You’re Not Allowed To Edit Already Published Stories

The other day a Medium writer called Lisa (she uses a pen name on Medium) reached out to me.

She told me about her fear that Medium would ban her.

We exchanged some emails.

I wanted to know why she thought she would be banned from the platform.

Her answer:

Because I edited the tags of several of my published posts and XY said this wouldn't be allowed.

Funnily my student Jeanine Tew shared her insights about this topic today in our exclusive Boot Camp Community.

Jeanine opened a ticket and reached out to Medium.

👍They informed her that she could edit her posts as often as she'd like.

⛔However, I have also read that if you publish in a publication, editors do not appreciate your making significant changes to your post after publishing.

⛔Nicole Akers, for example, says that fixing a typo is ok, but DO NOT make material changes.

⛔What are material changes?

I changed tags on a former story without problems, but I would think changing a headline is a material change.

I think so too.

You can fix typos, update your post or update a link but you shouldn't change the headline for instance.

The bottom line

You are allowed to edit already published stories on Medium.

For instance, update and change your tags once you've learned how to tag properly and which tags are eligible for Top Writer status.

Introducing The Full List Of Medium's Top Writer Tags in 2021 If you want to become a Top Writer on Medium, here's the full list of tags that are eligible for Top Writer status

You won't get banned for this.

But please keep Medium's publications and editors in mind and don't make significant material changes.

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