LAST UPDATED JANUARY 2023
How to Make the Most of Your Experience as a TDS Author
A quick guide to our resources and FAQ
As TDS editors, we know that many of our writers have similar questions about the writing and publishing process, and having quick access to the information you need can help streamline your writing workflow.
Below, we’ve collected some of our most useful (and frequently used) resources and links for authors—we hope they make your TDS journey smoother. If you ever have any questions about a topic we don’t address here, we also added info about how to contact our team.
Where do I find the most up-to-date info about TDS guidelines?
We’re glad you asked! As the fields of data science, machine learning, and AI evolve, so do our editorial guidelines and best practices. If you’re ever unsure about any aspect of your post (image use, dataset licenses, article citation — or anything else, really), you can find the latest version of our policies here:
In case it’s been a while since you published with us, we recently updated our guidelines on:
We also created or updated these FAQs:
If you think there’s a question or topic missing from our resources, please let us know!
What to expect from our editorial team
Whether we decide to publish your latest submission or decline it, we always carefully review every article you send us, and try to do so as quickly as possible (as a small team, we may at times require up to a few days to respond, but typically our turnaround is much faster than that). We aim to share concrete feedback with you on how you might improve your writing or edit your article to fit within our editorial guidelines. We also occasionally rely on the subject-matter expertise of our volunteer Editorial Associates, who can provide more granular, technical input on specific topics. Our success as a publication and your success as TDS authors go hand in hand.
We help each article we publish reach the largest possible audience by ensuring that it meets Medium’s distribution standards and by promoting it on TDS’s sizeable social media accounts.
Every day, we also feature some of our best articles on our Editor’s Picks and Deep Dives pages, as well as on our curated columns. You can receive a selection of our latest features, Editor’s Picks, and updates from our team by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Variable. We recommend browsing our handpicked selections — they’re excellent reads, and they can also give you a better sense of the types of articles that perform well on TDS and that our team finds especially compelling.
How do I grow my audience?
Authors publish on TDS for many reasons, but finding an audience and sharing your insights with a broader community is the one goal that most of our contributors share.
Our most successful authors write informative and original articles. They cover topics that matter to our audience of current and aspiring data professionals. And, perhaps most important: they do so consistently. If there’s one key element to growing your reach, it’s this: develop a writing habit. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or a different cadence, find a rhythm that works for you and stick to it. A regular publishing cadence fosters loyalty among your readers, who will know when to expect your next article; your writing habit becomes their reading habit.
Many authors sometimes feel like they have nothing to write about or that every possible angle around their topic has been covered. That’s never true! If you need inspiration, we’re happy to offer some ideas on generating article topics.
The other side of the equation is to ensure that the articles you do publish get read—this is where spreading the word and promoting your work come into play. If you’re not sure where to start, we share helpful suggestions and strategies in our Writer’s Workshop: The Art of Promotion.
How do I earn money from my writing on Medium?
Authors have leveraged their work on TDS into multiple income streams and career opportunities. For anyone interested in monetizing their articles directly, the way to go is to join the Medium Partner Program, where writers can earn based on the amount of time Medium members spend on their posts, as well as the number of referred memberships they generate.
Note: the Partner Program is run entirely by Medium; the TDS team doesn’t have access to or control over your earnings.
Medium often shares platform news and advice for authors on its own blogs, so subscribe to the Creators Hub and 3 Min Read and you’ll never miss an update.
Have a question?
Whether you want to ask about a topic not covered here, got stuck during the publication process, or have anything else you’d like to share with us, you can visit the Contact Us page to find the various ways you can reach out.
