Posted on by Laura Lee

35 submissions this summer—and the rejections roll in…

blog word cloud       Since late spring, I’ve made 35 plus submissions just using Submittable.com.  I love using this vehicle since it helps me keep track of my submissions in one convenient location.  I’ve also made email and US mail submissions.

My goal in submitting work is yes, to be published, but also to encourage me to improve my writing and to feel a part  of a writing community.  I am not a great writer, but I can be a good one if I work at it!

It’s obvious there are more poets than poetical publishing opportunities.  I am receiving a number of rejections after an early spring run of four acceptances, and so yes, I am feeling the sting a bit, even while the editors are quite kind in their notes.  Just doesn’t fit, not right now, etc.  No one has said I should seek solace on another planet.  Yet.

Poets, you know this is mostly unpaid publication anyway, and it’s the joy of being published that urges us onward.

While I’ve submitted mostly poetry, I’ve always worked on some mini-dialogue experiments and one short story.

In the meantime, I am enjoying revising my writing, and submitting more.

I am glad I am not trying to support myself with my writing, but I am also glad I write.  It’s been a part of who I am since I was an angsty pre-teen, writing my wretched “woe is me” type broken-hearted poetry.

Now it’s time to get back to work; I have a lot of writing to do.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Laura Lee

(Some of my) Published Writings

cropped-be-creative-creative-creativity-256514                         Some of my poems, short stories, and nonfiction articles are included in books and magazines published in the UK, Greece, New Zealand, and the United States.

*Spillwords Press, July 19, 2018, “Stopped,” a poem
Spillwords Press

*Tuck Magazine, June 2018

Tuck Magazine

*Tuck Magazine,  May 2018

Tuck

* Southernmost Point Guest House (UK)

* Journal of Modern Poetry 21 (Volume 21)

JOMP Volume 21 Dear Mr. President

* Journal of Modern Poetry 20 (Volume 20)

JOMP Volume 20 Poetry Writer’s Guide to the Galaxy

* Journal of Modern Poetry 17 (Volume 17)

JOMP Volume 17

* Magazine (New Zealand) , Raewyn Alexander, Publisher

Raewyn Alexander NZ

* Fiction in: http://staxtes.com/2003/ “Between the Sunlight and the Skipping” in English Wednesdays

* Illinois English Bulletin, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, nonfiction.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Poets? About Frontier Poetry: poetry contest and submissions

poetry        Frontier Poetry is accepting poetry

for a Summer Poetry Award and poetry for General Submissions.

What is Frontier looking for?  It’s refreshing that Frontier specifically tells poets.  In their words:

As a home for emerging authors & established voices together, we are looking for poems that express both traditional excellence in craft and a willing fearlessness in content and form. For us, the frontier of poetry is a place where voices—of all colors, ages, orientations, identities— are made equal by a shared belief in the power of language to confront the dark, the vast, the unexplored.

For further tips, you can look here: What We Look for at Frontier.

In other words, this is a literary press that tells you what they want, offers poets free submissions as well as reading fees for contests.  It has it all, it has a vision, and it is exciting to read there.

Good luck!

And thanks for reading.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Poets, how are YOUR submissions going?

poetry  Poets, how are your submissions going?  I have twenty submissions out there, and three were short manuscripts. The rest were single poem submissions. Two contest submissions.

Hope it’s going well.

Next up, I’d love to have a discussion about writing poetry–poetry tips, perhaps?

I really need to write more poetry, not submit as much. But I am not getting any younger!

Thanks for reading, and good luck.

 

Posted on by Laura Lee

Do you have the top poem? Rattle’s yearly poetry prize information

prize  I certainly do not (as yet!), but perhaps you have the winning poem you could submit here: Rattle Poetry Prize.

Rattle publishes find modern poetry, and has many chances for poets to submit with no reading fee.  This major poetry prize is their chance to highlight one outstanding poem and poet, while also helping to fund the Rattle Magazine and all of its other awards, publications, and prizes.

I’m a better teacher than poet, so I don’t mind saying, it’s not me going to win something like this. But perhaps it could be you.

Rattle writes:

The annual Rattle Poetry Prize offers $10,000 for a single poem to be published in the winter issue of the magazine. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each and publication, and be eligible for the $2,000 Readers’ Choice Award, to be selected by subscriber and entrant vote.

Additional poems from the entries are frequently offered publication as well. In 2017 we published 20 poems that had been submitted to the contest from just over 4,000 entries.

Go on, check it out.  Fine poetry and many opportunities to publish there: on their several Facebook pages, in their online magazine, and in print.

Or this–perhaps your competitive nature comes out from time to time.  If so, it may be worth the submission fee.

Good luck, and thanks for reading.

Posted on by Laura Lee

No Tokens Literary Journal

spines      No Tokens Journal declares it is “…a journal celebrating work that is felt in the spine”  and it can be found here, at No Tokens Journal.

Reading that reminds me of what Emily Dickinson wrote about poetry, that “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire could ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” (http://notable-quotes.com/d/dickinson_emily.html).

No Tokens publishes a print/ bound volume as well as an online journal, making it doubly interesting, in my opinion.  They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, and “other,” which could include include plays, comics, graphic novels, interviews, etc.

The journal’s passion for great writing is evident, right down to when they declare they will ask for NO TOKENS (no submission fees) while they promise to be a journal:

“…featuring the words and artwork of all voices of the past, present, and future.”

I love this passion for words, stories, voices.

I think I will give them a try.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Posted on by Laura Lee

New Poem (“Stopped”) to be Published July 19th by Spillwords Press

marketing-man-person-communication     Shameless self promotion.(But the rejections have been many recently, so bear with me! Writers, you get it!)

I am pleased to learn that “Stopped,” a poem I recently wrote, will be published by Spillwords Press on July 19, 2018.  As this poem was declined elsewhere, I am glad it has found a home. I enjoyed writing the poem, something rather out of my comfort zone! It was written as a response to a painting as a prompt.

Thanks for reading!

Laura Lee

Posted on by Laura Lee

Lucky Thirteen? (Submissions) but about those boys trapped in the Thai cave…

 

windows    Lucky (I hope) thirteen active submissions of poetry out right now… wait, one is a short nonfiction piece entirely written in dialogue. We shall see! The “declined” or rejections outnumber thirteen–but I am enjoying finding new literary magazines and I am editing, revising, and writing poetry. EXCEPT I cannot write about those poor boys trapped in the caves in Thailand. I usually have no problem writing to a prompt, but these boys, these trapped boys…

I mean those boys are mainly in the dark…and they are BOYS. There is ONE adult with them. I followed the lives and stories of the 33 Chilean miners, big strong men, trained men…and I know how very rough they had after the rescue. The miners were down below much longer… but these are boys…and it could take months. Sigh…

If I were honest, I would say I can barely breathe thinking about those boys.

Here are links to some current articles:

Thailand Cave Rescue Options.

I can barely breathe when I think of all those who are trapped, scared, in the dark–literally or emotionally.

I need to open the window now, despite the stifling heat.

There is a poem there about the need to open windows even in the heat.  Even in the bitterly cold.  (Oh, I’ve had issues doing that.)

Not too long ago, my husband and I were in a resort with huge windows, but they did not open.  I wanted to stay somewhere else,  somewhere the windows opened.

But that’s another story or other stories.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Laura Lee

Update on Submission: The Value & Power & Fun of Poetry–Submitted to Willowdown Books

dream courage harmony inspire rocks images Update: the work I submitted here is short-listed; the editors will determine the overall themes of the works they are interested in and then let us short-listed know if we will be published.  I was not familiar that as a writer I would ever be told this, so this is interesting.

As I find new (to me) literary journals, I am delighted to find the absolute joy of language and belief in the power of poetry to be prevalent.  The journals I am finding are truly labors of love, and the publishers and editors are publishing poetry because they love poetry, love language, and believe poetry is important.  What a pleasant change of pace from the local, national, and world news, which is portraying a country and world in hate-filled crisis after crisis!

For example, I just had to submit some poems to Willowdown Books out of the UK: Willowdown Books.

Willowdown is sponsoring “The Poetic Bond VIII,” a bound poetic journal in autumn; submissions are due by the end of the day tomorrow here: The Poetic Bond.

So what creates a “poetic” bond?  The publisher wants to create this bond by publishing poetry that is deeply connected with humanity, nature, and the universe.

You tell me, poets, if this isn’t the heart of poetry?  Deep connections.  Humanity. Nature. The universe.

Yes sirree.  Sure is for me.

Plus the play and delight of language.

Have a look at the “poetic bond” and Willowdown Books.

Oh! For submitting, we got to pick a book out, sort of a thank you for submitting.  This also shows support for the poets already published, so that’s a great idea.

Thanks for reading!

 

Posted on by Laura Lee

Submitted a Poem about BAD Summer Jobs–GeekyPress.co

motel                   Submitted a new, raw poem here:http://thegeekypress.com/

to their BAD SUMMER JOBS open call for poetry, fiction, and short plays.  I’ve sure had bad summer jobs!

 

This one had dogs, blood, and me running away from that motel job as fast as my 14-year old self could.  I don’t normally swear, but this poem called for it to be true to life.

If I were honest, this writing would be even more raw and awful, for it was an unsafe difficult job–but paid $4 an hour! A fortune we thought back then. I literally ran out of the motel, terrified.  Had I been older, I might have been amused, but I was working when (illegally) very young there.

I’m old enough to remember when most places didn’t care to check on your age. They really didn’t.  If some “official” wanted to see birth certificates, I’d just quit and go back in a week or so.

Did that at a fast food place, but that’s another story too. WHAT I LEARNED THERE! That I was not cut out for manual labor.  That work was very hard for very little money. That you needed to be strong to work in many fields.  That I would need an education to become something other than one who was burning self all day on fryers or fighting off men in motels…

Now back to the issue:

The call for submissions to the BAD SUMMER JOBS ends at end of day tomorrow, so if you are interested, check it out and get writing! They are accepting poetry, fiction, and plays about this theme.

Oh–a positive aspect about this publication? It splits all profits from sales of their print publications and e-books.

Thanks for reading.