How to Choose the Best Publications for Your Stories

Matching your content to the proper publication is one key to gaining readers

Photo by russn_fckr on Unsplash

If you are new to writing you may think the correct answer to choosing a publication is whichever one will have me. However, matching your story to the right publication can be the difference between ten reads, 100, 1000, or even more.

I have been posting on Medium for just under one month. The first story I wrote to dip my toes in the water was self-published and sat at zero views for more than a week. To date, it has garnered a grand total of nine views with zero reads.

I came to the platform with no followers or history whatsoever and resisted linking to any social media. So getting into publications was absolutely essential to getting any readers.

One month in, I’ve been published in thirteen different publications, and yesterday I had two editors reach out and ask me if I wanted to be a writer for them. If I can go from zero to thirteen in less than a month you can too.

Getting into publications as a newbie

So how do you get into publications as a writer with no built-in audience and no portfolio?

1. Self publish a few stories