UPDATED August 6, 2023

Welcome To ‘The Daily Cuppa’

The home of one-minute reads to be enjoyed with your cuppa

Welcome to The Daily Cuppa. My name is Katie Michaelson; thank you for stopping by. I created this publication to provide a place for people reading on their iOS and Android devices (phones) to find quick bits of information on a variety of topics to inform, entertain, delight, and encourage; all with a bit of cheer thrown in.

Our Stories Are for Readers

Readers want to be entertained. I designed this publication with extensive input from Adrienne Beaumont, Valerie Cornish, Grace C. Adrienne Parkhurst, and twenty-five Facebook readers who found it difficult to read long Medium articles when taking a quick break.

Adrienne was reading while taking the train. Valerie and her coworkers were reading during their breaks at work.

Here is my About if you missed it.

Wow! Did you notice that? It was your day flying by. This publication is your place to enjoy stories of 150 words or fewer about almost anything. Our writers want to entertain, inform, and delight you as you take a break in your busy day. Did I mention humor? Stick your head in the sand for a minute; you’ll not find news or politics interfering with your cuppa. We like nature, food, pets, plants, people, and all things simple — or complex that can enrich our lives. We celebrate humanity. Serve up your cuppa tea, coffee, wine, cocoa, or whatever pleases you, and enjoy our daily bites.

A note before our tour; if you’re a new writer or new to writing English as a second language, we’re happy to extend a hand of welcome and assist you on your journey as much as we can. If you want extra time, write NEW or HELP on a private note on your submission.

Experienced writers, I hope you enjoy writing these tiny posts as much as I have.

About This Establishment

News events, politics, and critical negative discussions are good for us and our societies, but there are many places to enjoy controversial treats.

Therefore, this publication does not discuss politics, trending news, or rampant unpleasantries. Controversy is best served standing, or at least in a state of alert. We need Alerts — just not with our daily cuppa.

Dress Code

Shirts, shoes, and other attire are not required while reading or writing in the comfort and privacy of your home.

Though this publication was built with the small device reader in mind, we enjoy entertaining those, like me, reading on more outmoded devices, such as laptops or desktops. However, we dress our pieces to fit smaller devices.

Conduct

• We accept non-political or non-news-oriented topic as long as it is respectful of others.
• We do not name-call or throw others under the bus — even famous people. We do not trash Medium, groups, countries, states, castes, social groups, religions and such.
• Content is generally uplifting.
• Only one submission per day.
• Occasional rants can be acceptable if they’re light and solution-focused.
• We do not accept news pieces.
• Politics and divisiveness are bad for digestion, so we don’t serve any.
• Self-promotion is unpleasant for everyone. One subtle link at the end of your story is acceptable.
• Leave vulgarity and hate at the door. We love ya’ but it gasses people up.
• Be polite.
• Be kind and kind and then be kind.
• Read and leave helpful comments.
• Pieces are put out quickly. If you notice a typo/wrong word, private message the writer and they’ll do the same for you.
• Make friends and uplift others.

Short-form

The Daily Cuppa is a publication featuring Medium traditional shortform posts of 150 words or fewer. The word count includes the title and subtitle if you use them. This count also includes words in embedded links.

Medium changes guidelines and the way stories are presented often, and without notice. Our, long-time readers and test readers prefer the traditional shortform reading experience so we’re sticking with that.

Here is an article with detailed information about Medium traditional shortform including images showing how stories are displayed.

Writers have their own interpretation of short-form that is reflected in the various publications. As always, check publication guidelines for requirements.

Medium displays your subscribe information at the end of your story so it’s redundant to include it in your piece.

We write for the readers, but The Daily Cuppa wants writers to get the recognition they deserve.

Short-form formatting

We accept both standard Medium traditional short-form formatting and traditional formatting (title and subtitle).

• In traditional standard short-form formatting do not use a title or subtitle. Write your first sentence in sentence case then bold it. Make it a full sentence that brings your readers in and tells them what your post is about. Putting thought into the first sentence increases views and reads.
• Traditional long-form formatting (title and subtitle) is allowed at the Cuppa as part of our desire to enhance writers' opportunities for creativity. We also allow a title with no subtitle. You decide what shows off your piece. Here is a free tool to check your title formatting. https://capitalizemytitle.com/

If you write a post that is 150 words or less, Medium will automatically classify that as shortform content. Medium Help Center.

• Add a photo, art, or computer graphics if you want. Our test posts showed greater views if they included a photo or graphic in the post.
• Use only one image unless using personal photos to enhance your story.
• Please add a discrete link to your profile about page where you keep links to your affiliates and other promotional links. Think of how the story looks to your readers.
• You may add two hyperlinks to related content in the first sentence or within your story.
• You may put one embedded or “pretty link” in your story. To do a “pretty link” copy and paste a link into your post keeping space below and press “enter.” I like these because they show a bit about the story. The words in this type of link count toward your 150 words.
• An introduction to a longer story you wrote with a link to the story is acceptable as long as the short-form post stands alone.
• When relaxing with a cuppa, readers aren’t interested in someone's self-promotion or earnings. They enjoy reading about things others find interesting, so give a shout-out from time to time. But, do share celebrations!
• Edit your story using Grammarly or ProWritingAid. The free versions are fine.
• The word count will be different from the count in your Medium stories. Check your word count by highlighting the entire text and looking up to the left corner quickly. All words — those in embedded links, sometimes (who knows why?) words included in the caption under photos — count in the allowed 150.

Edits

Editors will correct formatting, small typos, and such that don’t affect the story's content. We also use Grammarly and ProWritingAid. The two programs disagree on some things like the Oxford comma. We will go with your choice or defer to ProWritingAid for clarity.

In reviewing your work, editors do not edit grammar beyond errors. We want your stories in your voice. This is not an academic publication or an elite publication. An editor may suggest something they think sounds better said a different way, the decision is up to you.

Editors may ask you to change something inappropriate or confusing in the content to make it clearer or to fit The Daily Cuppa.

Topic tags may be adjusted or filled in if left blank.

Stories that exceed 150 words by a few words will be edited. If an embedded link is the issue editors may replace it with a hyperlink for you.

If your piece is not a fit for The Daily Cuppa, we may recommend another publication that better suits the content. This does not mean a publication we have not suggested would not be suitable. We want to help you enjoy your writing experience.

If we notice your story has huge potential as a long-form post, we may suggest that you consider expanding it for submission to another publication. We can’t know if a large publication will want your story, but when we see potential, we want to encourage you to seize that opportunity.

Creativity

We want you to enjoy being creative.

At The Daily Cuppa, we want you to have fun.

We have learned that besides the word count, stories that are spread out in a long list fashion or have long photos do not fit the short-form formatting and read differently on our reader’s devices.

Creative with 150 words? Haha, yes, you can do it. It’s a blast.

Photos, as usual from Unsplash or other stock sources, are fine as well as your own images. You may use AI images. Credit sources, as usual.

Also, if you’re quoting another writer’s work in your article — tag them.

Write With Us Note:

Effective 9/3/23 we are again keeping a waiting list. new writers! The demand to write with us is high but many requesting to be added are not familiar with our publication. It takes time. Please hang out at the Cuppa and let us know you are there.

Submit requests to be added to The Daily Cuppa to [email protected]

I check emails at this address on weekends. Leave your email address, Medium username, and link to a story with the message, “I want to be considered as a writer for The Daily Cuppa!”

Thank you for your interest

If you made a request using comments please know that comments are full and I can no longer scroll so drop me an email at [email protected].

If you made a request using [email protected], know that email was contaminated by LinkedIn because I had no idea how pushy that platform was. Dopy me. [email protected] is a dedicated email for The Daily Cuppa and The Daily Cuppa Grande.

Takeaway

Though I created this publication to provide a place for people reading on their iOS and Android devices (phones) to find quick bits of information on a variety of topics to inform, entertain, delight, and encourage, I also want it to be a place where writers can enjoy experimenting and developing their craft with 150-word stories.

Thank you for stopping by. We are a new and growing publication and we thank you for your interest and for stopping by to read our story and posts.

Thank you for stopping by! Remember, if you would like to be a contributor to this publication, email me at [email protected] “I want to be considered as a writer for The Daily Cuppa!” Leave your Medium @username. Be sure you are familiar with our publication. I will add you to our waiting list.

Katie Michaelson tends plants and people from her 120-year-old home and small garden. She sees strength in the injured spirit and finds significance in the insignificant. She has years of experience starting successful small businesses, developing programs, supervising, and mentoring others to find success in their chosen fields. She lives to learn and create while nurturing others. Plus, she’s funny sometimes.