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Medium
A Not So Gentle Reminder
To not submit to publications
When people Google how to succeed on this platform, one of the first pieces of advice they find recommends submitting to established publications. And on the face of it, that would make sense. But the further along the road I get here, the less convinced I am that course of action is worth its weight in dog shit. And here’s a perfect example of why I say that.
Recently, one of my favorite writers on Medium suggested I submit to a publication I won’t name, citing that she had a story appear there and garnered some new readers in the process.
The very next day, I wrote a story that didn’t fit the format of any of the 7 publications I’ve started here to avoid submitting to others. Normally, there would be context for at least one of that septet. But not with what I wrote that day.
So I sent it off to see if I would meet with the success my friend had. Bad idea. What followed was no fewer than 20 private notes nitpicking away at what I’d written.
I’m not saying that some of the suggestions weren’t worthy. But I will say this: I’ve been published in the Daily Beast, NY Daily News, New York magazine, the New York Times, and about 40 other publications not worth mentioning. And I have never had an editor make near the…
