acting career incredibly small. Films would want to cast him for small roles like the bad guy, or an officer when he desired to be the star of the show. Arnold refused to play minor roles, and he ended up making it big time. It’s like the question people ask “would you rather be in one blockbuster movie, or do multiple seasons on a soap opera?
Most people would want one big blockbuster movie to make it big-time and earn a spot somewhere people’s attention is. As with applying to college, we want to go somewhere that fits for us, but we take our money situation and future job search into consideration.
You Deserve the Best, Give Them A Reason to Notice
I began my Medium career by self-publishing when I randomly got articles published with Data-Driven Investor. Without them, I would have had no idea how publications worked. They gave me the tools I needed to put my work in front of more readers.
In terms of my Medium career, I feel as though I’m in my junior year. I gradually develop the craft it takes to get into the right schools and I’m firing out my applications. Some of my articles didn’t make it into Better Marketing or P.S. I Love You, but that’s not stopping me from seeing what other real estate is on the market.
Unlike Arnold’s technique of never settling for less, I am not settling for less by submitting to other publications. The quality of my writing is indicative of whether or not it will succeed. These publications are the special marketing team we have to help us circulate our content.
If you want to get into the most desirable schools, you have to earn the grades, put up the test scores, and earn the trust of the institutions. By writing quality articles and polishing them up the best we can, the publications we seek out will be more than likely to see our credibility and, therefore, publish our work.
Quality Over Quantity
The saying “quality over quantity” has become more meaningful to me as I grow throughout the platform. I could post something every day and rack up 20 views in three days, sure.
Or, I could post one article every two or three days and get 75 views. The compelling content that speaks to my audience is far more critical than the content that will impact two or three souls.
The moral of the story is to focus on creating work we proudly share. The more pride we take in our work, the higher the chances of us getting into our dream publications.
Consistent effort throughout the time we spend in “Medium High School” will help us set ourselves up for a secure future. We open up a future that consists of dedicated readers, a decent-sized paycheck, and constant inspiration.
The sky’s the limit. Share your stories with confidence and never settle for less. I pray for Medium to stick around forever, but in the case that it doesn’t. Let’s take this opportunity we have and make it worthwhile.
