Great column Renee. I love your advice, in principle. I find that submissions can take me quite a while, in part, because I end up doing some editing while I am submitting. Also selecting which poems to send to a particular journal takes some time. And then there is the bookkeeping involved in documenting submissions. One question I would ask is how many journals would you send out a given poem to at a given time? Another criteria for sending workout, which is not always easy to discern, would be how long the journal takes to respond to your submissions.
"Sending out my work is an act of respect for the work and for myself; it is stepping into the belief that my words are worth reading and that there are readers who need them."
I’m completely impressed with all you juggle! It is far too easy for submitting work to come last for a busy mom, and therefore to come never. Just encouraging each other that it’s not selfish, but actually important, goes a long way.
This column was encouraging (I applaud your methodical approach), witty, and pragmatic.
Another commenter quoted this passage from the opening of your essay:
"Sending out my work is an act of respect for the work and for myself; it is stepping into the belief that my words are worth reading and that there are readers who need them."
Great tips! And so true that submitting our work is a clear way to honor it. I am still living with the belief after all these years that a busy person actually gets more done. At least that’s been consistently true in my writing life. Thank you for this post!
You should send to the places you want to appear in? Sure. Then, when those places break your heart, send to other places, some of which you've never heard of. It's hard to say I have better luck with the places I've never heard of, because rejection is the fate of most offerings, but having my heart broken repeatedly by the editor I most want to love me hurts more, especially when I've tried over & over. I have learned not to set my heart on any one place. I never know who will love a particular poem. It's usually not who I thought I wanted to.
All this is great, sound advice. But what happens when two months down the road, you sent the same entry to the same magazine, or to a journal that has already declined your work. Or you send another work to the same journal that you sent last week and they only accept one entry for reading period. Total hell. Isn't. Or maybe, total nirvana. Spread sheet baby. I use the Mac version (numbers), since I can't stand Excel. On the first column I place the names of publications with a link to Submittable or whatever portal they use. On the next column I place the first story I am sending out. I also put a code like 4.1 or 3.7 that indicates the word count. So in the box that intersects the story with the publication I place the day I sent it. Submittable tells you when they are reading it. They call it In Progress. So I place an ip next and color code the box blue. I use the same blue that Submittable does. When the story or poem has been at the pub for 8 months, I change the color to gold. Why gold? I have no idea. You are as close to being declined than a story that has only been there for a month. But it gives me a sense of hope, hope that they are reading, hope that I am a finalist and they are picking between that Joyce Carol Oates story and mine. Hope that the box will turn green. That is the color they use for acceptance. You may say, this system is way too time consuming. Actually, it's a stress reliever. When you feel frustrated about your work. You go there, you see what has been rejected, is being read, declined, and you can develop the strategy to where to send next. When I am reading a story and I love the writer, I go to his/hers publication citation and find those reviews, and include them to my spread sheet. I keep now three spread sheets. One for print, one for online only, and one for chapbook and short story collections. My goal is to sent at least 30 stories a month. I have currently 23 stories in the queue, with 139 stories that are active, plus 15 collections being read. So when you don't feel like writing fresh material. You look at this monster. Find encouragement on the green and blue boxes, day dream about the gold boxes, and when you see the red ones (it's actually magenta), apply the mantra taught to everyone that goes into sales. It takes a lot of NOs, to get into a Yes. And that motivates me.
Great column Renee. I love your advice, in principle. I find that submissions can take me quite a while, in part, because I end up doing some editing while I am submitting. Also selecting which poems to send to a particular journal takes some time. And then there is the bookkeeping involved in documenting submissions. One question I would ask is how many journals would you send out a given poem to at a given time? Another criteria for sending workout, which is not always easy to discern, would be how long the journal takes to respond to your submissions.
"Sending out my work is an act of respect for the work and for myself; it is stepping into the belief that my words are worth reading and that there are readers who need them."
Thank you so much for this alone.
This post has inspired me to submit more than my original goal for the year, which was 30x. I think I can and will do more. Thank you!
I’m completely impressed with all you juggle! It is far too easy for submitting work to come last for a busy mom, and therefore to come never. Just encouraging each other that it’s not selfish, but actually important, goes a long way.
This column was encouraging (I applaud your methodical approach), witty, and pragmatic.
Another commenter quoted this passage from the opening of your essay:
"Sending out my work is an act of respect for the work and for myself; it is stepping into the belief that my words are worth reading and that there are readers who need them."
I love this sentiment.
Thank you. Your piece made good sense and was inspiring. Perfect timing for the new year.
Really good advice. I send out quite sporadically, and need to re-think this and plan a little. Thanks!
Great tips! And so true that submitting our work is a clear way to honor it. I am still living with the belief after all these years that a busy person actually gets more done. At least that’s been consistently true in my writing life. Thank you for this post!
Solid advice. The little, steady way is important, especially when your time has demands each way that are each impossible to ignore.
This is delightful and practical. Thank you!
You should send to the places you want to appear in? Sure. Then, when those places break your heart, send to other places, some of which you've never heard of. It's hard to say I have better luck with the places I've never heard of, because rejection is the fate of most offerings, but having my heart broken repeatedly by the editor I most want to love me hurts more, especially when I've tried over & over. I have learned not to set my heart on any one place. I never know who will love a particular poem. It's usually not who I thought I wanted to.
I love what you said about how submitting our work is a way to honor it. I need to adopt that mindset!
All this is great, sound advice. But what happens when two months down the road, you sent the same entry to the same magazine, or to a journal that has already declined your work. Or you send another work to the same journal that you sent last week and they only accept one entry for reading period. Total hell. Isn't. Or maybe, total nirvana. Spread sheet baby. I use the Mac version (numbers), since I can't stand Excel. On the first column I place the names of publications with a link to Submittable or whatever portal they use. On the next column I place the first story I am sending out. I also put a code like 4.1 or 3.7 that indicates the word count. So in the box that intersects the story with the publication I place the day I sent it. Submittable tells you when they are reading it. They call it In Progress. So I place an ip next and color code the box blue. I use the same blue that Submittable does. When the story or poem has been at the pub for 8 months, I change the color to gold. Why gold? I have no idea. You are as close to being declined than a story that has only been there for a month. But it gives me a sense of hope, hope that they are reading, hope that I am a finalist and they are picking between that Joyce Carol Oates story and mine. Hope that the box will turn green. That is the color they use for acceptance. You may say, this system is way too time consuming. Actually, it's a stress reliever. When you feel frustrated about your work. You go there, you see what has been rejected, is being read, declined, and you can develop the strategy to where to send next. When I am reading a story and I love the writer, I go to his/hers publication citation and find those reviews, and include them to my spread sheet. I keep now three spread sheets. One for print, one for online only, and one for chapbook and short story collections. My goal is to sent at least 30 stories a month. I have currently 23 stories in the queue, with 139 stories that are active, plus 15 collections being read. So when you don't feel like writing fresh material. You look at this monster. Find encouragement on the green and blue boxes, day dream about the gold boxes, and when you see the red ones (it's actually magenta), apply the mantra taught to everyone that goes into sales. It takes a lot of NOs, to get into a Yes. And that motivates me.
So encouraging. Can I ask how long it generally takes you (and other readers here) to finish a poem? How many do you write (a week, month, year)?