Thank You, Reedsy

Thank You, Reedsy

Dear Reedsy,

I wish to express my gratitude to all the creators, staff, professional support members and, of course, the talented contributing authors that make up the Reedsy community. As an aspiring author entering the weekly short story contests my linguistic pursuits have been enhanced and inspired by this online family.

Before I relate my journey let me thank and congratulate Laura for her tenure as prompt coordinator in Reedsy Prompts for the pass five years, if I understand correctly, and welcome Isabelle to the position this week. I wish Laura well in whatever her new endeavor will be. I am sure this job has been rewarding and challenging for her. She handled it superbly.

I must admit sometimes I am befuddled as to why one contest entry won over some of the other excellent submittals I had read during the week but I remind myself I am not a literary expert. So I respect and accept the judges choices. Most of the time I am awed at the prowess of the winners and the shortlisted runner-ups. I am also amazed at the talented writers from all over the world that pour their heart and souls into this platform to make it so outstanding. Wish I could read all of your entries but it is physically impossible. As it is I follow over 400 writers and try to read each of their new entries. Luckily for me, they don't all contribute every week. I notice that in my time participating others come and go as time and other projects allow.

Personally, I started submitting stories in February 2023. As I write in my Reedsy biography I never wanted to be a author. Didn't think I was any good at writing. Did the necessary assignments in school satisfactorily enough to make good grades but didn't enjoy the process. Then some whim hit me and I wrote a whole book. Once it was completed wasn't sure what I planned to do with it. I took an online course from our local community college about how to get published.

That course recommended the Writer's Market annual manual as a reliable source for information. I ordered the book. It recommended entering contests in order to get some credentials behind your name. Reedsy was listed as an excellent resource. Thus I discovered Reedsy. I understand this site is so much more than short story contests but so far have not taken advantage of the other potential benefits. I plan on rectifying that oversight.

My older sister often honored birthdays and anniversaries by writing song parodies. I thought I would return the favor by writing a short story in her honor. My first entry was a tribute to her for her seventy-fifth birthday. It barely caused a ripple on the scale but still I received some encouraging feedback. It is still one of my favorites of my own stories. I believe it has the potential as a children's book. It's something I want to pursue.

(I have heard this expressed by other authors here that it is difficult to be noticed or even found on the website. I sometimes wonder if a search option could be made for an author or the name of a story? My guess is it doesn't exist for our own protection. It would also help if the judges names could be alphabetized:)

Once I started submitting a story every week, not only did I receive encouragement but was also offered constructive criticism on what could be improved in my writing and hints on how to be more noticed by other participants. The best tip was read to be read. If you like, comment and follow someone's works they are more apt to reciprocate and read yours. Even though it not a race for 'karma' points they do register you as an active member of the community. I kept finding more and more friends that I enjoyed reading and they enjoyed mine. Soon, without ever striving to, I found my name on the leader board. Now I am number 18 out of 100! That's a wonder! The leader board is also the place I found some of my favorite writers. Thank you for that feature.

Another bonus for us struggling authors is the Critique Circle. I tried this forum and found it extremely beneficial to get feedback on my projects. However, even knowing it was to improve my skills as a critic, I dropped out because I felt I was short-changing my assignments since I found it hard to find fault and only gave short responses. Some give such wonderful detailed analysis. Very helpful. I can pick out small mistakes but can't expound on the nuances of the piece that the author is probably hoping for. Maybe that's because I don't have the literary background so many members possess.

This entry will be my 80^th story. I took down one because it was picked up to be published in an anthology. That was another contest I had entered. Some of my stories are adapted out of the 81,000 word book I wrote. The first fifty pages of it won a medal as the best western genre entry at a prestigious writer's conference after I entered their contest. So take heed, entering contests can get some notoriety and credentials after your name.

That brings me to the point I need to make. I am very grateful for the opportunities Reedsy has given me to showcase my body of work as meager as it is. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. So much so that I spend all my free time indulging in the richness of the tales spun here. Thus I have sorely neglected the purpose of my beginning this journey. Getting my book published. I have submitted it to some of my contacts but it has been rejected or is still under consideration. To be successful I need to submit it to many more or tweak the content some. I think some of the resources I need have been right under my nose this whole time. I need to research and call upon the talent right here with Reedsy to complete my journey. Therefore, I am stepping away from entering a story every week as I have tried to do and can't promise I'll be able to read all the stories I would like to enjoy. I know I have promised to do this before but must be selfish now in order to 'get 'er done'.

Thank you so much to everyone for all your support and encouragement. It has meant the world to me. I'll still be observing and may contribute occasionally.

Sincerely,

Mary Bendickson, Author on Reedsy since Feb, 2023; one story 'Donuts Do Not Die' shortlisted; one story 'Timothy's Birth Day' accepted to anthology 'Finding the Good Through the Rain'; Winner of Western Genre Claymore Award at 2023 Killer Nashville Writer's Conference