JQMEDIA-Here’s what we think you should know about writing on Medium this month:
Why your About page is so important — and why Medium made it
better
It’s easy to underestimate an “About” page. After all, your
readers have already found your work. Finding out more about you is just a
bonus. But the About page isn’t a bonus when it comes to a decision to follow
you or not follow you. Chances are, you don’t only want your readers to read
this one piece, but you’re looking to build your following, which will present
your work to more readers each time you publish. A compelling About page can
make the difference. This post explains why we’ve made the About page even more
robust, and how you can maximize yours.
How to choose a headline (and more from our workshop series)
We recently wrapped up season 3 of our Creator Workshop series. This season, we talked with Medium creatorJulio Vincent Gambuto about going viral. Medium staffer and magazine veteran Ross McCammon shared the secrets of writing a great headline, which can have an immediate impact on how many people read your stories on Medium. And we had a workshop about finding your writing niche — which can also help you never run out of ideas. We’ll have more on season 4 in the next newsletter.
3 writers we think every Medium creator should follow
Cassie Kozyrkov
, who recently published a remarkably helpful guide to
statistics jargon.
Eric Weiner
, who writes in this post: “Writers are not experts. In many
ways, they are the opposite. The expert knows more and more about less and
less; the writer knows more and more about more and more.”
Elisabeth Ovesen
, who is now
publishing a book based on a viral Medium post. We featured her recently on
Creators Hub: “What a crazy ride, and really, I have Medium and its members to
thank for that. Together, they have helped me rebuild my confidence and
courage, and helped me find my voice after years of being told my experiences
and the words that described them were shameful or invaluable.”
Coming soon: Simplified mobile apps, built for reading
In the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing a series of changes to our Android and iOS apps, focused on a faster, smoother, and more consistent reading experience. The goal with these changes is to help readers discover more authors and topics, and to make it easier for them to read and share stories from their mobile devices. It will also be a significant step forward in creating a more unified and familiar Medium experience across Android, iOS, and our website.
With our focus on an exceptional reading experience, however, we’ve made the difficult decision to remove story editing features from our native apps as well as controls for profile customization. Both of these features will continue to be accessible from our desktop web app.
Our aim, as always, is to connect writers and readers as
best we can, and to provide seamless experiences that emphasize what’s most
important: your creative work. We believe these changes help us do that, and
we’ll continue to provide updates as we improve our apps further throughout the
year.