I also remember how exciting computers were, and later the internet. If you are a writer, artist or one who has something important to express, even if you don’t know quite what form it will take yet, I encourage you to explore the many publishing opportunities on the web. They are so much faster, more democratic and more efficient, in most cases, than print publishing (which I have also done some of via self-publishing and grants). You can start by sharing your words/work with a select group of friends/colleagues on social media or by email.
I started by creating blogs on wordpress, live journal, and gather.com. You can find some of my older writings by clicking those links. Then I made my website and started to share my writing on facebook. When I wrote about the suicide of my lifelong friend Michael, Bob Whitaker invited me to publish it on Mad In America. I had a sleeping dream soon after that of becoming a regular blogger on that site. My writings were already reaching many of my friends and colleagues via facebook and my blogs and website, but blogging on Mad In America has expanded my reach substantially. As a writer who spends a great deal of time in solitude, I must say there is little more satisfying to me than knowing my words are reaching many people.
Recently I began sending my writing to other blogs. I looked at who was publishing my friends’ writing first and sent my essays to those blogs after reading their submission guidelines. Similarly to when I used to send my poetry to magazines for submission, I felt a huge rush when my words were accepted. It reminded me of being a child and getting a good grade or finding out I got into a school. But it felt so much more real, like this success was from the ground up. It started in my spiral notebook and came directly from the source of my being and now has wings to fly to many many others. This is one of the greatest miracles I have experienced in recent days.
Yesterday I woke up to receive an email from Rebelle Society saying they published my article “Common Disorders Psychiatrists May Have” and it is up on their site. Rebelle Society has over 17,000 facebook fans so I was quite excited and surprised! I wrote that article over a year ago and it was one of my most popular on facebook. People I didn’t know were already finding it and sharing it, but I was and am still excited to take this to another level.
Sending you the spirit of sharing, the courage to take a chance and share what is in your heart and mind with the masses. Using the tools of the web, persistence is all we really need to share ourselves widely with others. Let’s do it! The media is ours to share now.
Start by sharing on the forum!