Blunt Talk About Why Posts On Medium Don't Get Boosted
A lot of writers used to get “curated” back when it was called that, and now they’re not getting boosted. It’s frustrating. I get that. So let's talk.
I’m going to be pretty blunt, okay? And I’m going to be blunt because some people can be pretty rude. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. Some people love the boost program at Medium. Not everyone does. And that’s fine. Opinions are free.
A lot of writers used to get “curated” back when it was called that, and now they’re not getting boosted. It’s frustrating. I get that. Let me tell you what the solution isn’t. The solution isn’t to verbally attack boost nominators. Not publicly or privately.
Last week I got a scathing and astoundingly rude email from someone accusing me of personally benefiting from the boost program and a bunch of other ugly crap I don’t need to repeat. Because, you know, we nominators just hand pick our friends, the program is a con and it doesn’t give decent writers a shot.
Wrong on all counts. Nominating my friends is useless if they can’t write. I’m not the decider. I only get to suggest stories to the curators. They say yes or no.
As for being a con? Boosted stories pay at a higher rate. If you have two stories that both got 1K reads, and only one got boosted, it will pay at a higher rate. That’s something boost nominators do for you. If you don’t insult them, of course.
From what I’ve seen, boost has the potential to offer more visibility and views than the old curation program ever did. It’s not perfect. Not by a long shot. I could write a very long diatribe about the shortcomings. But it’s better than what we had. My opinion.
I looked up the writer. Had she been polite, I would have reached out personally. Because I could see exactly why she’s not getting boosted. But I don’t reward rudeness with response and don’t plan to anytime soon.
I can’t help weak writers learn how to write. I wish I could but that’s their job. But I can offer tips to writers who have a strong voice, but are making some correctable mistakes. Here’s a few of them. Hope you find them helpful.
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1. Good writing can’t save a weak topic
Here’s what a lot of writers need to learn. Getting boosted means Medium curators think your story will have appeal to 500+ random strangers. If you’re writing about the lady next door being a curmudgeon about the tree growing over the fence, that’s not going to fly. Widen the scope. Make it about shitty neighbors. Now you have a shot. Boosted posts need to touch on themes random strangers want to read about. If only people who know you would be interested, it’s not going to fly. It’s just not.
2. It’s too short and it’s not a poem
It is super hard to get a post boosted if it’s under 4 minutes. Unless it’s a poem. And poems don’t seem to get boosted as easily as essays. There’s just not enough meat there in a 3 minute essay. Your experience may vary. That’s mine.
3. It starts out too slow or the pace is slow
Let me tell you how it works when a post gets boosted. They start by dripping it out to a few hundred people. If the response is good, they keep going. If it dies on the vine, they stop. You have to grab the reader early. Most writers could chop the first paragraph or two and have a stronger story.
4. Too much intro junk in there, especially with prompts
I kind of hate writing prompts. Not the idea of it. The idea itself is kind of fun. It’s a challenge to see what you can do with a random idea. But what people do with it? Christ. So often, they start out with a chunk of explanation. Who wrote the prompt, what they’re responding to, etc. A link to the post. Please. Stop. Just write the story. Add a line at the bottom, if you want. This is a response to (something) prompt. It’s not Facebook. It’s not a social media game. Just write the story.
5. Sometimes, there is no reason. It’s just whack.
I have a pretty good eye for what the curators are looking for. I usually have an 80% acceptance rate on nominations. But sometimes a good story gets declined. And I don’t freaking get it. It happens to me, too. I wrote about Flowers For Algernon. Over 3K claps so far. It was not boosted. Curators are human. They get it wrong sometimes. That’s all I can say. They needed more coffee. Or made a bad call. No explanation except it happens. Don’t take it personally. It happens to all of us.
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If you’ve had a few stories boosted, but not frequently, I’d love to know if the list above rings any bells. If you’re a nominator and can add to the list, please do!
Little side note —
A couple of you are waiting to hear back from me. I didn’t forget. Work has been just whack with too many technical issues. I’ll be in touch soon, I promise. :)
On Medium
If you enjoy my writing, I’d appreciate a heart or share. Thanks!
xo,
Linda
It never ceases to astonish me how eager some people are to shoot themselves in the foot. Insulting an editor who can nominate posts for Boosting? Even if every word that writer said was true -- and not one word of it was -- that would still be a breathtakingly dumb thing to do.
Hey Linda, I love these tips! About poetry, though, I've been nominating almost exclusively poetry these days. I've had almost all of them boosted! I've made a list of all boosted poetry and fiction I know of here, including ones I've nominated: https://medium.com/@sieranlane/list/7bbc4c9516d9
What I've seen working for poetry: Skilful use of metaphors, similes, imagery, and word sounds (including rhythm). I would avoid going overboard to the point where it feels overdramatic, though where that line is may be subjective. I would also avoid writing a poem that is made up of all abstract terms; concrete images are your friend!
While poems are short, it might be a bit too short if it's only one stanza long. XD Also, if you write a love poem, I would try hard not to make it sound cliche, to find some way to make it more unique and interesting.
Plus, remember the sensitivity criteria that Medium released lately, so content involving explicit violence, sex, profanity may be rejected. It's not completely impossible, and I did manage to get a poem with several F bombs boosted, lol. But you would have to be very tasteful about it, so it's better to avoid them if possible.