Get Your Stories Curated — Key Takeaways From Tim Denning’s 3-Day Course

You’ll need to read this if you want to get curated

I signed up for Tim Denning’s free 3-day writing course, and here are my key takeaways from Day 3, which is focused on getting your stories curated. If you want to earn good money on Medium, then you need to get as many stories curated as possible.

Here are the key takeaways from Day 1: 14 Key Takeaways From Tim Denning’s 3-Day Writing Course.

Here are the key takeaways from Day 2: 10 Key Takeaways From Tim Denning’s Writing Course: Day 2 — Images & Intros.

What is curation?

Medium introduced the curation system as a way to ensure that only the best quality stories are featured on the platform. Readers pay a monthly subscription fee to be able to read stories here, so the quality needs to be high. They aren’t going to pay for content that’s average or below average. Never forget that your are writing for your readers.

Every time you publish a story it has the possibility to be curated. If your story is chosen for curation it will be shown more widely across the platform and outside the platform. That gives it a chance to be seen by more readers. This gives your story a greater chance of being viewed and read more often. That will result in more money being earned, which is the whole purpose of writing here.

It’s by getting enough of your articles curated that you can end up as one of the best-paid writers. Tim Denning has around 80–90% of his articles curated. When he first started only around 20% were curated.

Right now around 6–7% of my articles have been curated. I need to improve my writing, and taking Tim’s course is a way for me to learn what’s needed.

Why are most stories not curated?

There are very simple reasons why the majority of stories aren’t curated. Here’s a brief overview:

1. All images need to be cited so that the curators know where they came from. You can’t just copy images from anywhere.
2. Stories about conspiracy theories are never curated.
3. Stories that involve rape, violence, and similar subject are not curated.
4. Clickbait titles will never be curated.
5. There shouldn’t be any affiliate links in your articles. You are allowed to have affiliate links, but those posts won’t be curated. Medium is not a place for affiliate marketing. Readers come here to read quality articles, not to be sold to.
6. Calls to action at the end of your stories should be one line. Don’t write long paragraphs linking to many of your offers.
7. There shouldn’t be any spelling or grammar errors. This should go without saying. Have some respect for your readers.
8. If English is a second language for you, your stories may not be curated. The English needs to be to a standard of a native speaker.
9. No rants are allowed.
10. Have you written quality content? If not, you won’t get curated.
11. If you are making any claims, they need to be backed up with a citation. Use common sense here. Don’t link out too many times.

You followed the rules but you’re still not getting curated

If you aren’t breaking any of the curation rules and none of your stories are being curated, then it may be because the quality of your writing is not good enough. In this case, you need to work on improving the quality.

Publishing your article in a trusted publication can get you automatically curated. It’s very tough getting into those publications though. Sometimes it’s better to just write high-quality articles and self-publish them.

Curated posts can get views and reads for a very long time. They may be featured on various pages for weeks or months.

If you want to make good money you need to get as many articles as possible curated. The way to do this is to focus on writing quality stories and not breaking any curation rules.

For full details of curation rules, make sure you read Medium’s Distribution Standards. It’s essential that you know what the rules are and what the curators are looking for.