Bewildering Stories expresses gratitude for...
Compliments
We seem to be getting a head start on our 13th anniversary. The last regular issue in June will mark 13 years completed and start Year 14. We have nothing special planned for issue 625; we’ll just be happy to have it.
I thought it would be good for morale to call to the attention of our Review Editors and Associate Editors the high compliment that Eleanor Lerman pays us in issue 618. My message said, in part:
Contributors sometimes send me thank-you notes for the tips and help that our editors and review readers have given them. Since our review readers, like teachers, seldom see the results of their efforts, and feedback is difficult to incorporate in the review process, I thought it would be a good idea to pass along a big thank-you note that speaks for many. If you’ve ever wondered whether your review reading and critiques have an effect, now you know.
And now the responses. Let’s start off with a note we received at the same time, coincidentally, from a contributor. It is quite on topic:
Initially I was scared to look at your comments. Thank you so much for your input. I will revamp this story because it’s worth saving. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now I have the resolve and knowledge of what to do with this story.
And our Editors have responded as well. I won’t name them and cite the responses as typical:
Yes, I need this sometimes. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing this. Congratulations to Ms. Lerman.
Thank you do much for sharing this message, Don! You made my morning.
Eleanor’s story in trying to get published sounds exactly like mine. And she’s a good writer, too. BwS has afforded me the same support. Thanks.
Thanks, Don! It is nice to know that the writers themselves can see that BwS, and the community that makes it happen, is doing good things for them. It’s one reason that I encourage the SF writers I know to send their work to you. It’s a pleasure working with you and Bill.
Tremendous. I was looking at the bio list only yesterday and pondering how many writers had their first publication success with BwS. A great tribute to your inspired leadership and dedication, Don, above all.
Thank you. I make BwS possible; you make it what it is.
And, finally, we will name a correspondent, one who sends a fine letter:
Hi Don:
As a follow-up to the heartfelt editorial in Issue 618, “PEN, Charlie and the Writers’ World,” Bewildering Stories does hold the torch as a high-quality magazine in support of what all authors and artists love to do the most: to create.
As writers, we write because we must; it’s as critical to us as the air we breathe. As painters, we transform the blank canvas; our need to express ourselves in color transcends our imagination. As photographers, we freeze a moment in time, for we are driven to capture the elusive beauty of life in the river of time.
And then there is Bewildering Stories: a beacon of hope for all creators alike wherein class status does not exist and all types of work are welcome so long as we respect each other and provide our readers the kind of unbridled enjoyment that is seldom offered for free.
In the Golden Age of Athens, all men from all walks of life were welcome to voice their concerns in the Agora. In the 21st century, Bewildering Stories provides a similar forum for writers and artists of all skill levels from around the world. In the universe of Bewildering Stories, all writers are equal and all artists have a place to interpret the world as they see it.
I tip my hat in salutation to Bewildering Stories and thank you with all my heart!
Richard Ong
