Ever find yourself drowning in a tsunami of notifications, wondering if the universe is trying to say something profound or if it’s just one more “please add me to your publication” spam? I’ve been there, and let me tell you, it’s enough to make anyone want to toss their phone out the window! In today’s digital landscape, where every keystroke can lead to a flood of requests, I’ve learned that managing inbox madness is not just a task—it’s an art form. As the owner and editor of one of Medium’s most revered publications, The Writing Cooperative, I’ve hit my limit with unsolicited requests masquerading as genuine communication. In this article, I’ll unpack my frustrations and offer a tongue-in-cheek reminder that the rules of engagement aren’t only for corporate emails; they’re crucial for writers too. So, if you’ve ever wondered how to catch the attention of a publication without falling into the comment spam pitfall, you’re in the right spot! LEARN MORE.
This is going to be a bit ranty. You have been warned.
The Writing Cooperative is one of the biggest and oldest publications on Medium. Over the last decade, we’ve published thousands of articles written by thousands of contributors from all over the world.
As the owner and editor of the publication, my Medium notifications are practically useless. I get notified for every submission, highlight, note, you name it. It’s a lot. To try and maintain a level of sanity, I’ve set up a pretty comprehensive email rule to send most of these notifications to the trash:
:0:
* ^From:.*@medium.com
* ^Subject:.*(submitted a story|sent a draft to|has been published|added your story)
/dev/null
This rule deletes just about everything, leaving my inbox with emails about comments on my articles — in other words, the things I actually care about.
Unfortunately, a new kind of comment spam is plaquing Medium right now and further destroying my notifications.
I get some version of “add me to your publication” daily. Which, fine. I get that people want to submit to The Writing Cooperative. We’re popular, and stories tend to do pretty well. But comments on random posts (or emails sent in reply to my newsletter) are absolutely not the way to make a request.
Frankly, people who request this way tempt me to block them from asking again. Why? because I could not make writing requests simpler. It’s right on the front page of the publication! It literally says “write for us.”
The submission guide is intentionally a long read. The volume of writing requests and submissions I get is enormous, and our standards are high. You know what one of the standards explained in the guide is? Let me draw your attention here:
Requests to contribute via email, private note, social media message, or any process other than the request form below are ignored.
So, this is a friendly reminder that I am ignoring comment spam requests. They are annoying and waste my time. Please do not do that. I only have so much of it to go around.
