Sunday, December 09, 2007
My Babies
My journals, like my poems, are my babies. The journals I edit, though, have another dimension in that so many other people (editors and designers and poets) put good work into them. Editing is something I'm good at (imperfect and always learning, but good)--however, I wouldn't have any product without those other people.
I lucked into The Eleventh Muse because Lois Hayna resurrected it but didn't want to continue editing it, and no one else stepped up at that point. I had to turn the 2005 issue around in about 3 months (6 months from when I learned I was editor, 3 months from when we were actually done with the 2004 issue), without prior journal editing experience. One of the few things I regret about my time as editor was that I didn't feel I quite did justice that first year to the excellent work I received from friends, solicited poets, and the slush pile, because I was learning from scratch on the job. I threw a dozen different features in just to see what would work. I wrote a horrid editor's note. I raised several hundred dollars but we were still short. I didn't understand the ramifications of the person who handled the printing not getting me proofs (that person was not in charge of printing after that issue).
For the 2006 and 2007 issues, I continued to find what I considered high quality work, worked on design enhancements, and kept the couple new features I had tried that actually seemed interesting. I raised over $1,000 each year (from sponsorships, contests, purchasing, and my own pocket). Three years before I started, the journal was saddle-stapled with a black-and-white cover, about 40 pages. My last issue was perfect bound, color cover, 80 pages, and the work was strong and eclectic. I love the poetry I received all three years I edited the journal: I asked for and got good poems from "name" poets, I asked my friends from Colorado and online, and I met new outstanding writers who found out about the journal one place or another (advertising, the blog, word of mouth, etc.), some of whom have since become real-life or online friends. There are so many people to thank that I simply can't do it all by name--thank you to everyone.
You may or may not agree about the quality of the poetry, taste being what it is, but if you read the issues (2005, 2006, 2007), I'm pretty sure you'll find that I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing now and that I put my stamp on the journal without making it any kind of vanity project. I also think you'll find the same with with Anti-.
I lucked into The Eleventh Muse because Lois Hayna resurrected it but didn't want to continue editing it, and no one else stepped up at that point. I had to turn the 2005 issue around in about 3 months (6 months from when I learned I was editor, 3 months from when we were actually done with the 2004 issue), without prior journal editing experience. One of the few things I regret about my time as editor was that I didn't feel I quite did justice that first year to the excellent work I received from friends, solicited poets, and the slush pile, because I was learning from scratch on the job. I threw a dozen different features in just to see what would work. I wrote a horrid editor's note. I raised several hundred dollars but we were still short. I didn't understand the ramifications of the person who handled the printing not getting me proofs (that person was not in charge of printing after that issue).
For the 2006 and 2007 issues, I continued to find what I considered high quality work, worked on design enhancements, and kept the couple new features I had tried that actually seemed interesting. I raised over $1,000 each year (from sponsorships, contests, purchasing, and my own pocket). Three years before I started, the journal was saddle-stapled with a black-and-white cover, about 40 pages. My last issue was perfect bound, color cover, 80 pages, and the work was strong and eclectic. I love the poetry I received all three years I edited the journal: I asked for and got good poems from "name" poets, I asked my friends from Colorado and online, and I met new outstanding writers who found out about the journal one place or another (advertising, the blog, word of mouth, etc.), some of whom have since become real-life or online friends. There are so many people to thank that I simply can't do it all by name--thank you to everyone.
You may or may not agree about the quality of the poetry, taste being what it is, but if you read the issues (2005, 2006, 2007), I'm pretty sure you'll find that I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing now and that I put my stamp on the journal without making it any kind of vanity project. I also think you'll find the same with with Anti-.
