I admire you for your tenacity, Ira. It must be especially disappointing when you have to pay someone to read your material to get rejected. Some of it comes down to luck or who you know, as I have observed in the poetry world. Someone will notice, but you never know when. June will be here shortly, and I hope you will have some good news!
I know it doesnt help but "at least you're trying"... 3 months ago I got banged out of a band because of equipment failure, I know they liked my playing, but it didnt matter.
Blessed art thou Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has not made me a writer
Or a woman – I can’t remember
Be that as it may, I feel your pain because I got enough of a taste of the process to count my lucky stars that I do this for fun and not money.
I swore off poetry contests and unjoined poetry societies when I discovered Substack and never looked back and the way I look at it, I love the freedom to post what I want and if anybody happens to like it, that’s just gravy.
I really feel for people who are brave enough to try to make a living in the arts. Correct me if I’m wrong but the way it seems to me, the talent to get a book in a bookstore or a song on the charts is at least half marketing. So I’ve done enough reading to understand why the royalties on my book sales barely pay for paper and ink - if that. I haven’t taken step one let alone the myriad of well known cross-marketing steps required to get any traction, so I can’t complain when my work langishes in obscurity.
What I find fascinating about the Substack world is stumbling on raw undiscovered talent - writers every bit aa good as the big players, but maybe temperamentally unsuited for self promotion, which is how I see myself.
The funny thing is one of my old poetry societies ran a free submission thing so I submitted my poem “Wild Child” and they’re going to publish it in its Spring anthology and I was so pleased that I’m giving serious thought to rejoining - knowing full well that once you start submitting your best work to contests or for publication, it’s an exercise in self-flagellation. That’s even after being published many times- must be human nature to never be satisfied.
I admire you for your tenacity, Ira. It must be especially disappointing when you have to pay someone to read your material to get rejected. Some of it comes down to luck or who you know, as I have observed in the poetry world. Someone will notice, but you never know when. June will be here shortly, and I hope you will have some good news!
Many thanks for the thoughtful reply. It is much appreciated. One month left to go!
Hope springs eternal, they say.😊
I know it doesnt help but "at least you're trying"... 3 months ago I got banged out of a band because of equipment failure, I know they liked my playing, but it didnt matter.
Bummer about the band. But thanks for the empathy. It helps.
Actually, I’ve been thinking of your poetry recently. If there is one thing AI couldn’t handle it is your poetry. It is bulletproof. Keep on rocking!
you're an excellent writer Ira
If you paid, did they at least give you feedback?
No real feedback, just a standard copy-paste" “It is interesting but…”
Ugh
Thanks for the memories, Ira.
There’s a prayer in Judaism I say every day
Blessed art thou Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has not made me a writer
Or a woman – I can’t remember
Be that as it may, I feel your pain because I got enough of a taste of the process to count my lucky stars that I do this for fun and not money.
I swore off poetry contests and unjoined poetry societies when I discovered Substack and never looked back and the way I look at it, I love the freedom to post what I want and if anybody happens to like it, that’s just gravy.
I really feel for people who are brave enough to try to make a living in the arts. Correct me if I’m wrong but the way it seems to me, the talent to get a book in a bookstore or a song on the charts is at least half marketing. So I’ve done enough reading to understand why the royalties on my book sales barely pay for paper and ink - if that. I haven’t taken step one let alone the myriad of well known cross-marketing steps required to get any traction, so I can’t complain when my work langishes in obscurity.
What I find fascinating about the Substack world is stumbling on raw undiscovered talent - writers every bit aa good as the big players, but maybe temperamentally unsuited for self promotion, which is how I see myself.
The funny thing is one of my old poetry societies ran a free submission thing so I submitted my poem “Wild Child” and they’re going to publish it in its Spring anthology and I was so pleased that I’m giving serious thought to rejoining - knowing full well that once you start submitting your best work to contests or for publication, it’s an exercise in self-flagellation. That’s even after being published many times- must be human nature to never be satisfied.
Live and not learn.
Thank you for the heartfelt response.
If I may borrow a phrase:
Blessed art thou Lord, our God, King of the universe, who made me a writer with the strength to be rejected.
I was doing this pre-internet and have a nice collection of rejections via snail mail. Thinking back I find it glorious.
Looking forward for more poetry from you!