Start Here: Introduce Yourself to Everyone on Medium!
New writers to About Me Stories start here.
Introductions
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
These words cause your heart rate to jump for one of two reasons — it excites you or makes you uncomfortable. Either way, we spend our entire lives introducing and labeling ourselves to people frequently.
Introducing yourself to another individual or group of individuals is essential to establish who you are, your credibility, and why you are there. These introductions can happen anywhere — from job interviews to workshops, classes, networking events, and first dates. Writing on Medium is not an exception.
Introducing yourself on Medium is critical because you’re using your words to communicate and influence others. Readers will want to know the writer behind the words and why they should read what you have to say.
After reading a story, a reader subconsciously asks themselves questions like, “Who is this writer? What makes them qualified to write about a topic? Have they written more stories similar to this topic? Why should I invest time into this writer?”
However, understanding who you are is more than just transactional about qualifications and time spent with each other. Understanding your identity can create an emotional bond with potential followers and readers. An introduction humanizes you from concept to form — someone is behind these words.
Some readers will find the story they read so relevant they’ll seek out more stories from the writer. These sorts of readers want to establish a human connection with the writer, especially after reading a story that resonates with them.
Every Medium writer looking to be serious or gather a following should introduce themselves to their readers. It’s part of establishing your personal brand.
The Publication
A Letter from the Founder
About Me Stories is a publication dedicated to hosting stories about the best part about Medium: The Writers, Bloggers, and Dreamers!
I aim to make this publication a welcoming place for established and new writers & creators alike.
In 2020, this publication was created to feature the short autobiographies of the writers. I wanted to give a platform for those who want to tell others who they are, why they’re here, and their goals — in their unique way.
The publication surpassed my wildest expectations and has grown to a sizeable (but still fast-growing) community of 5,000 writers (as of Apr 2023)! Many writers have reported to me how they’ve been able to use the publication’s unique focus on the writers themselves to network with other writers, meet new friends, and find great people to follow. It’s been such a humbling experience for me as its founder!
On its one-year anniversary, I announced that the publication was changing some things! About Me Stories updated its submission guidelines to include more types of personal stories. The publication now welcomes personal essays focusing on self-development and other types of self-reflecting stories. The traditional ‘About Me’ introduction stories will still be here.
All writers are open to submitting stories to the publication. The only requirement is that all new writers must submit an ‘About Me’ introduction story first.
Thank you for being so interested in joining the community! Wishing you the best with your writing journey. Cheers and welcome!
Quy Ma, Founder of About Me Stories
The Values of the Publication
- Represents diverse views of writers & creators from all over the globe, with different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and perspectives.
- A friendly, inclusive, inviting place for all writers & creators, serving as an icebreaker for people to network with each other.
- Bringing you into the spotlight. Self-love is important, and this publication’s format seeks to normalize putting yourself first and giving you room to self-reflect.
Submitting your Introduction
Why You Should Submit an ‘About Me’ Introduction Story
- An avenue to tell your followers who you are.
- It allows you to explain your writing areas of expertise.
- The chance to tell a more in-depth and longer bio.
- The possibility of building a stronger connection with your followers.
- It provides an opportunity to share your other social media profiles to build your following.
- A chance to strengthen your personal branding.
Many writers have reported to me that their ‘About Me’ story ends up becoming their most-viewed story of all time on Medium.
I’ve also received feedback from many writers that their ‘About Me’ introduction stories could be directly tied to an increase in followers. Readers want to know who the writers are!
Your About Me introduction story will never go stale. You can update it whenever you want as you change and grow. You can also pin your ‘About Me’ introduction story to the top of your profile for more exposure(see below on how).
New followers will always be interested in knowing more about you, therefore offering the potential to earn more read time indefinitely.
So what are you waiting for? Don’t be shy! If you’re a new writer, that’s even better!
Tell us a little bit about you, read about and follow others, and let’s support each other in our writing journeys!
Style Guidelines
- Your title must be in this format “About Me — Name” (Ex: About Me — Quy Ma). Capitalize every word and use a double dash before your name.
- Subtitles can be used to describe who you are in a nutshell. It can be a witty catchphrase, a quote, or a one-sentence statement. Use the little T to format your subtitle in the formatting options.
- We prefer unpublished drafts to help give maximum exposure to each individual About Me story, but we do accept published stories.
- At a minimum, each story submitted must have an autobiography where you describe who you are. Feel free to be as creative as you want to describe yourself.
- Your ‘About Me’ introduction story needs a picture. While it is encouraged to use a picture of you for personal branding, you can use any picture you feel best describes who you are. If you add a picture, set the focal point of your image to ensure it’s displayed properly when published. Here’s a link on how to do that.
- After you submit your story to the publication, make sure you tag your introduction story with the tag, “About Me”.
- If you’re stuck on what to talk about, here are some ideas:
- Where are you from?
- What do you do for a living?
- What are your Medium goals?
- Talk about your partner/kids/family!
- What makes you unique?
- Any cool experiences?
- Which topics do you like to write about on Medium?
- What pets do you own?
- Where have you traveled to in the world that resonated with you?
Remember to always prioritize your safety online. Avoid revealing any revealing personal information!
Additional Guidelines
- You’re welcome to include contact information, personal websites, etc, to further market yourself in your ‘About Me’ introduction story. In fact, it’s encouraged!
- Your privacy is respected and should be considered. If you write anonymously under a pen name, feel free to introduce yourself as you see fit. Feel free to divulge as much information as you’re comfortable with.
- You can provide links to other stories you’ve written in your introduction posts.
- Don’t forget to pin your About Me story in your Medium profile for maximum visibility. See below for the steps on how to pin your story.
- By submitting your About Me Story to the publication, we reserve the right to publish your submission on your behalf to our website and social media feeds. This could potentially help distribute your story to more channels and followers who may be interested in reading about you. (Note: You will always retain the rights to your story.)
It doesn’t matter if you’re a new or a veteran writer when it comes to About Me Stories. Your submission can be your first post or your 1000th post. Everyone is welcome to say hello and introduce themselves as long as it matches the simple guidelines.
That’s it!
Submission Steps
- Start writing your ‘About Me’ introduction story, following the guidelines stated above.
- Once you’re done writing it, fill out the Google Form below.
- The editorial team will review your Google Form to ensure compliance with our submission guidelines.
- Your story will be published and you will now be eligible to publish other types of stories on the publication.
Your best chance to get added as a writer is to fill out the Google Form! However, if for whatever reason you cannot use the form above or it’s not working, please leave a response below, including your Medium @username (ex: @albertple88) AND the word “apple” so we know you’re reading the guidelines.
An editor will add you as a writer to the publication and let you know when you’ve been added. It may take up to 5 days to add you as a writer. Afterward, you’re free to submit your draft to the publication for us to publish.
Extra Tidbits
Medium Membership
Writing an ‘About Me’ story for About Me Stories can be a lucrative opportunity for Medium writers, as it has been reported that this type of story often performs well over time.
However, you must become a Medium member to receive payouts for your stories. Despite the $5 monthly cost, being a member offers unlimited, ad-free access to Medium’s stories, the chance to join a community of writers, and the potential to earn money for your writing.
To sign up, you can join here.
Pin Your “About Me” Introduction Stories in Your Profile!
A year ago, many writers noticed the new profile format was switched to a long-form view. This gave me more exposure to the top parts of the profile. A few writers decided they could write About Me Stories and pin them to the top of their profiles for more visibility.
About Me Stories can be advantageous to those seeking to build their following on the platform and expand their personal brand.
Here’s how:
- Go to your profile, and choose your ‘About Me — Your Name’ story.
- At the bottom right of your story, you should see “…”.
- Click it, then click “Pin Story.” See the below image.
