Most Publications Are Dumping Yards
How many of them make an effort to promote your content?
There was a time I received requests from various publications on Medium. They wanted to add my post, that had already been published, to their publications. Of course, it was not a transaction but an act of generosity.
Then some publications became big. A writer had to approach them. I did not hesitate to. Ego was never in the picture. Getting a wider reach was an absolute priority. Has the move worked?
Well… Not exactly.
The reason is plain and simple. The top publications on this platform tend to take things for granted. They keep adding writers, inviting drafts and publishing or rejecting them.
That being said, merely publishing a submitted draft is not their sole responsibility. They are also responsible for making sure that a published draft is read by as many people as possible. Else, there is no point in submitting a draft to that publication in the first place. Self publishing is always an option. Isn’t it?
Like with every sphere in life, there are a few publications on Medium where the editors believe in an interactive approach. There’s back-and-forth exchange between a contributor and an editor before a submission gets published. Of course, this helps not only to get both on the same page, as in understanding each other, but also works to benefit from submission in the final analysis.
Then again, these few publications can be counted on finger tips. Most make the contributor do all the work, do not even bother to give a submission the importance it deserves and publish it with a careless attitude. Yours is just one of the many drafts that is dumped on this dumping yard on a given day. If you are lucky, it may be read by a few, else it gets lost in the heap.
How many of the publications actually make an effort to promote your content? How many of them bring back a published piece to get the reader’s attention? How many use their social media platforms for aggressive marketing? How many have readers who actually read?
What’s the reason for this apathy, you may think? For starters, having too much on the platter coupled with lack of planning (and resources) means they do not bother about giving the published stories the prominence and publicity they deserve.
If an editor goes through a draft and notices a few shortcomings, rather than correcting it or engaging with the contributor, the draft gets rejected altogether. There’s an unconvincing response that accompanies the rejection, but never any clarity.
The most common reason given when a publication declines a draft is that it does not adhere to its submission guidelines. Fact is, most publications themselves aren’t clear about their own guidelines, the same keeps changing now and then. Do not be surprised if your submission gets rejected, but a similar submission is found on the main page of that same publication. Mind you, the scope of any reasoning or a valid argument is zilch.
There is also a complacency factor rather sheer lethargy. There are publications that stretch things a bit too far. A writer submits his/her post and keeps checking for days, and there is absolutely no activity from publication whatsoever. They do not publish anything for days and then go ahead with the entire backlog one fine day. As a consequence, all the submissions get lost in the heap. If this is not a lackadaisical approach, then what is?
Then there is the other side. The big names associated with a publication are busy bolstering their own brands. Nothing wrong with it. Absolutely not! At the same time, there is also nothing wrong with a writer feeling neglected, shortchanged and dissatisfied with a publication that he/she had joined with a certain hope.
All things considered, it is not something difficult to understand. When a publication invites submissions, it is aware the volume will result in a glut of content, and an overall increase in the editor’s work. Are they well prepared for such a scenario? Well… not exactly. In fact, it is a much easier alternative to either decline a submission or dump it in a heap. If a contributor suffers, so be it.
It is a devil and deep sea scenario. A contributor may join a publication expecting a wider reach, and the chances of the move backfiring are very high. Blame it on complacency or highhandedness publications to take their contributors for granted. No one will ever admit to it, but it is a fact.
Next time, before submitting your draft to any publication, pause for a moment, and think again. Is it going to actually benefit you?
