“No simultaneous submissions”
As a young poet who has only recently started submitting for publication, this phrase intimidates me. It isn’t that I lack confidence in my writing. I actually feel quite good about many poems, but the supply isn’t infinite. I send a few to a journal then must wait 2-3 months for them to review them before either doing the “I got published!” dance or submitting them elsewhere.
One negative in this system is that it may take me a while to get work published. If I have a poem rejected by 5 journals, say, that’s nearly a year gone by. I hope my fragile ego and lofty ambitions can handle this.
Another negative is they rarely tell writers why their work was rejected, which potentially limits the learning experience from each rejection. Was my content or form inappropriate for the targeted journal? Did they like it but didn’t think it fit the current issue? Was it just bad?
Though my questions usually remain unanswered, I try gaining from each rejection. I review the content and form to determine which journal I should target next. I send the work back through my revision process, even if what I recently submitted was the 10th draft.
It also gives me the opportunity to become more organized about my submission process. I try to always have active submissions–a few poems off to x magazine, a few others off to y. As I write more and, hopefully, improve my writing, I’ll try to have a few to x, y, z, and on and on.
Despite the difficult and time consuming process, I believe publication will happen for me. Part of me knows that if it were easy, I wouldn’t do it. So I will stay the course, if you will, and earn my place in the annals of literary history. Until then, the What Goes Where? game continues.
I understand – been there myself. Read Bukoswki’s Poetry Boys
I’ll check it out. Thanks.
Ah, no simultaneous submissions drives me crazy. It also turns out to be a challenge to keep track of what was sent where and when. Phew! Keep it up!
My what was sent where problem just got worse. My hard drive crashed last night. I have other copies of most of the poems, but I had a list with submission dates and titles.
I understand the “no simultaneous submissions!” rule to keep down the paperwork in case a poem is accepted multiple places, but the statistics of rejection say that’s a pretty slim chance anyway…
However, it does make sense when you consider that some journals, contests, and publications are looking for specific kinds/styles/themes/topics at different times.
and btw I use the ”
” face to mean ” :/ ” This particular blog translates it as a mischievous face sticking out its tongue…
Keep at it, I get more rejection letters than junk mail, and that’s a big deal! you’ll also get some amazing constructive crit from some editors. It’s worth it, you might not hit on the right place the first time around, enter everything, don’t be afraid to place one foot in front of another. Send everywhere and anywhere, and you’re bound to find the right one.
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