Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Throwing Poems and Seeing What Sticks

Hi, y'all.
I'm glad to report that for the moment I look normal. And I'm wearing a bit of lipstick for the third day in a row, over some cooling lip balm. Let us just say that the situation is being monitored closely, especially as I also had the worst face breakout I think I've ever had on Sunday/Monday. That, too, is diminishing, however, and I am guardedly optimistic.
I am also wet, because it is raining. Hard. Don't you hate that feeling when the bottoms of your pantlegs and the top of your socks get wet and you just have to deal with it? Fortunately I have some slippers in the office that are like booties, and they will help me be cozy. I think I might drink a hot chai today, too.

Currently, I am preparing to be productive and send poems to magazines. I figured out what is going where, and all I need is to get packets together...and attachments. Since I last sent work out, a bunch of magazines have gone to online submission systems and email. No doubt they think this is easier, but to be frank it's frustrating, because all of them are different. Some want all poems in one attachment. Some are okay with multiple attachments. Some want poems pasted into the message (which is begging for trouble). Some have their own submission systems. And then you have the ones who still take snail mail. I am a little disappointed in all of this; it shows disorganization and, in an attempt to get more "tech-savvy" it is actually more difficult for submitters. And what about poets who don't have access to the internet on a regular basis, or at all? I like to think of poetry as a democratic institution, but some of these places have become too restrictive simply by their submission process. The best are the ones who will take snail mail or online stuff...that seems more understanding to me.
So, I'll be toeing all of their individual lines, but with more than my usual deflation at how complicated it is when you are uber-detail-oriented and finding it more difficult to make sure records and packets are just so.
The good news is that getting packets together encouraged me to "finish" up a few new pieces so I could send them out. We'll see what happens.

1 comment:

Carrie said...

Good luck with submitting!

This is also true for other academic type journals. We're finishing up an article we're hoping to publish at work, and were just discussing today how glad we are that they're still taking paper submissions, because figuring out those online guidelines are a pain. I feel ya!