Few have accused me of being the observant person in the world, but after a few days on Medium, I noticed something interesting. I was reading a Mark Suster post, and noticed that the byline listed “Mark Suster” in “Both Sides of the Table”. My first thought was that Medium must provide an API so authors can publish to Medium automatically as they update their personal blog.
I started reading interesting life hacking posts from different authors, and noticed that lots of their bylines listed “Life Learning”. So what is “Life Learning”? Clearly this site was not just a personal blog. Ditto for “Coffeelicious”. After doing some investigation, I came to realize that Medium has publications where Medium writers can submit their posts for consideration. It became clear that having a story syndicated by “Coffeelicious” or “Life Learning” provides a large audience for a writer that far exceed their own organic reach.
BUT THERE ARE SO MANY!
It is confusing trying to figure out what each media brand on Medium is covering. It is also very confusing on how best to submit stories for different syndication sites. It would be helpful is someone could come up with a cheat sheet listing the top sites with their submission guidelines.
“Coffeelicious” has a good post listing their submission guidelines and story preferences, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule in this regard.
Here are some of the Medium brands that are prominent in my feed.
- Backchannel: In-depth investigative tech journalism.
- Life-Learning: Self-help, life hacking.
- Coffeelicious: Personal, introspective stories.
- The Ringer: Pop culture and sports.
- NewCo Shift: The future of tech.
- The Awl: Social Justice?
- ReadThink: Business hacking, online marketing.
- The Writing Cooperative: Helping Medium writers improve.
- Free Code Camp: Developer forum.
Submit or Go Solo?
The next question is whether these popular Medium sites are equipped to handle the barrage of submissions. Today’s date is June 2nd. Coffeelicious has already closed June submissions.
Of course prolific and popular authors are going to get top billing, which is only fair. This leaves lesser known writers with fewer opportunities to break through at these better known publications.
The concept of syndicated sites with open submissions is intriguing. The reality is that these top syndicated sites are dominated by top writers, which amplifies their already substantial reach. I call this the JW fatigue syndrome. Sure, Justin B puts out some catchy pop tunes, but perhaps we could increase the radio play frequency of “Love Yourself” to more than the current 90 minute schedule.
Still fairly new to Medium, and love it so far. Looking forward to seeing how the site manages the challenge of exposing exciting new authors and stories, against the draw of the more established and well-known writers currently dominating the top syndicated sites.
This is the current “Top Stories” page on Medium (see below)
but sometimes it feels like…
P.S. I think both Jon, and especially James, produce excellent posts.
