Simple Ways To A Head Start

I am not yet a book author but I do look forward to the day I publish my own book — An international bestseller. That was the dream which led me to explore ways to improve my writing, the reason for my coming onto Medium and Vocal Media.

Coming onboard Medium was life-changing as it makes me realise there is actually a path for a non-writer to become an accomplished author. The path is not an easy one though, one that would be filled with struggles and setbacks. But it is not one that would be lonely, as there are a lot of wannabes here, just like me, and we all have identical passions and carry similar dreams.

Being a newbie, I get a lot of support from the community, a lot of tolerance and leniency from the editors. My requests may get rejected, but fellow editors are kind and supportive, offering good advice on how to market myself and improve my work. My mood may be dejected, but fellow wannabes are always there to give encouragement and provide valuable support.

It is hard work trying to be a good writer, but it is also rewarding to make good friends in the process. In the short time I am here, I have learned quite a number of important things that other wannabes tend to miss. To do well on Medium, you must first know where you stand and what your rights are. Once you figure out your role(s) and your rights, the only thing to do is to use them to your advantage and claim your rights to a head start.

Roles

There are only three roles on this platform, not counting the organiser that is running this platform.

1) Readers are the consumers. They are like the shoppers in this mall, Without readers, this platform would be a ghost town. Readers are kings because they paid $5 to be one.

2) Writers are the content creator. They are like coolies that is building up this place. Without them, there is nothing to see.

3) Editors represents the publications, they are the showroom and galleries that coolies come together to show off their work.

Being a newbie is a blessing and I am here to share with you why and how you should maximise your status as a newbie in the different roles you play to quickly rise up and gain a headstart in your writing journey.

1. Reader

Some of you think that this is the lowest in the hierarchy, you cannot be more wrong. You have just paid $5 for it and the least you can do is to understand the rights that your money has bought you.

Being the reader, you have the rights to;

• Highlight.
• Comment.
• Clap.
• Follow.

If you are into building your profile, you must exercise your rights to do the four things stated above. If you simply read without actions, you are not doing yourself justice and your hard work to read fellow writers’ work would go completely unnoticed and unappreciated. Why work in silence?

Highlight

When you read, highlight the words that catch your attention and when you highlight, Medium would save them for your reference later. It would also show up on the authors’ articles, informing them that something they wrote caught their audience eyes, and guess what? Your name pops up. You just became their editor, regardless of who the writer is. You are given the right to judge their work and they will value your “kind” judgement.

Comment

When you judge, you should only leave a comment to thank the authors or leave a word of encouragement. By doing so, not only are you motivating the authors to write more, but you are also positioning yourself to be their endorser. Highlight Tim Denning’s words and tell him why you agree with him. Do it not once, not twice but every time he publishes. Do it often enough and Tim Denning’s words won’t be complete without you agreeing to it. And people will notice you. Your presence will be felt in a positive way, not just to the authors, but also to those who are reading the comments you leave behind.

Of course, the example is hypothetical, you shouldn’t target Tim, he is my target, you should go find someone else who is established within your community.

Clap

If you are too shy to say anything, at the minimum, clap for the writers. This would inform the writers that you have read their article. Be generous with your claps and people will notice your presence in a favourable way.

Follow

Finally, if the writers inspire you, follow them to see more of their work. In return, you might have a follow back. Even if you don’t at least you would be decorating your profile with things you like to read.

If you claim your rights often enough, your presence as a supportive reader would be registered with many writers. Which writer doesn’t value a supportive reader?

BE WARNED!!! The reverse is also true. You criticise and you will quickly become a nuclear waste that nobody values. You do that and you will earn your rights to be BLOCKED.

2. Writer

The good thing about Medium is, there is no qualifying period before you can become a writer. As soon as you are ready, you may begin to write your own article. Fortunately, writers have additional rights over and beyond their role as readers. Here are the rights they often misused or are not aware of how to use to their advantage.

1. Find a publication that would value-add to your writing
2. Choose the topic that triggers your passion
3. Mention another writer(s) to rally their support

As a newbie, it is generally not encouraged for you to self-publish because you don’t have a decent reader base. Work that is self-published at this infant stage would not attract any readers regardless of how well they are written. Your only choice is to publish through publication.

Find the right publication

Newbies always complain no pubs want to publish their work. That is because they don’t know where they stand and are confused about their rights. They try an established pub and beg them to publish their broken pieces. Are they out of their mind? They clearly didn’t know who they are and where their rights reside.

Go to the many new pubs and say hello. Those newly minted editors will be like sales agents swarming around you explaining to you what their new pub is about and why you have to write for them. English may be your second language, they said no matter. You have bad grammar and they will say they have Grammarly. You haven’t thought of what to write yet, they will still add you immediately. You can’t wait long for your draft to be published, and they will publish it immediately.

The service is world-class, what frustration can one be facing here?.

With some big pubs asking more than 5 days in advance for submission, I wonder why any newbies would want to write for big Pubs during their beginning stages. In that 5 initial days, one would have published at least 5 articles with small pubs and clocking in views and earnings already.

Having said that, you cannot just write for one or two pubs. You must spread the bulk of your articles around the different small publications and carefully position them to attract the correct type of audience unique to each publication. By doing so you will achieve two things. First, you are building loyalty with the publication and you will earn yourself regular mention in their weekly round-up and you may even get featured during their newsletter. Second, you are building relationships across different publications, hence if all mention you, your profile will grow at a faster pace than if you were to publish with only one or two pubs.

Choose the right topic

Writing is not easy, hence you should choose your writing style wisely. No point writing about something that you have no interest in. When you write on topics that you enjoy, that is called passion. When you write something that you don’t like, that is called stress. Stress yourself and you won’t go far on this platform. So be wise about what you choose to write, Don’t write about a topic because it has the best chance for you to become a top writer when you know full well you have no interest in.

Mention other writers

Choose to mention other writers in your articles. When I say ‘mention’, I mean tag them so that they know you are doing this for them. Explain to your readers why you are recommending them, and the writer you have mentioned will be thankful. Do it as a habit, genuinely in all your articles, each time mentioning a different writer, and they will all come to check out the fellow who is helping them to market their work. This will also inadvertently drive the views of your articles up. And best of all, everyone will thank you for it. Do it enough times and this will become a self-reinforcing positive spiral and over time it will cause you minimum effort but you will enjoy its cumulative benefits. You will be very well like in the community and in return people would not hesitate to reciprocate and push your work to the next level.

3. Editor

Not many newbies can end up as editors for a publication, but if you do, take it, even though it might be pro bono. The role of an editor has some perks that would be very lifting for a newbie. Even if you can’t find an editor vacancy, you can always start your new pub. But I do have to say it is not easy for a new pub to do well, so think very very hard before jumping into starting one.

As a new editor of a new pub, you have the ability to do things that you don’t normally get to do as a writer.

1. Invite writers to write and collaborate.
2. Organise regular challenges.

The ability for an editor to do the above opens you up to a whole new connection level with other writers.

Invite writers

Unless you run a popular publication, no one is going to write for you, but that doesn’t mean you cannot invite writers to join. When you exercise your rights to invite, yes you might be turned down, but there is also the chance that the writer will say yes, for those who do, you will build a relationship. You develop a few more of such relationships and your publication is going to take off. When your pub takes off, you will rocket along with it.

Organise activities

Editors can be more creative than writers. Editors have the ability to organise weekly challenges or do weekly round-ups, These activities or collaborations are all win-win partnerships, where you will leverage on each other to gain compounded readership that would not be achievable if you publish in isolation. It is hard work but it is also rewarding because besides just writing, you are making friends. Some connections may even turn out to be long lasting.

“When you know your rights, you will know your way.”

Wise words from Coffee Times.

This is how I have gained 1000 followers and become top writer in under 7 weeks.

You can check me out on Medium here.

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Other Must-Know techniques that I have used to aid in achieving my headstart.