Get featured on Medium
A story in a Medium publication, written to its standard
We write a custom story under your name and manage the placement in a Medium publication. You approve every word before it goes live.
- You approve every word
- Unlimited revisions
- Reply within 24 hours
How do I get featured on Medium?
We develop your story, write the feature to editorial standard, and manage the placement. You approve every word before anything goes live.
About Medium
Medium describes itself as a home for human stories and ideas, with over 100 million people connecting and sharing on it every month. Much of its most-read writing sits in publications, shared spaces run independently by Medium members around a common theme.
Why a feature here matters
A story in an established publication reaches that publication's followers as well as yours, and Medium's curators can Boost strong stories across its homepage, emails and apps. For founders and experts it is a lasting place to set out what they know in their own name.
Best for: Founders, operators, consultants, coaches, engineers and specialists with first-hand experience to share, especially in business, startups, technology and self-improvement.
How coverage happens at Medium
There are two ways in. The first is to do it yourself: write the story on Medium, find publications that accept submissions, follow their guidelines and send it through Medium's Submit to publication option. It is free, but each publication's editors decide whether the story fits, publications open to all limit guest writers to three active submissions, and some are closed to new writers. The second is to work with DNA. We develop the angle with you, write the story to the standard Medium's curators and publication editors look for, and manage the placement in a relevant publication. You approve every word before it goes live, and the story appears under your name on your own profile.
The kind of story that lands
Medium favours first-hand experience over polish. Its distribution guidelines say a story worth Boosting has a clear reason why this writer is writing about this topic, brings a fresh perspective rather than rehashing what is easily found elsewhere, and leaves the reader better off. Content marketing and stories written mainly to sell are kept out of wider distribution. The strongest fit is a founder explaining what they learned building something, an expert unpacking a decision readers face, or a practitioner's honest account of a mistake and the fix. Business and startup stories suit publications such as The Startup; reflective personal essays suit titles such as Mind Cafe. The story must be human-written, because the guidelines rule out AI-generated text.
How to Get Featured on Medium
To get featured on Medium, you publish a story under your own name and get it accepted into an established Medium publication, where its editors review it and its followers see it. Medium's curators can then Boost especially strong stories to a wider readership.
The hard part is the second step. Publications are run independently by Medium members, each sets its own rules, and editors decline stories that do not fit. You can do it yourself, or DNA can develop the story, write it to the publication's standard and manage the placement, with you approving every word before it goes live.
What Medium is
Medium describes itself as a home for human stories and ideas, a place where anyone can share knowledge without first building a mailing list or a following. It says over 100 million people connect and share on it every month, from software developers to CEOs.
Publications are the part that matters for visibility. Medium's help centre describes them as shared spaces for stories around a common theme, usually by several authors. Each has an owner, editors who review, publish or reject submissions, and writers who contribute.
How to get featured on Medium
Being featured on Medium usually means two things: appearing in a respected publication in your field, and being picked for wider distribution. Medium sorts stories into three levels. Network Distribution shows a story to people who follow the writer or the publication. General Distribution matches it to readers by interest. Boost, chosen by Medium's human curation team, gives especially high-quality stories priority across the homepage, emails and apps.
A story in a publication reaches your followers and the publication's, so where you land shapes who reads you. Boost is decided by Medium's curators against their published guidelines, and nobody outside Medium can promise it.
How to submit a story to a Medium publication
Medium's help centre sets out the mechanics. Open your story, enter edit mode, open the story settings from the three-dot menu, choose Submit to publication, pick the publication and click Send for review. Points worth knowing before you start:
- Publications under the Contributing tab take submissions from writers they have already added; those under Following accept submissions from writers who follow them.
- Publications open to all limit guest writers to three active submissions each.
- A publication may accept drafts, published stories or both, and may require an image, a subtitle, a minimum read time, a matching topic or a paywalled story.
Once accepted, the story's URL changes to include the publication, it stays on your profile, and you remain credited as the author and keep the rights to your content.
Write for us: The Startup, ILLUMINATION, Mind Cafe and Better Humans
Because each publication sets its own process, write-for-us details live on the publication's own pages rather than in one central place. When we checked, The Startup's about page linked to its submission instructions. ILLUMINATION's about page pointed writers to an application. Mind Cafe, which publishes relaxed, inspiring essays about happiness, has a Submissions page. Better Humans, a self-improvement publication that counts professional, research and personal experience as expertise, said new authors' submissions were on hold.
What makes a strong story for Medium
Medium's distribution guidelines are unusually specific. Curators look for a clear reason why this writer is writing about this topic, credible first-hand experience, a fresh perspective rather than a rehash of easily found information, and writing that is well crafted and properly sourced. Stories must be human-written, and only English-language stories are currently considered for Boost and General Distribution.
The same guidelines keep content marketing, PR pieces and stories written mainly to sell something or gather signups out of General Distribution. That is why a press release reposted to Medium goes nowhere. What works is a founder's account of a hard decision or an expert explaining something readers misunderstand, with the business mentioned only where it belongs. For comparison, see how a business story is shaped for Entrepreneur.
How the process works
With DNA, the work runs in four steps. First, we agree the publication that fits your subject and audience. Second, you share what you know and what readers should take away. Third, we draft the piece in your voice, to the length, structure and topic the publication expects, and you revise it with us until it is right. Fourth, once you approve every word, we manage the submission and placement and send you the live link.
How long it takes
Expect weeks rather than days. Time goes into finding the right angle, drafting, your review and the publication's own editorial review, and editors work through submissions at their own pace. Boost, if it happens, is a separate decision made by Medium's curators after the story is live.
How we get you in Medium
Questions about Medium
Is the Medium coverage a real, published feature?
Yes. It is a genuine article published on the outlet, written about you and your work — not an ad you design yourself.
How long does it take?
Most placements take weeks rather than days. We give you a realistic timeline for Medium before we start, and never promise a date we cannot control.
What if I am not happy with the draft?
You review and revise until it is right. Nothing publishes without your approval.
Is Medium free to publish on?
Yes. Medium's help centre says membership is not required to read or write, and anyone with a free account can publish stories. Membership is needed to create your own publication, not to submit to someone else's.
How do I get published in a Medium publication?
Find a publication that covers your topic, read its submission guidelines or about page, then use Submit to publication from your story's settings. Its editors decide whether the story fits and may ask for edits before accepting it.
Where can I find Medium publications that accept submissions?
Medium does not keep an official list of publications, though its help centre links to a non-exhaustive list of ones accepting submissions. The surest guide is a publication's own about or submissions page, which explains whether and how it takes new writers.