6x Top Writer. I grow brands, businesses, and people for a living. Side-hustling addict. Gamer. Photographer. Dork.
My Bio
Welcome to my profile page! My name is Quy Ma (pronounced kwee maw, if you were curious).
I’m 33 years old and I’m a first-generation Vietnamese American, the oldest of three boys. My parents immigrated to the United States after the Vietnam War to start a new life, away from an oppressive regime in the 1980s.
I was born in Oakland, California, raised in Houston, Texas, and now live in the beautiful state of Utah with my wife and two Siberian Huskies.
Submission Guidelines for “About Me Stories” Publication.
The Publication: About Me Stories
Introductions
We spend our entire lives introducing ourselves to people in every situation possible. Why should Medium be an exception?
One of the most important things a Medium writer should do is introduce themselves to the world with their first post. Veteran Medium writers have also figured out an “About Me” story gives their followers additional details about who they are.
I figured a place like a publication that can host all of the authors’ introductory stories and learn more about each other would make sense!
The Publication
About Me Stories is a publication that is dedicated to hosting stories about the best…
I got burned by a critical reader, but I rose from the ashes.
Dreams
I’ve always loved reading. As a child in elementary school, there was an annual contest among the students where student readers were rewarded with dog tags for each successful completion of X amount of books read. Being the competitive kid that I was, I raced to consume as many books as possible to be one of the top kids.
I loved all sorts of genres — from sci-fi thrillers to historical fiction, I yearned to immerse in the worlds that authors built for their readers when time allowed it. I looked for every opportunity to escape. …
Medium is handing out cash bonuses to top writers like candy. What qualifies you to be rewarded?
Were you awarded a bonus from Medium at the end of May? Take my survey! It’s quick, easy, and anonymous. I’ll be sure to share the results in a subsequent article in a week or you can see the results for yourself after successful completion of the survey. (You can take the survey if you didn’t get a bonus as well! More data means more insights)
Many Medium writers received a welcome surprise when they checked their Partner Program earnings earlier this week — a cash bonus! …
An unconventional approach to growing your own following by following other people (and no, that doesn’t mean spam follow)
I’m one of those people who follow way more people than the number of people that follow me. But before you judge me, let me tell you that it’s totally OK to have more a higher following count to follower ratio (which I will dub the FF ratio for the rest of the piece).
In fact, I think following lots of people has more tangible benefits for you and growing your following. Your FF ratio doesn’t matter. Allow me to explain.
My First Mistake
When I first attempted to grow my digital following on various platforms, I had read some poor advice from…
Technically, it’s three things. And not disgusting at all. But see what I did there with the title?
I see it all the time from Medium writers — the frustration and confusion about why a quality story didn’t perform as expected.
“Why can’t I get more views on my stories?”
“I got curated, but I didn’t see a really big boost to my stats.”
“I thought I wrote a really good story…”
Well, lean in towards me. I’m going to be brutally honest with you. Can you handle the truth? Are you sure? Okay. Your story didn’t get views because it wasn’t interesting enough. Sorry, had to be said.
Even if you wrote what you believe to be…
Takeaways for those that are trying to beat writer’s block.
I started writing on Medium back in September 2020, more than 8 months ago. I first started writing for several reasons:
- I was bored
- I wanted to see if I could do it
- The writing was therapeutic for me
- I wanted to improve my writing skills
- And most importantly, it was fulfilling for me
I knew writer’s block was a thing and eventually, I would encounter it. All writers do. It’s as inevitable and certain as paying taxes.
I told myself I was no George RR Martin, the famous author of the Game of Thrones hit series, A Song of…
And what you can do to be anti-racist and help stop Asian hate
A few days ago, 8 people were shot and killed by a white man in Atlanta, Georgia. 6 of those 8 individuals were Asian women. A few weeks ago, an elderly Asian man was pushed down in Oakland, California. Before that, an elderly Asian woman was set on fire. These are only a few of the many hate crimes that the Asian American community has been dealing with recently.
Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that tracks Asian hate crimes states that nearly 3,800 incidents have been reported since the start of the pandemic. Another report from the Center for the…
There couldn’t be a better opportunity to change Texas politics forever than now.
Alright, alright, alright! Last week, actor Matthew McConaughey told the Austin American-statesmen that he was seriously considering running for Governor of Texas.
Ecstatic, I shared the news on my social media feeds. I got a few messages and comments from a few friends and acquaintances that expressed a variety of different reactions from dismay to excitement and from skepticism to downright hostility.
Most of the skepticism or hostility is rooted in the fact that McConaughey is a celebrity. Hollywood celebrities, in some minds (especially MAGA folks), don’t belong in politics — oh, the irony…
Trying out different methodologies on Medium can yearn great insights for your writing
Last month, I had my least productive month on Medium yet.
Due to a series of spontaneous inspiration and personal commitments, I went through a whirlwind of activities in other areas of my life, forcing me to neglect my writing and put Medium to the side for weeks.
Here’s what happened as far as my Medium work went (or didn’t happen, for that matter):
- I wrote a whopping three articles. Woo!
- I shared two of those articles on social media — one on a Medium Facebook group, the other on Reddit.
- I read fewer than 5 articles from other Medium…
