Friday, August 19, 2005
Submission advice
This sort of stuff seems basic for people who submit poetry, but I've seen it more than once, including today:
If you submit poems, make it look like you care. Don't send poems that have coffee stains on the paper, rips and creases in the paper, and corrections written over the printed words in pen. I'll dock for the first two and instantly stop reading for the third. And I'm probably more lenient than the average editor.
If you submit poems, make it look like you care. Don't send poems that have coffee stains on the paper, rips and creases in the paper, and corrections written over the printed words in pen. I'll dock for the first two and instantly stop reading for the third. And I'm probably more lenient than the average editor.
Comments:
<< Home
I had a prof in grad school who recommended never sending out manuscripts that have "slept around." That is--if you get your manuscript back, don't put it in an envelope immediately if it has scratches or markings from a previous editor on it.
I once recieved a batch of poems with what looked like a previous editor's feedback on them.
My advice to poets about manuscripts: at least make them look respectable, even if they are literary journal whores.
I once recieved a batch of poems with what looked like a previous editor's feedback on them.
My advice to poets about manuscripts: at least make them look respectable, even if they are literary journal whores.
I would think that editorial patience is directly proportional to the amount of manuscripts one gets. If you get 50,000 poems per year, you're probably far less patient than if you get 5,000. Personally, and I know this is anal, I throw away any rejections as soon as they come back. I don't want to send out poems that have rejection cooties.
I've saved some of my "good" rejections (I'm thinking of framing the nice note from Shenandoah :-P). Other than that, I get rid of them very fast, yes.
Amen. Don't you love the typewritten poems where people actually make edits to the page & then send it to you all marked up as if you would actually CONSIDER it? Ugh.
Post a Comment
<< Home
