My First Story Read by 1,000 People on Medium
It was a story worth reading.
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It was an exciting moment for me to see my story “How to Feel Better” get so many people reading it. It might be routine for many Medium writers but this was the first time for me. Most of my stories get far fewer reads, so I thought I’d dig into why this one did so well.
Picked for further distribution?
Yes, the story was “picked for further distribution,” so are many of my other stories. I looked and that didn’t seem to be the reason. When it was distributed, it only gained a dozen or so views. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that the big spike in readers happened.
I’m excited about each time a story I write is “picked for further distribution.” It means that an editor somewhere liked what I wrote. It is validation that all the work I put into writing the story was worth it. Sometimes it gives my stories a noticeable boost, but for some reason this time it didn’t.
Was it the publication?
I believe there are a lot of Medium writers out there that think they have to get into a big publication. They think that is the answer to get a lot of views and reads. There might be some truth to that theory. I’ve had a few stories published in some of the larger publications. I’m sure it helped them get more views, but it isn’t the magic bullet. It is only one piece of the puzzle.
Was the publication the key to my story taking off? I don’t think the publication was the turning point. The story sat for about a week before it took off. If it was the publication, the reads would have come much sooner. Stories show up on a publication page in chronological order. When my story took off, it was buried below several newer stories.
I am a big fan of the publication, “Chang Your Mind Change Your Life” that selected my story. They do great work. I’m proud to be a contributing author for them, but they were not my first choice for my story. I write for several publications. I approached a couple of other large publications, but the story was not accepted. It wasn’t within their editorial objectives. I understand that, but it was a good story. Couldn’t they see that?
