If You Can Dream It, Do It
Letter from the Editor as published in the September 2021 issue
Back in 2016, frustrated by the state of publishing in Canada and how inaccessible it felt to newcomers, I started Blank Spaces. With nothing more than a vision to champion Canadians and a hastily constructed free website, I put out the call, looking for people like me: people who wanted to be heard. I recruited volunteers, I blocked haters, I accepted my first submission, and I released the inaugural issue in September of that same year.
When I graduated high school, my only goal was to be a wife and a mother. One week after walking down the aisle to receive my honours certificate, I walked down the aisle to receive my husband. I didn’t know who I was or what I really wanted to do with my life. I am well-read, but not college educated. I attend the university of Google and everything I’ve learned as an adult is because I’ve asked questions and I’ve listened to the answers. I have learned to be comfortable being wrong, failing, and trying again. I’ve accepted that success is a mindset; that passion fuels production; that the only person whose life will be negatively affected by my inaction is my own, and that the positive impact my action can have on others is worth every risk I’ve taken along this journey.
This issue marks the beginning of the sixth year in circulation and I am so proud of the over 200 Canadians I’ve had the privilege of publishing in that time, many of whom had never been published before. It was always my hope to offer a launch pad to writers looking to break into the industry and it’s been such a joy to watch as some take the confidence gained by being in these pages to push themselves to adding more credits and even completed books to the literary landscape.
I saw a ‘blank space’ in the industry and I sought to fill it. I was nobody. My credentials said I had no right to even try. But why not? If you have an idea noodling at the back of your brain, it’s been put there for a reason. Everyone has something to offer. Taking the first step can be terrifying; it can be expensive and it might feel foolish, but imagine the other side.
The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
Alanna Rusnak
Editor in Chief, Blank Spaces
