But only if you turn on your email notifications….
I edit a publication on Medium, which means I spend an inordinate amount of time reading Medium. Which is pretty cool. What’s even cooler is finding an amazing story that fits NewCo Shift’s editorial voice and POV, then reaching out through Medium’s elegant platform to ask the author if we can run it in our publication. The author gets to reach a growing audience, Shift gets great writing, the audience gets a great read — Win Win Win!
But roughly 15–20% of the time I reach out to a new author, I get this:
And that’s a bummer. Fortunately, a quick web search for the author’s name often results in a contact email. Every time I’ve reached out in this way, I get the same response: “I had no idea my email notifications were turned off.” Medium automatically sets email notifications to “on,” as far as I can tell, but lots of folks rummage around in their settings and turn email off as a matter of course. What isn’t obvious to many is that when you do that, you make it impossible for us Editorial Types to reach out and connect via Medium. Which is a shame. So if you’re a creator on Medium, do us all a favor, and turn your email back on! The Internet thanks you.
Oh, and by the way @medium, pretty please, show us your “This Writer Don’t Do Email” error message BEFORE we create that perfect, individually tailored email intended to woo the writer whose work we adore. Telling us after wastes everybody’s time! KTHXBYE.
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