It’s been so quiet on my site I thought I should share proof of life. I’m alive and well, working behind the scenes on poetry, visual art, and the Poetry Society of Tennessee. More than anything, it’s been a year of creating poetry. I’ve had the pleasure of working with several groups to generate and workshop poems that have led me to many happy surprises, some seeds for the future, and wonderful writers and human beings. But it’s also been a year of collecting rejections and some nice acceptances.

Better Together

April’s daily email prompts from Devan Burton yielded some gold and taught me I can write daily and amidst a flurry of other activity in my life. This group was wonderful to work with. So were the lovely ladies and excellent poets in the Northwest Florida Poets, which held two workshops over a series of Wednesday evenings. Elaine Person’s 8-week writing workshop (through Crealde) focused on generation and positive feedback. And what a fun and productive time I had with these ladies. Many of Poetry Society of Tennessee’s monthly member programs also included generative sessions. I picked up tips to push from blank page to writing mode along with techniques to enhance my writing from such award-winning writers as Shuly Cawood, Jane Hicks, Jim Minick, and Annie Woodford.

Add to all this generative work editing and workshopping poems: Poetry Society of Tennessee monthly critique groups continue to bring me joyful camaraderie and useful feedback, as does the Poetry Writers Workshop. Open mic nights like PoetTEA (Poetry Society of Tennessee and Poetry Writers Workshop) and the Poetry Hoot (Johnson City Poets Collective) in Northeast Tennessee and Spill the Tea in the Florida panhandle have offered opportunities to read and perform my work.

Submissions

Just about 5 years in to this picking-poetry-back-up-after-so-long-away-from-it experiment, I finally find myself with a poetry pipeline. Last month was a good month. Three poems were accepted by lit mags I’d not submitted to before. (This adds to the whopping five pieces accepted earlier this year for a lit mag in which I’ve been published before. That was an exciting day!) This month, it’s been one rejection after another, and we’re not even two weeks in.

I celebrate these rejections (I prefer “declines” because it sounds a bit friendlier) almost as much as the acceptances (with differing degrees of almostness to each), happy to be part of an active process, especially when so many mags are having to rethink how they operate or are closing shop. A new issue from a viable outlet means more writers and artists get their work out in the world, and more content comes to us consumers. I respect the editors and staff bringing literary magazines to life, and I’ve discovered so many wonderful works in the pages I’ve managed to read and peruse. Read on to learn how I got to happy.

Finding a Fit

Collecting rejections is a necessary part of the creative process if you want to be published. Maybe a rejected (or declined, if you prefer) piece needs work, but just as often it might be a bad fit for the lit mag or a particular issue. I simultaneously sub where I can and keep working poems into the submission loop. One person’s “no” (or many people’s no’s) can (and has) become someone else’s “yes.”

A tip I got at a writing conference earlier this year (and in a program last year and on a blog or two the year before): if you aren’t getting rejections, you (probably) aren’t collecting many acceptances, either. Or maybe you are not stretching yourself enough and trying more widely read or more prestigious venues. Maybe you are comfortable and satisfied submitting what and when and where you do. Maybe you’re not trying to publish at all. It’s all good: we each write for different reasons. But if you want to be published, and you’re not liking your results, maybe rethinking your strategy and submitting to more or different venues could help you. The tip that changed things: don’t just set a submission goal. Set a rejection goal. It really does feel different when you’re making progress toward a goal every time you get a rejection notice.

This year, I wanted to submit more and to explore new opportunities. I’ve submitted to bigger ‘zines (fully expecting rejections), to mags I’ve been afraid to submit to, to mags I love but previously didn’t have something I thought would fit, to mags I just discovered, to contests I have not tried before, and to some familiar lit mags, too. I’ve sent out about 100 submittals of various pieces (mostly poems), some resolved and some in process. I’ve received upwards of 35 rejection notices so far (my goal is 50+ rejections).

What’s Coming

The upside? Among the slew of rejections, so far I have received acceptances for six poems and three photographs. I’m ever so grateful to the judges, readers and editors who selected my work. I’m especially happy about the variety in this batch of work, and I can’t wait to share pieces with you as they are published:

• First off, a rubaiyat (my first one!) received first place for “Sunrise Study, Beachside” in a Poetry Society of Tennessee members-only contest, which means this poem will be included in their upcoming anthology. People from all across the state won contests this past year, giving voice to poetry from across Tennessee and beyond: Tennessee Voices Anthology 2023-2024 will be available soon. I’ll be reading this poem at an upcoming book launch, part of the PoetTEA’s September open mic held on first Tuesdays.
• Black Moon Magazine, one of the first lit mags to publish my work, accepted two poems: “Once in a Lifetime” and “Adam & Eve: After Temptation,” and three photographic pieces: “Bird on a Branch,” “Pipe Dreams,” and “Elemental.” I love Black Moon Mag’s openness to different perspectives and its quirky vibe. I’m not sure when the issue will publish, but when it does, I’ll share!
• Kent State’s The Listening Eye accepted “Comedy or Death” and “Cue the Music” for their health-themed issue. I’m thrilled they are giving these two poems a home. The Listening Eye has been around since 1970 and recently made the difficult decision to move to an online format. This upcoming issue should publish late this year or early next.
• Slipstream Press accepted “(re)percussion” for their upcoming “sharps and flats” themed issue. I am so excited to have a piece appear in this lit mag, which has been around since 1980 and likes “contemporary urban” over the “pastoral, rhyming” poem (like my rubayait).

I’ll let you know when these issues go live and try not to be a stranger in the meantime. But if I am, know I’m probably out seeking inspiration or celebrating my next rejection.