Six Steps to Getting Published Outside of Medium

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Medium makes it easy to publish, and easy to connect with readers. Why would you want to publish your work anywhere else? Some possibilities:

1. You want to reach a community that is different than the one you’ve found or made on Medium.
2. You want to see your byline at the NYT or Ploughshares.
3. You want an agent or a book contract.
4. You want to be recognized by MSM or someone as a writer.
5. You want your work to win fellowships or awards.
6. Whatever floats your boat.

In the future, self-publishing (what Medium is made for) may be equivalent in status to getting someone else to publish your work. Writing may, in the future, be judged solely on quality. But we’re not there yet. Getting an established publication’s imprimatur on your poems or stories or nonfiction is still what matters most to agents and publishers.

No question — sending your work out to publications is time-consuming and anxiety-provoking. But it must be done, and it must be done a lot because once you reach a certain level of competence as a writer, the rest is luck. Increase your odds of succeeding by increasing your number of submissions.