Share Short Stories
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The amount of people I know out there who should be lauded for their talents is ridiculous. The creativity and craft I have come across in such a short time has blown me away. It has often left me wondering: If these artists/writers/musicians are so good why don’t they get more of a mention?
In most cases the answer is simple: talent alone is not enough.
This concept can be difficult to accept for many creatives out there. The hard work is not making something out of nothing; it is making something out of your marketing. The time spent creating your work pales in comparison to the number of hours you will spend on social media, posting your work and promoting yourself.
I will be completely upfront with you. I have been on Medium for five weeks, with little idea of what to do or how to do it. I read articles, in the beginning, had a look around before blindly publishing my work.
What was a publication? How do I get accepted?
Despite my naivety, I knew the power of social media and the potential reach it offers. To tap into a far greater audience, I would need to navigate my way through the crowds of people who are looking to achieve a similar goal.
I scoured through Facebook and joined writing groups in the hope I could find like-minded writers who were looking to share their work. There were only a handful of Medium groups which surprised me, considering the platform has over 10 million members. To this day, I share my work in these groups, which enables me to reach a bigger audience.
As I scrolled through the sharing threads, I hardly saw anyone posting links to their short stories. Knowing it would be difficult and time-consuming, I pondered the idea of making a new group from scratch. I weighed it up and thought this could be a great concept if I could get readers and writers to share in my vision.
It was then the idea of Share Short Stories was born.
Starting with a handful of stories and a picture of a sad clown, I began to invite my friends from Facebook. Some were interested while others didn’t seem all that enthused. My eyes looked from my stats page on Medium to the small gathering of members on my Facebook group. Intimidated by the sheer numbers of members in other places, I wondered if my pipe dream would end before it had begun.
The other members have also played their part in creating a safe space for writers to share their work without worrying about scrutiny or judgment. The success of the group is partly down to their openness which has created such a pleasant atmosphere.
The place is buzzing with activity. There are more than ten posts per day, and many links to stories and articles found here on Medium. Our very own Dr Mehmet Yildiz was kind enough to promote my group to ILLUMINATION writers, and I am thankful for his support and expertise at times when I feel out of my depth.
What started as a place to promote my work has turned into a community that I am proud to say I am apart of. I want to help and guide those who may feel overwhelmed by Medium and do my best to offer my experience on ways to network and grow their audience.
There have been days when I have read such sad accounts from writers who feel their writing is not good enough. They convince themselves into believing they don’t have what it takes to be a success. Please believe me when I say you are good enough, and your voice and ideas matter. When the stats are down, we will be around.
Share Short Stories goes beyond its original purpose. The term ‘group’ does our community a disservice. What we are apart of goes beyond any Facebook group I have ever known. We are a community of friends first and writers second who seek an opportunity to showcase their work.
We are always looking for new and talented writers who will buy into our ethos of encouragement, appreciation, and acceptance — your success is our success.
So, the next time you post your story online, make sure you pop over and say hello. Your newfound audience is waiting for you…
Dean Middleburgh is a writer that has had the good fortune to write for P.S. I love you, Invisible Illness, The New North and Storymaker. Please feel free to follow him and read his short stories here: https://medium.com/@deanmiddleburgh
Here are some of our members and their work:
Meet some of our members:
Karen Madej, Matilda Fairholm, Jezebel, Heather Sinclair, Jessica Alfaqih, Stephen Scott, Stephen Dalton, Livia Dabs, René Junge, Christina M. Ward 💗, Elise, Julien Dimastromatteo, Janie Emaus, Sydney James, Layane Moura, Amy Cottreau, Andrew Stuart, Alex Boast, Gabriela Rosales, Ingrid L. Williams
