PARASOL PUBS
The Boost Nomination Pilot Program is Alive and Well at The Narrative Arc
Check out our boosted stories from February
February was another strong month with Parasol Publications. Thanks to all of our great writers and readers!
I’ve had a few questions from writers about ‘how’ I select what I nominate to the Medium Curation team. No surprise: I recruit writers whose work I love — to write with Parasol Pubs, so I can nominate with confidence.
Editors at Parasol appreciate the collaborative collective: we edit each other closely. We help our writers too.
I follow the Medium Boost Nomination Pilot Program descriptors. I listen closely to what Ariel Meadow Stallings says in her guidance to us, the Boost Nomination Pilot Program Nominators. I read the room.
I’ll drop Ariel’s story right here, as well as below.
Next, I stay in touch with scores of publishers and editors. We compare notes, ideas, suggestions, and what works. We’re part of a team, after all.
I comb my pubs for great work
The Narrative Arc The Wind Phone Imogene’s Notebook
And additional pubs with Parasol
Travel Memoirs — Darren Weir’s pub The Penny Pub — Kim Kelly Stamp’s pub Seen on Screen — Christine Schoenwald’s pub
I also keep my eyes open for new writers looking for a space to write. If I see an incredible piece of writing, I invite the writer in — and have nominated from outside my pubs on occasion.
Before we go further, I’d love to see you at The Pub Crawl! Here’s some information. Many of the pubications from Medium will be there. Join us!
Now, back to nominating!
What do I look for in a piece to nominate?
First, I look for pieces I find intriguing, that give me a fresh way of viewing the world and also my place in it. Finding stories that make me smile or move me, or give me a window to another life are what I look for. Content comes first. If the title and cover photo aren’t strong, I ask the writer to work with me and choose different words or images. Writers love that help, I’ve discovered.
Next, I’m looking for craft. Is the writer gifted with words? Is the genre attended well? If it’s a memoir, is there some sense of present-writer looking at past-situation and reflecting? A redemption?
If the piece is a poem, is it well-constructed — not simplistic? Is it fresh, and avoids cliche?
Is there a sense of noticing a new culture, are there photos? Does the writer imbue the piece with some personality so I’m not reading a boring travel brochure?
Pacing is important. Does the writer know how to create a sense of urgency and interest? Nothing’s worse than an ‘exciting’ story that drags. We have worked with a few readers who have amazing stories, but they’re writing them ‘hot’ — the catastrophe is too recent. Sometimes writers need some time to process events.
Does the piece add value for readers? If the writer has written a journal entry, there is no craft. What is the reason the writer has written, to regurgitate the day, or to reflect with insight? Organize your words so we understand the point — use personal anecdotes and insights, writers!
Last, if the submission has a whiff of AI, it’s a hard no.
I work with a team of publishers and editors. This is a model that’s gaining some popularity around the platform, by the way. Recently, I worked with another publisher who has set up the same model.
Here’s how we do it at Parasol Pubs. Every day, the team of editors meets up around 7 a.m. Pacific time, and we exchange greetings and discuss work. Throughout the day, various editors work on stories coming in. We have specialty teams of editors assigned to each pub, depending on the editors’ interests and abilities (and time commitments). It works.
And it’s a lot of work. We edit with precision, and strive to help writers improve their essays, stories, and poems.
As a Boost Nominator, I look through our submissions queues for superior stories, essays, and poems. Along with my team, we nominate directly from the queue. We do not nominate every piece a writer submits. Only if it’s of a certain quality. What don’t we nominate? Glad you asked. In no particular order:
- overly sexual pieces; the curators won’t choose them.
- trauma pieces without reflection or redemption.
- political pieces, including rants and opinions.
- meta writing; seriously, if meta got boosted, I’d be writing about the platform all the time.
- Body function essays; medical emergencies and etc. that are more gross than informative. Some work; I will say that.
- Take-down essays, even subtle ones. This is not the place.
- AI-generated work.
- Loaded language essays: comparing anyone to Hitler or Nazis, etc.
- Self-help or lectures; there are pubs that nominate self-help. It’s not our schtick.
Every piece of work submitted to our pubs is closely considered. Yes, we make that time.
When I pitch stories or poems, I read the piece closely, and pitch it with consideration for the Medium Curation Team. I want them to know I’ve selected our finest pieces for their perusal.
Here are a few of my pitches. Have a look.
Aimée Brown Gramblin, essayist, has woven her mental health around the theme of nature, and the love of working in the dirt. Aimee loves trees, and considers them the ‘embodiment’ of living. This is a stunning essay, one that captures rebirth and spring. It’s so timely, and Aimee’s well-crafted words bring joy.
Amanda Weir-Gertzog has written a stunning poem entitled ‘This is the Falling’ — it is about the body relinquishing itself. She employs amazing images, sprung rhythm, and alliteration — with the refrain placed perfectly throughout. This is a strong, compelling poem
Ben Bruges has written a stark, moving poem about his father at ninety. The imagery and emotion of this poem are remarkable. At the poem’s conclusion, Bruges draws in the reader — we are all part of his father’s image. Alone, naked, as we all will be. Stunning poem.
Kit Desjacques writes of her trip to Hanoi during Tet, the Lunar New Year. She has a very culturally interesting essay here, with details of the extended family she visits. The family all lives together, three generations, and takes care of their deceased relatives. This is a Chinese NY essay, and perfect for the Lunar NY pieces Medium loves to feature.
Smatta, a new writer, has written an incredible travel memoir of traversing the road to the Khardungla Pass in the Himalayan Mountains. The text and photos of this story are nothing short of incredible. With stunning prose, describing thin mountain air and a treacherous journey, Smatta includes photos of herself with her husband. She also includes photos of a Himalayan town set in the mountains, with an amazing Buddha statue — -a place that receives the Dalai Lama every year, and was preparing to receive him.
Oksana Kukurudza's Sunflowers Rarely Break, an adventurous woman, writes of her travels through the Caucasus, weaving throughout several destinations to re-enter Turkey. Her travel memoir from this solo journey of a few decades ago is fascinating for many reasons, mostly because the adventure is not typical for a solo female traveler. Along the way, she gets all sorts of help from others, including at border crossings. While she journeys with Lonely Planet travel guides, something many of us have done, her best helpers tend to be wonderful people she meets on her journey. The photos of this memoir are remarkable.
Andrew Tsao, retired professor from U of W, presents us with a stunning memoir of past times in Shanghai / Hong Kong. When communists invaded, his grandfather lost everything. Grandfather ‘mistakenly thought’ the new regime would allow him to keep his fortune, Tsao writes. No. This memoir sees the return of Tsao’s mother to the hotel, where an ancient elevator operator recognizes her. This writing is beautiful. We feel the sting of loss, the overarching power of a cruel regime, and then the small victory — love and memory is sometimes all we get to keep. And they are everything
Ben Human, South African writer, has written a stunning and stark micro fiction about a personal relationship. Heavily nuanced and laden with tone, Ben’s micro fiction takes us through the dissolution of a relationship — ‘the house is sinking.’ This story is like architecture, and is well constructed.
Andie Adams has written a stunning celebration of a most unusual individual — her father. Coming up on thirty this year, she’s lived nearly half her life without him, but that first half! He lived by a series of adventurous mottos. Don’t look both ways! Sit on the top of the car to eat ice cream! Andie’s writing is well-paced and so optimistic and loving. This is a fantastic essay.
Now, here are some of the pieces boosted from The Narrative Arc recently.
Boosted in February and the last few days
Do note that I didn’t pitch all of these essays. Many, yes. The Medium Curation team selects some of them. If you have questions, please let me know in the comments!
