Have you tried using publications on Medium?
I have sent a few of my recent pieces to various publications and received mixed results.
Some of the articles that I sent — the ones that got accepted — performed quite well compared to other pieces I have written.
It was nice to see something I had created get a little more attention than I’m used to.
But, that being said, there were other pieces which I submitted that didn’t perform any better than usual.
And this got me thinking.
Should I go it alone?
When I look at some of my favourite big names here on Medium they all seem to be using publications.
But, they also have thousands of followers — which I do not. So, how many of those reads are coming from their fans alone?
Should I focus on growing my followers and forget about publications?
It’s a hard decision to make. Though when I take time and think it over the two probably go hand in hand.
Publications increase the chance of gaining more followers.
Why so wary?
You may be thinking at this point, “Why so tentative towards publications?”
Well, let me tell you why these questions have been on my mind.
It’s not that I am being a hater.
My hesitation to use publications is down to my recent experience
I found that when sending my work off that it somewhat disrupted the flow of my writing.
Let me explain.
Before sending my articles to publications I was used to hitting the publish button and seeing the piece automatically on my profile.
But, the time it takes from sending your work until it is actually posted for members to read could take up to a few days — which is no one's fault, it is what it is.
With the delay disrupting my consistency and some of my pieces not doing much better than usual, this has lead to me questioning the use of publications.
So, what’s the conclusion?
One of the great things about writing is that it helps you clear your mind.
Writing your issues down helps you to dissect them in finer detail.
And, as I have been writing this piece that is what has been happening to me.
I’ve stopped and started with the writing of this piece.
Taking time to reflect and basically answer my own questions.
With my two main concerns being the delay disrupting my flow and the performance of some pieces.
I have come up with a possible solution.
The performance issue is an easy — and pretty obvious — problem to solve.
I have to work on my skills and presentation to attract more attention
That is my problem, not the publications — perhaps I was just looking for an excuse as to why my writing wasn’t performing as well as I’d hoped.
When it comes to the issue of delay disrupting my flow, I have a plan.
I need to write more and publish something every day
As mentioned above, writing helps you dissect your problems.
And I think the problem here is volume.
I would write an article, send it to a publication then wait for it to be issued before trying to send another piece.
The Plan
Upon realizing where I’ve been going wrong — thanks to writing — I have come up with a plan.
By writing an sending a piece to a variety of publications every day — or as often as possible.
My thinking is, yeah it may take a while for each piece to become available for members to read.
But, if I keep writing and sending every day then eventually it will catch up.
Then, in theory, a piece of my writing should be published nearly every day.
That’s what I shall try anyway. Only time will tell if it works and if not I’ll adjust and try something new 😀.
Publications, advantage or disadvantage?
I believe that if done correctly then the use of publications will be a huge advantage in growing your followers and having more people read your work 👍.
What are your experiences using publications? Please comment below.
Thank you for being a part of my writing journey. I appreciate you taking the time to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it. Check out some of my other writing below 😊.
