Recommended Publications and Guidance for New Writers
By: Shamar M
Tags: Advice, Writing Tips, Writing Life, Recommendations, Writing

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I have been a writing for Medium for six weeks. Within the first week of me starting, I had absolutely no idea how to work this platform. I had no idea what I was doing and had absolutely no idea about publications.

In order for me to spread my work, I joined numerous Facebook groups and had come across talks about different publications. I had self-published three pieces by this point.

Upon this decision, I did not have many views at all and had not made a penny.

As a new starter on Medium, below is some guidance and recommendations on publications;

Join publications straight away.

You need to build your fan base. The best way to connect with other writers, aside from social media, is to get your work noticed and join a publication.

I do not recommend self-publishing until you have build a fan base, however small or big. This is because if you find you are not receiving any attention for your work, you can become easily demotivated and even decide to give up altogether.

2. Do not just submit to one publication.

There are so many publications out there. Just because the one you have submitted to have accepted your work does not mean you need to continuously publish to that one alone.

It is good to experiment with more than one publication so you can connect to new writers. Obviously, some publications have more followers than others, so potentially you can get more views, claps, reads, highlights, whatever with some publications in comparison to others.

3. Join smaller publications to build your confidence up for the larger ones.

The Ascent, The Start Up and all the major ones that everyone gets excited about. Become a writer but I wouldn’t publish to them straight away as it’s highly likely you’ll be rejected.

In addition, the bigger the publication, the longer it will take for them to review your work. We are talking around a week. However, smaller publications take around 48 hours maximum.

Smaller publications are more likely to be less picky about what they want published on their page, so you’re more likely to get accepted.

Over time you’ll find your writing feet, be able to practice and build your confidence up when it comes to being rejected by the big boy publications.

There is also the myth that submitting to smaller publications can actually increase your interactions a bit more than if you published to a bigger publication. This is because the writers who submit to the small publication are more likely to be dedicated to it and are more likely to read your work.

4. Medium Editioral Group Publications

These are the publications that you cannot just ask to become a writer for. You must pitch pieces of work to them and they will base your article a base rate (usually $500) as well as it be eligible to earn via Medium Partner Programme.

Be prepared to not receive a response when you pitch the first time. Many people have had to pitch a good 3/4 times until they are successful.

A list of these publications are available here.

5. Be prepared for rejection!

Ultimately, no matter what, be prepared to have your work rejected. It doesn’t really bother me at all, but it does still hurt a bit.

Rejection is something that many really can’t deal with. So if you fall into this category, especially with writing, I’m sorry my friend, but it is inevitable to happen eventually.

6. Read the submission guidelines!

If you are aiming to write for a specific publication, there’s no point wasting time writing for a particular publication and then it being rejected because of it not meeting the submission guidelines.

READ THEM FIRST!