Writing

Should You Submit to Publications?

I think not

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I wrote this in response to John Welford asking if he should submit to publications.

Can somebody please explain what “Publications” are all about? (And a few other questions!)

I’m going to give a very different answer than most. Some of you may not like what I have to say, but hear me out.

You don’t need publications — John proved that by gaining 150 followers within a week! — and you may not want publications.

Why not?

Visibility

When a reader gets to the bottom of your post that is not in a publication, they will see more of your work — all of your work if they keep scrolling.

If you put your work in your own publication (perhaps because you want to separate genres), the reader will see more stories from your publication.

YOUR stories. Not someone else’s.

Publications mix your work in with other people. When you are in a publication, other people’s posts are at the end of yours. Maybe they are really good stories, maybe very poor. Maybe they are…