My Medium Stories’ Template
Simple practices and tools to improve your posts and get better publication acceptance
I tried Blogger and WordPress before getting on to Medium. What drove me towards Medium was its simplicity with minimalist features, letting me publish content without much hassle. Also, the Medium Partner Program seemed more transparent and easier to qualify for.
While on Medium, here’s what I learned by having my stories rejected or sent back by publications and also by going through the detailed guidelines posted by most publications.
Submit drafts
I self-published my initial stories only to get hits from my friends with whom I shared the link. Later, I learnt about publications and that you get a wider reach by publishing your stories on these publications. Also, being accepted by quite a few publications that are open to adding new writers is not that difficult. In fact, for some, it’s as simple as writing a comment expressing your interest. Check “Write For Us” or “Submissions” on the publication’s page.
However, most publications accept stories when they are submitted as drafts or ask you to share draft links for your stories. You get both these options by clicking the three dots beside the Publish button when on the draft story page.
Image attribution
To be honest, when one publisher asked me to attribute images, I had to google what he meant. I found that it’s giving the right credits to the images you use, which can be as easy as adding some simple captions. I also found that publications won’t entertain using any random images from the web as it may lead to copyright issues.
Medium however is integrated with Unsplash, a site that offers freely usable images. You can add royalty-free images by simply clicking the “+” icon on a new line followed by the search icon. This would also take care of the image attribution by adding auto-captions to the images.
I use Unsplash for most of my images and for photos from my collection, I use the below simple captions.
“Photo by Author” for pics clicked by me.
“Photo courtesy of Author” for my pics or my group pics, clicked by a stranger or someone whom I don’t recollect or by someone who doesn’t wish to be named.
“Photo Courtesy:” or “Photo by” followed by the name of the person who clicked it provided that I am sure the person would be comfortable with me sharing his or her name.
If I wish to describe the images, I add my captions followed by the above attributions like “My SJCAM C200! Photo by Author” as in one of my stories.
Similar to Unsplash, other sites like Pixabay and Pexels also offer royalty free images but since they are not integrated with Medium you would need to download and upload the images. Also, this won’t add auto-captions and to correctly attribute the images you would need to add links referring to the photographer and the site. Now that’s too much work!
Anyways, if you wish to know how to add linked references to your image captions, refer to The Intermediate Level section in The Absolute Necessities You HAVE to Know About Using Images, a Medium article by Timothy Key that helped me understand image attribution better.
Most importantly, even with the above practices, I primarily don’t use any random images without proper consent. For example, while uploading your group’s photo, some in the group, you never know may not wish to be published or your photographer friend may not be comfortable with you publishing his work, even if you use the right attribution.
Quote attribution
Similar to photos, give credits to quotes too by mentioning who said it. Also, mention quotes within double-quotes and click the “ icon in the formating pop-up that appears whenever you highlight any text. This would change the line’s format to italics and would also differentiate quotes in your story.
Linked Sources
Some publications as in point 5d of the comprehensive The Writing Cooperative Submission Requirements and Style Guide by Justin Cox have stricter guidelines for quotes and claims, asking you to include linked sources.
Linked sources however can easily be added by selecting the text, followed by clicking the link icon on the formatting pop-up and adding the URL. This would convert the selected text into a hyperlink.
Below is my article on Feedback where I have used a quote from Elon Musk at the end adding a linked source to it.
Linked sources ideally should be included for any content that’s taken from somewhere else. You may find hyperlink texts in this article as I have added linked sources at multiple places, which also includes references to Medium stories from other writers.
You could also have linked sources stand out separately and not as hyperlink text. To do this, simply add the URL on a new line and hit enter. Medium would automatically convert the link to an attractive box. The box above referring to my article on Feedback is an example of this.
Tagging other Medium users
You may have noticed Timothy Key and Justin Cox’s names above appearing differently in green (different colour). This is tagging other Medium users giving them their deserved credit when I use or refer to their content.
You could tag other Medium users just like how you tag your friends on Instagram or Facebook, by typing @ followed by the user’s name.
I was encouraged to use tags on reading Dear Writers at Coffee Times, a letter from Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, one of the editors for the Coffee Times publication.
You may also check, How to Properly Use Links in Your Medium Stories, a definitive guide on using links and tagging by Timothy Key, one of the editors for the Illumination publication
Affiliate links
I was checking out amazon.in one day, to see if there’s an option where I can share one of my articles that I wrote in appreciation to Kindle. I didn’t find anything to share my article but I came across the Amazon Associates program that gets you affiliate product links which you can further advertise and earn benefits.
I researched more to know that Medium and most publications on Medium don’t have issues having affiliate links in your stories provided that they are called out. It would be even more ethical if you share more transparency by mentioning that you would gain some profit from the links.
So if I wish to promote something, I mention something like “You may use the below affiliate link. I would get a portion from your purchase at no extra cost to you” which I derived from Benny Lim’s words that he used to promote his Medium’s referral link in his article Stricter Rules For The Writers’ Blokke Publication To Start Immediately.
Clickbait
Clickbait is misleading content with an intention to drive traffic.
We are so used to seeing clickbait that we may end up writing it and also believing that we have a great headline or content. However, most Medium publications don’t entertain this deceit.
A subtitle followed by an image
My initial stories didn’t have a subtitle or an image and were sent back. This is however not the case with all publications but I follow this practice as it helps my titles be more precise.
Splitting my title into a subtitle increases its impact and interest compared to having everything in the title.
And images, it’s a no-brainer that they grab more attention to your stories.
Bullets
I wondered how to add bullets as I didn’t find it in the formating pop-up. Later one day while going through The Writing Cooperative Submission Requirements and Style Guide written by Justin Cox, I came across point 8d.4 only to laugh at myself for how could I miss trying this on Medium having used it so many times in Microsoft Word.
You can add bullets simply by starting sentences with (*) or (-).
Grammarly
Recommended by quite a few publications and why not! It’s one of the best tools to correct your grammar and spelling without spoiling your flow while you write.
Title Case Converter
I don’t remember which publication guidelines had mentioned this tool. However, I am glad to have read them and very thankful to whoever posted it as I have been using this tool for almost all of my tittles since then.
Before my introduction to this tool, I wasn’t aware of the title case and how it works. Well, I need not worry about it now too, as this tool easily gives me the desired result. I only need to paste my title in the text box and hit Convert.
Below is the link for using the Title Case Converter.
Paraphrasing Tool
I didn’t learn about this tool from any publication but was suggested to me by one of my dear friends since school, Asgar Ali. I can’t thank him enough as this tool comes to my rescue whenever I am repeating words.
It’s easy to use as you only need to paste your content into the textbox to the left and hit Paraphrase. Hit Rephrase for even more options.
Click here for using the Paraphrasing Tool.
Content, obviously!
Having followed all of the above practices and tools, I think that your article would get better traffic and acceptance from publications when you have good content and also one that matches the publication’s theme.
I hope you find this experience of mine useful as you compose your own stories. Thank you for reading and please feel free to share your questions, suggestions and feedback in the comments. Let’s write better together!
If you liked this story you may also enjoy my other story on how to write effortlessly by using these 3 simple techniques to capture your natural flow of thoughts.
Happy writing!
