For the Birds: Publishing journal
A totally objective text**
But first, a quick announcement:
I’m now offering Seasonal Coaching sessions, made for my fellow snail-paced humans & sensitive artists who want more creative fortitude in their daily lives, but find traditional, bi-weekly coaching to be too much too fast (and sometimes, too expensive).
We can work together as needed, or over the course of one gigantic, easeful year. Click below to learn more.
**Objectivity does not exist.
APRIL 2024
After submitting to _________ magazine nine times over the course of seven years, my 10th submission receives a note:
This particular piece doesn’t work for us right now, but we really love your work…If you're interested, please feel free to resubmit to _________ through our Submittable portal and include in your cover letter that you received a note of encouragement.
I resubmit—#11—mentioning my note of encouragement.
SEPTEMBER 2024
I receive a rejection for my 11th submission to _________ magazine.
“This piece isn’t right for us, but we hope it finds an excellent home elsewhere,” they write.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough staff to offer individual critiques,” they write.
I do not receive a second note of encouragement.
AUGUST 2024
I apply to be a “featured writer” in an up-and-coming journal that’s less than a year old.
SEPTEMBER 2024
On the day they reject me, I see that their newest “featured writer” is a well-established one: In his late 50s, multiple books & awards, a Guggenheim, etc.
APRIL 2022
I submit, for the fourth time, to a weird literary magazine I’ve admired since college.
Barely a month later, I receive a message:
Thank you for your patience during our reading process. We haven't made a final decision yet, but I want you to know that "Three Conditional Poems" has made it to the final round of deliberations. Bear with us for a bit; you should hear from us in less than a month.
I get my proverbial hopes up.
MAY 2022
Less than a month later, I receive a message:
While we are not publishing this work there were elements we enjoyed quite a bit, and it received the most substantial attention and discussion we have capacity to give.
I spend a lot of time—too much—wondering how that second message would have made me feel had I not received the first.
JANUARY - SEPTEMBER 2024
I submit one of my newest essays, “Bones in the Ground,” to five different journals.
As of today: three “declines,” one “in-progress,” one “received.”
In August, I post the essay on a private Discord channel, where less than 15 of us gather.
I receive adoring comments from one of my peers.
JUNE 2024
I come as close as I ever have to publishing my first book—a weird, electric manuscript, comprised of “translations” of Anne Sexton poems into poem-templates, and poems written using those poem-templates, and a long personal essay that closes the book.
When the press ultimately passes on the manuscript, I receive feedback:
“The templates are fascinating to me and leave lots of room for excavation.”
“This genre-expanding manuscript feels nearly fully resolved in its execution.”
“The essay at the end is well-written and intersects the poetic work in a meaningfully expansive way.”
The feedback lives quietly in my Submittable account, where I recall it on occasion.
Dear Sarah,
Thank you for trusting us with your poems…
…we found much to admire in this submission but, after careful consideration, determined that it was not the right fit for us….
…while we are declining to publish your manuscript, we thank you for entrusting us with your work and for your dedication to the art…
…we are grateful for the opportunity to have read it and are sorry to say it has not been selected as a finalist…
…unfortunately, you were not selected for a fellowship this year…
…we are sorry to tell you that this particular text is not quite right for the magazine…
…while we've decided not to publish your chapbook, we do thank you for trusting us with your work…
…we are sorry to say that we are unable to accept your work at this time.
…we won’t be publishing anything from your submission…
…thank you for trying us…
…we're glad you thought of us…
…please do keep us in mind in the future…
…we hope that your work will be a perfect fit for another publication…
…we wish you all the best with your writing…
…best wishes to you and your writing…
…wishing you all the best with your writing…
…we wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere…
…we wish you the best of luck in finding a home for them elsewhere…
…we wish you all the best in your future writing endeavors…
…we wish great success with your writing…
…I wish you the best in all your future creative endeavors….
…we hope you are as safe and well as can be.
My grandmother – who was the most influential and beautiful person in my life – would say that you have Moxie! I could also say that you are brave and strong and resilient and those things are all true but to me the word moxie implies just a little bit more. And that’s what you are, a little bit more. And I mean that in the best possible way in that you are more creative, more compassionate, more introspective more observant than almost any other person I know. I am sorry that you have experienced so many of these frustrating rejection letters. The letters are filled with both encouraging accolades and vexing rejections. I don’t know what to make of that, except that most of the systems and powers that be in this society seem pretty fucked up. I thank you for continuing to share your work with us even if it hasn’t found a concrete home in a journal. Your vagabond words still find us and inspire us in such good ways.
Also, hearing your voice is everything.
And again, you might enjoy this piece from X. P. Callahan: https://xpcallahan.substack.com/p/7182024