Cross-Pollination & Engagment

Web Weaving Diamonds

There’s a new Publication in town, and you’re invited to play!

Reading Rhombus

Reading Rhombus is “a journal curating diverse stories from the four corners of Medium.” It is the brainchild of Rasheed Hooda (The Pied Piper) and Holly Jahangiri (The Amusing Muse and technical muscle of the team), and we are dedicated, first and foremost, to promoting writers and publications from the “four corners” of Medium.

We started off with a square, but squares aren’t cool enough — and they call to mind other web spaces that have nothing to do with us. We finally settled on a rhombus, which is cool, but the name was taken. It’s actually not taken, but Medium wouldn’t let us have it.

So then we tried on things like “Rhombus Room” and “Reading Rhombus,” but that got one of us (me) giggling at the thought of “Romper Room” and “Reading Rainbow.” Which, after about fifteen minutes, kind of grew on me.

Writing Challenge

I know that some of you are actively looking for new writing challenges — either to stretch and grow as a writer, or simply to alleviate boredom. Timothy Key has been writing about the ones he’s found and joined — a new one every day! — and I hope he’ll include this, as well.

Our new publication does have some very specific requirements. They’re not hard to meet, but it’s important to understand them before submitting.

In addition to your own writing — which can be any type of writing: non-fiction, fiction, poetry — on any topic, your Story must do the following:

Highlight the work of four different Medium writers with Stories they’ve posted on Medium that do not all appear in a single publication

We’re looking for diversity of voices and publications. While we’d prefer four by four, here — four writers and four different publications (or stories not included in any publication) — this could be four writers from 2–3 publications.

The main idea: “Let’s not always hear from the same voices, in the same places.” We love you all; let’s share the love.

Touch on a single topic from four different perspectives or on four different topics

Here, you have a choice: You can focus on the writers and include Stories on different topics for each one, like Rasheed did here:

Or you can focus on the topics and include Stories on one topic from four writers’ different perspectives, like Ming Qian did, with this exemplary (and QUADRUPLE curated!) article on cancel culture:

Note that these other writers may agree, or disagree, or have an entirely different outlook on the topic — by “perspectives” we simply mean we are looking for a variety of thoughts from different people. Not homogeneous, like milk.

If your part of the story requires or would benefit from relevant outside links, it’s okay to include them in addition to the four we’re looking for. These links should be strictly informative, and not commercial, in nature.

Or you could contribute something like my little fluff piece on the doldrums of doing chores:

The main idea: Weave together a story of your own that makes your choices clear and relevant. Promote others, don’t just list their links. Pique our interest and motivate us to click through and read your chosen four!

Your bio is totally optional, but remember the focus!

Of course we want you to promote yourself, too! Just… keep the primary focus on others. Add a separator between the body of your story and your bio, if you include one:

Your bio should be brief, and may include one link to one of your own Stories on Medium (an extended “About Me” perhaps!), or to your personal website, or a free-to-subscribe newsletter that you offer.

Don’t forget the tags!

One of your tags should be Reading Rhombus. Be sure to take advantage of all 5 tags in your story. Here are some tags we often use, and you should include at least one of these, as well: Creativity, Diversity, Education, Life Lessons, and Reading (the latter being appropriate for the “Recommended Reading” section — for example, links to book reviews, simple recommendations of other Medium authors, etc.)

In Summary

I hope this helps to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the Submission Guidelines for Reading Rhombus. Be sure to read the rest — and this goes for any publication, on or off Medium, that you submit your work to. If you are serious about your writing, be courageous — start submitting work to multiple publications on and off Medium. Blogging, self-publishing, and submitting to one or two publications where you are known, loved, and almost certain to be published are fun, but sometimes it’s a little too easy and keeps you from growing as a writer. Submit something here — it’ll help you and four other writers at the same time!