A Beautiful Tale of Friendship between Writers and a Publication

I can recall from my memory a conversation with a close friend of mine, “ My dream is to write in internationally renowned magazines, and want to write the stories in such a way that my readers start to love me.”

But, I was clueless, I did not know what to do, how to do, and whom to approach, and my dream seems a mirage.

However, I had a strong faith in our Almighty and know if I am dedicated and sincere, He will show the right path for me.

Then, one fine morning I landed on Medium, explore the fascinating stories and beautiful publications.

I found out that the vision of one of the publications named Coffee Times seems to be a better fit to nourish my dream. The Chief Editor, Winston, says in one of his excellent articles titled The Dream of a Small Publication -

“I have a vision for Coffee Times to be the leading digital lifestyle magazine that people would enjoy reading during their coffee times.”

I found Coffee Times as a far-sighted publication, and I started to follow that to reignite my passion for writing featured stories in internationally renowned magazines.

Bouquets of 1K Claps

In the last three and half months, I wrote 24 stories while around ten were with Coffee Times, and surprisingly all of those get a minimum of 1k claps.

The melody of these 1k claps for each article has freshened up and energized me. Not only in terms of claps but also audience engagement in terms of reading time is remarkably higher with Coffee Times.

I feel humbled and honored for this love and embrace from this kind-hearted community. Coffee Times has given me the scope of receiving this warmth, love, and inspiration.

We Rise by Uplifting Others

Coffee times has developed the culture of uplifting others through mandatory shout-out while publishing any story of a writer.

When I first read this mandate, I immediately fell in love with this, found it graceful, meaningful, and wonderful.

This practice has rooted the value of uplifting so profoundly that a story without giving a shout-out to fellow writers seems like something missing in my crafting.

A Friend Knocks at the Door with Surprise Gifts

One fine morning, I opened a notification where Coffee Times has mentioned me as one of its Coffee Times friends.

I was surprised, touched, and loved thinking what a beautiful gesture of calling its writer a friend. With time I realize this is not just for the sake of saying, but they mean it.

A true friend helps us grow by warning us from doing anything wrong and helping us choose the right path. Right?

I find the strategic help of Coffee time a surprising gift for us as a friend.

Winston published an article where he pointed out why we, the writers, should invest in the long term for our writing journey. It opened my eyes that I must strike a balance between short-term and long-term plans as a writer.

Another strategic point is that we should not put all our eggs in one basket.

Doesn’t it sound like the words of a true friend?

Every time, Coffee Times surprises us with exciting challenges, visionary and strategic articles for building a writing career, interesting self-reflective prompts, fascinating weekly roundups.

Towards the Bigger Dream

Guess what?

A few days back, I got the first opportunity to write in Coffee Times Substack Magazine, and this is the first baby step towards my dream.

I can see a ray of hope painting my dream colorful.

I want to create a brand of mine that justifies my name, ‘Umme’ means mother, and Salma means peace, so the whole meaning of my name is Mother of peace. I want to craft my stories such that my reader feels peaceful reading my stories.

I know miles to go, but I am not alone in this journey as my friend, Coffee Times, and my beloved readers are with me for helping me in creating my brand and moving towards my dream.

The story by Winston that seeded the thought for doing something as an Investment in the long term titled Why You Should write Newsletter

If you have not yet checked it, please read and sow your seeds accordingly.

My Wholehearted thanks go to Winston and all the extraordinary editors of the Coffee Times Dr. Preeti Singh, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Yana Bostongirl, Sharing Randomly, Marrisa W., Vincent Van Patten, Drashti Shroff

A big thanks to Trista Signe Ainsworth for publishing my story at her beautiful publication, Thank You Notes.