So, You Want Your Story to be Chosen for Further Distribution ( CfFD’ed)?
Sometimes smaller is better.
In a world where the mantra is the bigger, the better, it's nice to know that this is not always true.
There are perhaps three honours that writers seek on Medium — Top Writer, Featured Writer, and to have a story Chosen for Further Distribution (CfFD — thanks to Michael Burg, MD (AKA Medium Michael Burg)for this shortened version). It gives a sense of satisfaction and some credence to the writer that he or she is not muddling through this writing thing but is really getting somewhere.
It was not until October 2020 that Medium decided to choose stories for further distribution from writers outside of the Medium paywall — of which I am one such writer. And it was not until February 2021 that one of my stories was chosen. Actually, I did not know what it meant until I saw one particular story getting an inordinately large number of views and I went to investigate — what was to me, a strange phenomenon. My research led me into the fantastical algorithmic world of Medium where it appeared that luck and chance or perhaps discerning editors selected a piece to share further on the platform.
I have had many hits and misses over time but what I find to be interesting and most curious was that the stories I posted on smaller publications got chosen more often than those I posted on the larger, more established sites. One poem I posted in a publication that currently has only six (6) followers got chosen!
So I am writing this to encourage new writers. Your story may not get accepted by the larger pubs for whatever reason, but the smaller ones may give your piece the nod and you never know — it might get just get CfFD’ed.
And just to sweeten the pot and add to the mystery of writing on this platform, my very first story that was CfFDed was self-published.
Go figure!
The small but mighty publications that I referred to in this story are BeOpen and /thejustreflections
There are other publications that I have a longstanding love affair with and have had many stories CfFDed. Nothing is going to take that love away e.g. Mystic Minds, Change Your Mind Change Your Life, Be Yourself, Spiritual Tree, Free Thinkr, Illumination, and Loud Updates.
Take a look at some of my stories and poems that were accepted by these small pubs and were CfFD’ed. I am sending a shout out and a thank you to the editors A Shayens Abran and Syed Qassim Acabo:-
