All writers are writers

Why I Write For Publications on Medium and Why I Don’t Have To

The democratization of publishing through Medium and publications like ILLUMINATION

When my Medium journey began in 2018, I didn’t think much about publications. All my work was self-published and I did just fine in the Mediumverse without writing in pubs.

It wasn’t until 2020, after Medium made a lot of changes, that I began to explore the potential opportunities of writing in pubs.

There were a few reasons I did not go out seeking publications to write for before, besides the fact that I simply didn’t need to.

Some pubs that I did have interest in required me to surrender the rights to my work, which I was not willing to do. I sell writing all the time, but I write my own work on Medium and I prefer to keep the rights to my own work.

Other pubs are sub-par and do nothing to help writers, like me, who wish to plug into a quality audience.

Then you have the pubs with the whole lock and key paradigm that has never left a good taste in my mouth. We see the lock and key paradigm enough in the world as it is — Medium served a different purpose for me.

Based on my purposes, Medium represented the democratization of writing and publishing— not the outdated system where someone else holds the keys to the kingdom and only through their permission may one enter.

Democratization of publishing

Democratization of the publishing industry began centuries ago and is still underway. We are at a new turning point, however, and Medium is a spearhead.

There was a day in the far off past where the lock and key system was in place even for reading. You couldn’t simply decide to read a book and go to your public library or search it up online. Someone held the keys to the kingdom, and unless they were given to you, you could not access it. Now, we couldn’t even imagine a world where we have to ask permission to read.

Democratization of the music industry was more recent. I remember when the people at Best Buy held the keys to that kingdom, for me. If I wanted to hear my favorite artist’s new single, I had to go and exchange currency for a key to listen to the song — in this case, a CD. Through the democratization of the music industry, today is different. I can listen to any song, the moment it is released.

Although access to reading has been democratized, access to publishing your own content somewhere where people will see it has still been somewhat limited and there are still many key-holders in this kingdom.

Medium takes away the power of these key-holders by giving anyone the ability to publish their writing for free and connecting good work with an audience that will find value in it.

Medium doesn’t care if Oprah liked your story or if you have 2 or 2,000 followers — and they don’t care if you write for a publication. There is no key to entry.

This opportunity to publish my work freely was why I came to Medium so it did not make sense to search out a key-holder, which many publications have. Especially since publications do not make or break your success on Medium.

Pubs will not make or break you

Publications will not make or break a writer or a story. My highest performing pieces of all time were self-published and I have stories in publications that bombed.

There are many benefits of working with publications but you do not have to in order to find success on Medium.

My goal is not to discourage anyone from writing for publications.

I would like to caution new writers though against putting more energy into the pub pleasing business than into their own writing.

Great work that people want to read will bring success. Sub-par work, stories that no-one is interested in or stories that are hard to read will not. This is true regardless of where a story is published.

The biggest publication on Medium came and asked if they could feature one of my self-published pieces on writing, at the top of the Blank Page. I happily obliged.

This proved the theory that great and valuable work on Medium will be found naturally. It is also why I have never stopped self-publishing . People come and ask to publish my work frequently and this allows me to reach different audiences, both big and small.

Publications can be very elusive and there are a plethora of reasons why the key-holding pubs reject stories. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with the quality of your work. I have had stories rejected by one pub only to be triple curated on Medium, and sought out by another pub that was apparently ‘better’.

In the end, Medium could curate your story in 5 topics and you could have it published on the greatest publication — it will still only be successful if people want to read it.

Publications make a minimal amount of difference compared to the difference made by the quality of your work.

In 2020, when I took the path of making my writing a top priority, I revisited publications.

While I was in the golden handcuffs of a salary manager position, I became more and more fragmented and my writing went to the wayside.

Despite having spent years building my social media platforms, I barely published in 2019 and I had never published as much as I wanted to.

Then, COVID happened. Although I have faced many challenges through the pandemic, the gift of COVID-19 brought me back to my work and back to myself.

Medium had made a lot of changes and I was not getting curated anymore. (I have since been curated in multiple topics, thanks to feedback from writers in publications)

I needed to expand my audience, so I apprehensively put publications back on my Medium table.

I knew it would take time and energy to do the necessary research but I knew that reaching a broader audience would not be the only benefit of finding a suitable pub.

Since everything in life is made possible through other people and no opportunities could exist without them, my greatest asset in improving my writing and expanding my audience would be community.

Finding the right publication would be paramount in networking with other writers and building relationships.

I was a skeptic

The writer world is filled with money grabs, schemes and manipulative so-called ‘leaders’ who truly just want to exploit the enthusiasm and vulnerability of new writers and creators. These are false key-holders who only say they have a key to the kingdom, but the key never actually works.

I was skeptical of publications for this reason. There were 3 types of pubs I wanted to avoid.

1. Sub-par publications that do not value quality content
2. Publications that were built using the key-holder modality, requiring writers to be at a certain level before they are even allowed entry
3. False leaders using a publication to exploit vulnerable writers

The Unicorn of ILLUMINATION

I knew I was asking for a lot. Maybe I wanted to eat my cake and have it too. Maybe the magic publication I was looking for didn’t exist and I would have to beg for the keys to be allowed into someone else’s kingdom if I wanted to find a suitable publication.

I was not ready to give up hope, so I asked for help in the Medium groups on facebook. Among the pubs suggested to me was ILLUMINATION.

I must admit, when I found ILLUMINATION, it appeared too good to be true.

It was big and it appeared to be set up democratically, which was unusual for a publication with so much reach and engagement.

There was no application to be approved as a writer or long process of submission. It appeared as if they would publish any writer that was willing to hone their skills and would provide editor feedback for any story that was not suitable to be published.

Most large publications do not do that. Submitting your writing is a shot in the dark until you get something accepted there. And even after being published in most big pubs, you will not receive on-going feedback on why your other stories were rejected. People are holding keys to those kingdoms.

Clearly, the locked kingdom publications serve a purpose. But they did not serve my purpose. They couldn’t give me what I was looking for at the time.

ILLUMINATION only requires writers to follow Medium’s guidelines, and beyond that will work with any writer on almost any piece of work until it is suitable— as long as the writer is willing to do the work.

You don’t have to meet some elusive writer checklist or have some key-holder decide whether you are ‘good enough’ to write for ILLUMINATION. If your piece needs so much work that it cannot be published, an editor will work with you personally until it can.

Instead of providing only a platform for those who it deems top writers, ILLUMINATION provides a platform for all writers. And for the benefit of ILLUMINATION’S readers and writers, it provides ILLUMINATION-Curated to showcase the work of top writers on ILLUMINATION.

ILLUMINATION looked like a unicorn in a world of horses.

Was this too good to be true?

Skepticism around ILLUMINATION

I was skeptical of this apparent unicorn. What was the catch? Was there a catch? Who was the leader and what was their MO? Was it a cult? What was up with this guy, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, and what was he gaining from this?

Call me an extremist, but the dark underbelly of the online self-development world is a real thing — I have experienced it first hand.

In my search for the truth of ILLUMINATION, I found varying stories written by ILLUMINATION’S greatest fans and biggest doubt whisperers.

The whispers of the doubters could not be confirmed with anything tangible and it appeared as if a lot of the ILLUMINATION-haters were not fans of the democratic environment it embraced. They were key-holders and thought everyone else should be key-holders too.

Finally, I found this article.

Being a heartfelt story from someone who worked on the ILLUMINATION team, it pushed me from uncertainty to action and I chose to give the publication a try.

After months of writing for ILLUMINATION, I became an editor — furthering my scope of vision.

My experience has exceeded my expectations and I have found the opportunity to expand my audience along with the community I was looking for, and more.

No matter how hard I look for a catch or a funnel or scammy behavior, I cannot find it behind the scenes of ILLUMINATION.

As far as clap circles, follows for follows or any other form of artificial engagement that democratized pubs are sometimes accused of, I have yet to find this either and I am knee-deep in the behind the scenes world of ILLUMINATION.

I have found a lot of things though. I have found mentors. I have found friends. I have found accountability, encouragement and support. Above all, I have found a network of people who want to help all writers, just like I do.

There are no dues to be paid, no axes to grind and no people to please. ILLUMINATION is simply a group of people, working together for a common goal — to reach more people and to help others do the same.

Since certainty is certainly very dangerous, I will leave room in my possibility pouch for anything to indicate that ILLUMINATION is not the unicorn I thought it was, but a horse dressed in colorful clothing.

I solemnly swear to my fellow writers everywhere, that if I find anything suspicious, you will be the first to know.

I am not writing about this to come to ILLUMINATION’S rescue or prove to the world who ILLUMINATION is. That has already been done by many. I am writing this because many writers are curious about publications, their purpose and their level of importance.

Since everyone’s purpose is different and we all have different goals, there is not one magic answer that applies to all writers. So the best thing I can do is share my experience.

ILLUMINATION happens to be a big part of that experience.

Basking in the glory of the beautiful relationships I have built there, the amazing writers and just downright good people that I have met there, and the strides I have made on Medium since I started writing there — I am blown away.

I am glad my skepticism didn’t stop me from giving ILLUMINATION a chance. It was a wonderful place to start on my publication journey and continues to illuminate many paths that put my writing in front of readers who make use of it.

I love working with publications, even though I don’t have to.

Three years ago, publications were not even on my radar. A year ago, publications were intimidating. Now, I love them.

I write for a variety of publications for a variety of reasons — even though I don’t have to. Some serve one purpose while others serve another.

Publications help me become a better writer and a better reader. They help me find mentors and friends and reach new people.

My success is contingent on none of them but I am grateful for all of them.

Written by Holly Kellums

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Additional feedback for new writers

Do not be discouraged by ‘rejections’

I know this may sound cliche but it is so important. Sometimes rejections will show you how you can improve. By all means, always take every opportunity to improve, but sometimes rejections mean nothing at all.

Put quality before strategy

Understanding how Medium and Social Media works is important, but unlike many other platforms, strategy does not outweigh performance on Medium. You may wish to avoid putting more effort into strategy than you put into creating great work.

Avoid artificial engagement at all costs.

Claps, highlights and comments alone will not bring you success. Remember, success is only possible on Medium through readership.

Authentic and meaningful engagement is golden and is only made possible through real reads.

Isn’t that why you came here in the first place? For people to read your work?

Artificial engagement does nothing to build your readership and only makes you look deceitful to Medium, publications and other writers. You may meet people with misguided enthusiasm who want to build clap circles and the like. They may mean well, but these efforts are not only unhelpful, they are harmful.

In all things, think of the reader.

This may be the most valuable mantra in my mantra box.

This is not to suggest writing solely what others want to hear or sacrificing your style. It doesn’t mean you have to write a certain way, either. All it means is to think of the reader when you are writing, but especially when you are refining.

Think of what may be confusing to the reader and how you can make your story more comprehensible. Do not do this by over-explaining, but by refining your structure and sentences. You do not have to change your style or sacrifice who you are to make your work readable.

Related reads

Notes of appreciation

I will give a special shout out to some of the great writers and editors that I have met on my pub journey — all of whom I met in ILLUMINATION.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz,

Thank you for your tireless efforts which have afforded many writers, like me, opportunities that evaded them before finding your publication family.

You are humble in your approach, not only in public but behind the scenes as well. Through this approach, you have tapped into a delicate balance of purpose and priority which provides an environment where writers of all levels can co-exist.

You have taken an existing platform and utilized it in new and meaningful ways. These ways challenge the domination culture of the writing world — Illuminating pathways for all writers to hone their skill and raise their voice.

You have created a powerful community that is full of wonderful people. You have started a movement for new writers, offering opportunities to the many that many times are reserved for the few — leading the way in further democratization of publishing.

Thank you for your earnest commitment to equality and democracy, and for the thousands upon thousands of hours you have spent building a platform to raise the voice of all writers around the world.

P.S. I’m still watching you! haha 😆… No, but seriously, I am. :)

Tree Langdon,

Thank you for carrying a torch in the ILLUMINATION community.

Your kind nature and gentle guidance have helped many writers and editors who are trying to find their way, including me.

You are a powerful but gentle force — what I call soft and strong, which is a real superpower. I am grateful to work with you, know you and call you my friend.

Dr. Preeti Singh,

Thank you for being one of my greatest supporters. Any time I publish, I know that you will be along to read my work and share your thoughts. But you don’t just read it to read it because you want to show your support — you really read it, every time. You do not give your full attention to what I am saying on some days while other days giving it 50 percent or 70 percent attention.

Your steady nature makes you a great editor as well — you are ever-present. Wherever you are, you are there, completely. Your careful and steady attention amazes me because you are not only present with my words. You support countless other writers in the same way — connecting with their words, finding meaning in what they say and then sharing that meaning with them.

You are like a ninja of intent awareness and you inspire me to be more aware, to listen more and to be more present. Thank you for being in my front row. It is an honor.

Terry L. Cooper,

Thank you for making me laugh every day. You remind me not to take myself too seriously and you give me permission to be myself. We are completely opposite in some ways which makes us a great team.

I appreciate your transparent nature and no-nonsense approach. (Now that I know you aren’t being snappy 😆😂)

Your decisiveness is refreshing in a world of uncertainty and your lighthearted approach to things that feel heavy is uplifting in a world where everything is such a big deal.

You are a full-spectrum human being who can make me laugh by the water cooler in the morning and then send me on some spiritual journey later that same evening.

And, you’re also cool. 😎

The Maverick Files,

I know, I know.

You don’t like me to give you all the credit and you always attribute my success to my great writing. But I cannot write out all these words of appreciation without mentioning your generous assistance in getting my work back in front of the eyes of Medium curators.

I had been searching for answers for months and you helped me bridge the gap. This was a huge step for me in moving forward and has added greatly to my momentum. I am infinitely grateful for your mentorship.

You also helped me out of the kindness of your heart, before we even knew each other. This was a big reason that I decided to edit for ILLUMINATION. You were a great person with good intentions and you edited there. Good people usually hang out with good people.

So thank you, not only for your help with curation, but for being a shining example of who ILLUMINATION is and what kind of people make up its community.

For more Notes of Appreciation to Medium writers, see future stories about writing on Medium, written by Holly Kellums.