Amid all the blog talk of the importance/unimportance of publication , Iāve been thinking this morning about how I personally choose where to submit my work and why. Itās not an exact system I suppose, but there are a few over-arching tendencies. I typically tend to send work to places that:
a) publishes work that has an affinity to mine, work that speaks to me. Thus, Iām not very likely to submit to journals that publish a whole lot of very vanilla lighthearted verse, nature epiphany poems, or heavy on the innovative langpo sort of stuff. I like quirky, and a little dark and strange. Serious, but not heavy on the over-intellectualization. Language that is beautiful, or new, or interesting.
b) ideally have a certain prestige factor, or at least a reputation for publishing good work. I think this ties more into the above than any random decree by some arbitrary poetry god, and more to do with where the poets I most admire are publishingā¦ie. who Iām rubbing shoulders with. Therefore appearing in X journal with poets like Larissa Szporluk and OKD would rate much higher than appearing in Y journal with Billy Collins and Ted Kooser.
c) have a snazzy looking publications. Nice cover and design. A certain hipness and un-cheesiness to these elements. Iām easily impressed by flashy slickness, but also like the same things in a saddle-stitched publication, or even a nice handmade, DIY vibe. For webzines, a cool design can make me want my work to appear there and a terrible one to avoid it. Iām also a sucker for interesting titles and names instead of (Insert Geographic Location Here) Review. (completely all arbritrary, and not the defining way of picking journals, but a factor nonetheless.)
d) have a serious devotion to poetry. I like at least an equal ratio of poems to other stuff page-wise: fiction, reviews, essays. It seems poetry gets lost among the short fiction somehow in some journals, and that a lot of readers just skim over it. Historically this wouldnāt have been a problem, and due attention would have been given to all genres, but it feels like poetry is the poor step-sister in some journals where fiction is the the focus.
e) I guess I also have a fondness for locally produced journals and ones that are edited by folks I know, and/or places Iāve appeared before. It might be that I like the community aspect (or at least a smaller community). As for the discussion in a few blogs recently, I suppose I donāt see any issue with submitting and publishing in journals where you know the editor personally. However, any journal that seems ONLY to publish the same in-group of writers is immediately suspect. (As is any writer that only appears in publications edited by their friends.)
a) publishes work that has an affinity to mine, work that speaks to me. Thus, Iām not very likely to submit to journals that publish a whole lot of very vanilla lighthearted verse, nature epiphany poems, or heavy on the innovative langpo sort of stuff. I like quirky, and a little dark and strange. Serious, but not heavy on the over-intellectualization. Language that is beautiful, or new, or interesting.
b) ideally have a certain prestige factor, or at least a reputation for publishing good work. I think this ties more into the above than any random decree by some arbitrary poetry god, and more to do with where the poets I most admire are publishingā¦ie. who Iām rubbing shoulders with. Therefore appearing in X journal with poets like Larissa Szporluk and OKD would rate much higher than appearing in Y journal with Billy Collins and Ted Kooser.
c) have a snazzy looking publications. Nice cover and design. A certain hipness and un-cheesiness to these elements. Iām easily impressed by flashy slickness, but also like the same things in a saddle-stitched publication, or even a nice handmade, DIY vibe. For webzines, a cool design can make me want my work to appear there and a terrible one to avoid it. Iām also a sucker for interesting titles and names instead of (Insert Geographic Location Here) Review. (completely all arbritrary, and not the defining way of picking journals, but a factor nonetheless.)
d) have a serious devotion to poetry. I like at least an equal ratio of poems to other stuff page-wise: fiction, reviews, essays. It seems poetry gets lost among the short fiction somehow in some journals, and that a lot of readers just skim over it. Historically this wouldnāt have been a problem, and due attention would have been given to all genres, but it feels like poetry is the poor step-sister in some journals where fiction is the the focus.
e) I guess I also have a fondness for locally produced journals and ones that are edited by folks I know, and/or places Iāve appeared before. It might be that I like the community aspect (or at least a smaller community). As for the discussion in a few blogs recently, I suppose I donāt see any issue with submitting and publishing in journals where you know the editor personally. However, any journal that seems ONLY to publish the same in-group of writers is immediately suspect. (As is any writer that only appears in publications edited by their friends.)
Comments
My 'zine isn't snazzy (which is the way i like it), but it definitely is/will be quirky, a little dark, and strange.
I don't think you're into short form poetry -- but hell, have an ogle:
http://triptychhaiku.blogspot.com
Take care.
Kev.