June Update from the Partner Program
Working with editorial, writer spotlight, new personal growth publication, and June payments
Opportunities to work with our editorial team are growing. In our last update, we shared several Medium publications seeking submissions from platform writers, including Modus, GEN, and Human Parts. You can find a full list here of Medium publications you can submit to. To provide more clarity on how this improves your stories, we’ve shared the details of what the editorial and production teams bring to your stories when you work with them.
If you’ve worked with an editor before, you know the kind of support their expertise brings. Editors help bring the story to life or take it to the next level. They see beyond the writing to the core of what you’re going for, and help you get there. You’re not alone — they’re with you through the challenging parts of shaping the piece. When everything goes right, readers will often find the story clearer and more compelling, and you will have delivered the best version of your story. Read further to learn more on working with Medium’s editorial and production teams.
Writer Spotlight: Robert Roy Britt on the human condition
Great ideas come from everywhere, and Medium is working to support the platform writers who share them.
Robert Roy Britt is a platform writer who covers the human condition and how to improve it in his own publication, Luminate. He began submitting pieces to Elemental for consideration, and they’ve done incredibly well. “The Case for Walking” is currently a top read for the publication. Because Rob does a lot of reporting for each piece — he looks at studies, and talks to researchers — Elemental recently assigned him a story covering a study on coffee consumption. He explains the science, and it was also a very popular story among Elemental readers.
If you’re curious about what helps make Rob’s writing compelling, he’s put together a roundup of writing tips.
Call for Submissions
Forge: For writers covering personal development
This month we launched a new publication on personal development. Forge is here to examine and illuminate our constant struggle to get more done, invest in creativity and focus, and be happy doing it. We provide a toolbox of research and expert-backed strategies to be more productive, inspired, and whole. We’ve launched with a collection of stories on focus:
- Matt Richtel describes the commodification of focus, and the need to let our minds rest.
- Nina Renata Aron highlights downtime and daily maintenance as an essential part of the creative process.
- The ability to focus is a function of privilege, writes Roxanna Asgarian.
Our next theme is “space”: personal space, architectural space, public space, space created or abandoned because of technology, women asserting their right to take up physical and metaphorical space, how people are finding space to be alone in (like “she sheds” and even just sitting in cars outside their houses). If you have stories that you think would fit, you can submit them to forge@medium.com.
GEN: For writers covering politics, power, and culture
GEN is a new Medium publication focused on politics, power, and culture. We’re looking for experts in their respective fields to share stories that will help our readers understand the powerful forces reshaping our world.
GEN is recruiting writers who are at the top of their game. We’re on the hunt for political scientists able to cut through the noise, accomplished authors looking to clear the air, or professors with a passion for dispelling myths. We want to know what years (or decades) on the job taught you, whether it gave you a unique perspective on our culture, or inspired fresh ideas on how to better serve future generations.
Send your pitches or 800–1,000-word stories to gen@medium.com. Please write up 2–3 paragraphs describing the story, and add a few lines explaining why you are the best person to write this piece.
June payments
On 6/26, we processed payments for the month of June. As usual, these payments were based on the depth of engagement from our members (distributing each member’s $5/month based on their engagement last month).
Based on member engagement from June:
- 55% of writers or publications who wrote at least one story for members earned money.
- 7.8% of active writers earned over $100.
- $13,577.33 was the most earned by a writer, and $3,913.74 was the most earned for a single story.
Words to write by
In “How to Be a Better Writer,” Gareth Branwyn gives advice across the writing process — from just starting, to developing a habit, editing your own work, working with editors, and finally receiving feedback. These tips will improve the clarity, readability, and style of your stories.
“Writing is something that you can do, and do well, if you know how to get out of the way of yourself first — and organize what comes burbling out into something that can powerfully communicate your thoughts and feelings.”
