Updated in 2023
What You Should Know About Medium Publications in [2023]
When a Medium publication says No, just hit the publish button.
When I was new on Medium, all I wanted was to be loved. Ok, if you are looking for love, you need to find it somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, Medium.com is an excellent place for writers and dreamers.
At first, my goal as a Medium writer is to write, do it well, and share my stories. Money was an afterthought.
When you are new, and without a plan, you get lost in the game. One may start by saying, I only want to write and not care about the views. But an audience of one can be lonely, especially if that audience is you. Besides, that is called journaling.
The best way to find readers on Medium is to submit your stories to Medium publications. The only mistake I made is I was too fixated on getting published in the well-known Medium publications.
I spent time, many heartaches, and sleepless nights writing stories, only for editors to tell me it is not good enough.
While one must never take rejections by Medium editors personally, it still sucks.
But there are lessons to be learned when you are rejected or when editors help you improve your writing and story. I appreciate that kind of help.
My goals have changed. I want to be part of the Fire movement, you know what it means, Financial Freedom, Retire Early. I don’t know who coined it, but it does sound cheesy.
3 things you need to know about Medium publication
1. You can start your own Medium publication.
Who can create a Medium publication? — Creating a Medium publication is free. You must have a Medium account to create a Medium publication. Source: Medium.
You can have as many as seven Medium publications on your personal account. My new rule is to try my best to write great stories, but good is good enough.
This changed in 2023 — You can have as many Medium publications as you want. Be careful though with opening it up to other writers as that takes a lot of work.
When you have stories turned down by prominent Medium publications, just press publish on your personal profile page or in your Medium publication.
I have in the past, rejected articles only to be chosen for further distribution, so keep in mind a rejection doesn’t mean your story is terrible, rejection is subjective and learn to respect the Medium publication’s rules, it is their prerogative to say, No.
2. Medium publications are avenues to find new readers.
While you can publish your stories in your own Medium publication, submitting your stories to other publications, big or small, allows you to reach readers who haven’t read any of your stories.
Think of it as guest posting, which even the most prolific bloggers do. As a tip, always choose the Medium publication whose audience is very targeted. I have to thank Feedium and J.J. Pryor, with just two stories, I gained 69 followers, to whom I am very thankful, especially for the comments coming from your fellow writers.
3. Getting published in the most popular Medium publications will not guarantee — virality, curation, and money.
Virality
At the beginning of my journey as a Medium writer, I thought if I get published in a top-rated Medium publication, the story will go viral. My story after it was published didn’t go viral, but it made me very happy to finally see my story published in that Medium publication.
FAQ: —Things you need to know about Medium Publications
Medium Curation ( No longer a thing in 2023)
I have stories that I posted on my profile that got chosen for further distribution or Medium curated, “The Dark Side of Online Shopping Nobody Wants to Talk About.”
Money
This month, I am surprised that the highest-performing story is about Medium curation, and it is published on Feedium.
In this Medium publication, stories about Medium and writing are welcome. It is not the biggest Medium publication, but its readers are one of the most engaging readers. They appreciate the nuggets of discoveries I have shared with the few articles I have submitted to Feedium.
How to promote your Medium publication effectively.
After you’ve created your publication, you’ll be able to promote it using all of the tools you’re familiar with from Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. Promote your publication on your personal profile, your business profile, and your personal blog.
How to make money from Medium articles
The only way to make money on Medium is to become part of the Medium Partner Program.
While the cost to publish an article on Medium is $0, we can never add value to creating an article. Not only is time too valuable, the worst we can hear as writers is that our stories are worth x amount of dollars based on the number of words we have written.
If you are starting your own Medium publication, you can use social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to promote your publication. On social media, you can find the people who are likely to share your content.
How to get readers for your Medium publications
If you’re hoping to get readers for your publications on Medium, then the most important thing you can do is make sure you’re providing value. That means your content needs to be unique, and insightful and should address the topic in a way that hasn’t been done before.
Put in the effort and make sure readers understand how your publication works and who you are. Because Medium is a platform for writers, authors, and content creators of all types, make sure that what you’re putting out there is value to this audience.
Even while you have your own Medium publication, submit your articles to Medium publishers that produce high-quality content where readers can get introduced to your writing.
How to build an audience on Medium
The main thing that you need to remember when you’re publishing on Medium is that it’s a platform for stories, not ads.
If you’re writing a sales pitch, it’s not going to work on Medium because the platform’s main objective is to share knowledge and information with your followers.
So sometimes, it can be more complicated than expected to figure out exactly what will resonate with your followers and, ultimately, how best to write for Medium.
On top of that, Medium’s algorithm is a lot different than the typical SEO or blog post-optimized algorithm.
Building a reputation on Medium is simple: you need to get your content in front of people’s eyes. The more successful you are at doing that, the more readers you’ll accumulate and the more well-known you’ll become!
In a video shared by Zulie Rane — How to Add a Story to a Publication on Medium, you can watch it here.
These are 4 key points I learned from her:
- First, ask yourself, Why do you want to submit to a publication?
- How do you get accepted as a writer and added to the publication?
- Once you become a writer in the publication, how to submit your story to the publication?
- Quick summary, as you hit submit, have you done everything to make sure it follows the submission rules of the Medium publication?
Final Words
Again, If there is one thing you need to know about Medium publications, it is a tool you can reach your goals as a Medium writer.
Find the publication that fits the type of stories you write and a publication you have more in common with.
As they say, the shoe must fit, or you have to belong to a tribe, and lastly, your story need not depend on a Medium publication. Rejection can often mean just pressing the publish button yourself.
Thank you for reading.
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