I was excited to get an email from Jelly Bucket magazine that the issue with my short story “Thank You For Your Sacrifice” will come out in August. Jelly Bucket is published by Bluegrass Writers Studio at Easter Kentucky University and is available at select bookstores and newsstands across the USA.

This story was accepted by the magazine months ago. That’s the nature of most print publications. A writer must be patient. So why does it feel so satisfying to see my work in print, not just on the web?

Part of it is tradition. Print has been around since Gutenberg. It’s where all the great writers from my childhood first saw their work published. It’s much like seeing a movie in the theater instead of on a small screen. It somehow feels more special.

I’m not disparaging online magazines. The folks at Etched Onyx were wonderful, and I would have never experienced the audio version of my story “My People” or the interview they conducted if it had been a print magazine.

So, each media has its place. They’re both legitimate, they are both perfectly respectable places for writers to publish their work. What’s most important is that it reaches readers. That is our audience.