Three Suggestions For Writers On Medium
Medium had a Goldilocks problem. After years of trying, they finally hit the sweet spot and are poised to show their first profit. That's good news for writers.
A few days ago, Medium’s CEO did an interview with Semaphore. He said Medium has had a Goldilocks problem. They’ve tried going too high, and too low. They once tried paying professional journalists and running their own publications. It failed. Then they went too low. Let algorithms run the show. That failed, too.
After years of having money go out the door as fast as it came in, Medium is finally poised to earn its first profit. The Boost program is the sweet spot they were looking for. It makes me happy that in a world of too much AI, human curation by nominators across different topics is what finally made the difference.
March will be a year since I was invited to participate in Medium’s Boost program and I’ve learned so much in those months. The goal is to expand the program so that any publisher who wants to participate will be able to. I don’t know how long it will take to get there, but I’d like to talk about some of what I’ve learned.
I understand how frustrating the boost program can be to writers, especially if you used to get curated under the old system and you’re not getting boosted. I’d like to try explain why that happens and how you can increase your chance of getting boosted. Because it makes a difference. Not just in views, but in pay rate.
Best analogy I can come up with is art or photography. In the art/photography world, there are juried and non-juried shows. If you apply to a non-juried show that wants twenty exhibitors, it’s a pretty easy process. You bring your work, they look and say yeah, that’s pretty good. And that’s it, you’re in. That’s the old curation program.
At a juried show, they take applications, separate them into categories and judge your work against people creating similar work. You paint nature, they compare you to the other nature applicants. Same if you paint portraits or still life. If you get rejected, it’s not that your work wasn’t good. It’s simply that you weren’t top of your category. Someone brought something unique that you didn’t. That’s the boost program.
If you write poetry, how does it compare to other poetry. If it’s a book review, how does it measure up to other book reviews? Same for personal essays, fiction, and posts on every topic you can think of.
In the past, they looked at content going up and if it was “good” they curated it. But under that system, so many posts were curated that it stopped meaning anything.
It was a little ego boost to see that your post was distributed, but by the death of that system, distribution wasn’t doing much to move the needle. Too much was curated.
Now they’re looking for what amount to best in class. In the curation guide, they refer to it as “cover” stories. Like a magazine. Lots of stories inside, but only a few make the cover. As a nominator, our job is to learn what top of class looks like. As a writer, it’s helpful for you to look at it that way, too.
And look — you don’t have to. If you don’t care about getting boosted, then just keep doing your thing. But if you do care, and you want to get boosted, it helps to understand some of the thinking behind the system.
It’s not a perfect system. They don’t always get it right. I’m not really supposed to say that. lol. But after 11 months of looking at post after post, you get a feel for what makes a “cover” story. And it’s frustrating when the curators don’t agree. But it happens. That’s both the upside and the downside of human curation.
When I first started, 60% of my nominations were accepted by curators. Eventually, nominators develop an eye for what stands out in its class, topic or category. Last month I came in at 90% acceptance rate and I’m pretty proud of that.
Based on all the posts I read, every day, I’d like to share three things I wish more writers would do to make their writing stand out from the madding crowd.
1. If you write essays/prose, aim for 4+ min read time
Sometimes I am stunned how many pieces start out strong and then just — end. Too short. Listen, it’s super hard to get a 2-3 minute essay curated. The writing has to be exceptional and if you’ve gotten a 3-min read boosted, kudos to you. In most cases, there’s just not enough to sink your teeth into.
Poetry is a different animal. But if you’re writing an essay or prose, strive for 4-7 mins read time. I run three publications (lot of work!!) and when I see writing that’s good, but short, I ask writers if they can hit 4 minutes. It really makes a difference.
2. If you write personal essays, dig deeper to find the story
A lot of personal essays are a play by play of something that happened. And that’s fine. But they probably won’t have a high boost rate. At the beginning of boost they did. But when people realized personal essays were getting boosted, the number of people writing them increased.
It goes back to that juried vs. non-juried analogy. You’re up against a lot of writers. You had an argument with your spouse, your kid was a jerk, it’s hard being a stepmom, your spouse has cancer. You know what I mean?
Don’t just give a play by play. Dig deeper. Mine your heart and find the bigger story. There always is one. The surface story is a “this happened to me” story. But deeper underneath it, there’s a story a lot of people can relate to.
Not just the play by play of the visit to the doctor and the diagnosis. What the hell am I going to do without him? How do you contemplate losing the other half of you? Every surface story has a deeper story that resonates with more people.
Here’s a suggestion to help you see what I mean. Go to the publication you’re going to submit to. Add /latest to the publication url and scroll down. Look for the posts with most claps and comments. That’s the bar you need to clear.
3. Learn to write prose like a poet
Here’s what people tell writers. Write like you talk. What they mean is don’t write like a stuffed shirt. Don’t write like academic, like it’s a college report. Don’t use five dollar words if a nickel word would do. Use plain and simple language. But the truth is, the way most of us talk isn’t always compelling reading.
Perplexity is the ability to combine words in uncommon ways. Ways that ChatGPT would never use words. Ways that make people stop and pay attention.
He didn’t frown in displeasure, displeasure smeared his face. Don’t tell me you didn’t know what to do, tell me you’re lost and don’t have a map. Don’t say you read a lot of books, tell me you crawl into books like ants in a log. Write prose like a poet. In the language of metaphor and emotion. Play with words, make them a joy to read.
If you want some inspiration, spend a little time reading at The Interstitial. It’s a publication run by Roman and Tisha. That’s the only kind of writing they accept. Prose written like a poet. You’re not looking to “copy” anyone’s style, of course. You have your own style, as you should. But there’s inspiration to be had there.
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Your turn…
I’m really glad to know Medium is finally going to become profitable. That bodes well for writers. It makes me happy to know that having human sorting through the tends of thousands of posts going up every day has made that difference.
If you’re a writer and you’ve had some posts boosted, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you see any difference in posts that got boosted, versus posts that didn’t? And if you’re another nominator, I’d love to hear your thoughts based on participation in the program, too. What have you learned? Any tips for writers? Let’s talk. :)
Spot on, Linda. As an editor/fellow nominator, I'd echo all of this.
Two other points I'd emphasize for writers:
*Establish your credibility early. Even if it's a memoir or experiential piece. Readers can google almost anything. Why should they read your take instead?
*Use the "get to the recipe!" rule- You know those recipe articles that shove 750 words in front of the recipe card? Don't do that. No purple prose, no needless descriptors. Be economical with your writing. And ruthless.
P.S. People are online for two reasons: to be educated or entertained. Writing a story that does both greatly improves the odds of it getting Boosted.
That is excellent news! That ensures that Medium has a chance to stay in the game and that they'll continue to find ways to improve a good program. It's a very merit based system, and that's something that's been sorely lacking in the writing market.