the "fail better" mission, update 03-29-10

*yawns*

i submitted three of my poems for Adirondack Review's 46er Prize for Poetry just a few minutes ago. they've got a neat little system, too. your entry fee is based on how many poems you submit (1 is $5, 2 is $8 and 3 is $10). AND you pay the fee via paypal. talk about convenient!

i also corresponded with a very intelligent novelist on facebook, who told me i should be prepared to perform at the drop of a hat. good advice. i wonder what that MEANS in terms of fiction, though ... do people walk up to fiction writers and say, "hey, spout some prose for my kids!"?

it's probably WAY too 1:30 to ponder this. but there's my update. thanks for the comments, friends. invite your homies to my blog! hell, i dunno why. maybe so i can feel famous?

m.

the "fail better" mission, update 03-27-10

i sent my stuff to the good people of 2River Press a couple days ago. today, while i was teaching my saturday afternoon "strategies" class, i looked on my phone and noticed i'd gotten an email from Richard Long, whom i am guess is 2River's poetry editor. he said he enjoyed reading my poems, but couldn't use them for the summer 2010 issue of the mag.

what's weird is that i was almost excited about the rejection. it felt like ... progress. i've been rejected by a few presses and magazines before, and i know that NOT ALL of them include something about "enjoying" your work in their rejection message. so that was nice. besides, 2River is quarterly, so i'll be able to send them more stuff in a couple months. and i WILL. just you watch out, Richard Long!

ok, i need coffee. i'll need to send my stuff to at least ONE place before i can sleep tonight ...

holla back!

m.

the list of online publications.

Action, Yes not accepting submissions @ this time
The Adirondack Review submitted 3 poems to the 46er prize on 03-29-10
Alsop Review website seems to be out of commission 04-08-10
Archipelago no longer accepting submissions 04-08-10
The Barcelona Review fiction only! 04-08-10
Barrow Street not accepting submissions for the JOURNAL, but i'm submitting to the Barrow Street Poetry Book Contest. my submission will go into the mail 04-12-10!
Beltway Poetry only published literary works from people in the DC metro area. but i followed a link on their site to Innisfree Poetry Journal, which IS accepting electronic submissions at this time. i'm sending off to them tonight! 04-11-10
Blackbird submitted 04-13-10
Blithe House Quarterly only publishes LGBT short fiction, and they're not accepting submissions anyway
Blue Moon Review no longer publishing! *frownie face* 04-13-10
Born Magazine not accepting written work at this time 04-13-10

Café Ireal only accepts fiction, but it's like WEIRD fiction and can be very short. gonna have to come back to this. 04-13-10
Carve Magazine another fiction-only journal. eh. i subscribed to it. 04-13-10
Coconut Poetry submitted 03-24-10
Cortland Review submitted 04-18-10
Danforth Review ERROR MESSAGE! 04-13-10
decomP submitted (yawningly) 04-14-10
Dead Mule exclusively for THE SOUTH, but in an interesting way. i might be able to submit there. i'll check on it. i'm sleepyashe ll.com 04-14-10
Drunken Boat not accepting poetry submissions @ this time
Ducts submitted 05-05-10 (happy cinco de mayo!)
Exquisite Corpse despite its exceedingly cool title, this site is defunct, 04-20-10
Eyeshot fiction only, but they write some awesome rejection latters! 04-20-10
Foliate Oak not accepting submissions until august. i'll be back!
Fringe i THINK i can submit to them. not quite sure. i'll dig around and get that done tonight. 05-09-10
Go Ezines is actually a directory. gonna dig around in there! 05-09-10
God Particle this link sent me to some sort of bible study website. i'm gonna write and ask them if they publish poetry. heh. 05-09-10
Hobart doesn't accept poetry, but they except real or imaginary SPOTLIGHT features. i kinda wanna do one about my roomie. 05-09-10
IdentityTheory only accepting poems about money. that's so weird. since when do poets have MONEY? ok, i'm off to go write something ... 05-09-10
Iowa Review Online not accepting until september. 05-22-10
Jacket Magazine will start reading in june! be back in a couple weeks ... 05-21-10
Konundrum
Le Petite Zine submitted hella early am 05-23-10. nine more to go. fuck.
Literal Latte meh. no electronic submissions. gotta print some stuff off. 05-23-10
Madhatters' Review reading period is over - my bad. five more. 05-23-10
McSweeney's them no likey poetry. 05-22-10
Memorious submitted, bitches! six more. 05-23-10
MiPOesias submitted to OCHO, via MiPOesias, 05-23-10
Monkeybicycle not accepting any submissions for the print journal, but i may try my hand at a one-sentence story!
Muse Apprentice Guild nothing to see here. 05-21-10
Octopus Guild reads during the month of august only. couple more months to go! 05-21-10
Paumanok Review etext archives? huh??? 05-21-10
Pif Magazine tooling around with this stupid HeyPublisher crap. it won't accept my attachments. blah. 05-21-10
Pindeldyboz no longer accepting poetry submissions. waaaah! 05-21-10
Pittsburgh Quarterly Review doesn't look like these guys have updated since 2007. no submission guidelines available. 05-21-10
Richmond Review not accepting submissions. 05-21-10
Segue missed their deadline. blah. 05-21-10
Sidebrow
Slope not accepting submissions just yet ... 05-21-10
Small Spiral Notebook i am forbidden. 05-21-10
Snow Monkey submitted, gotdammit. 05-23-10
SoMa Literary Review if they DO have submission guidelines, i couldn't find them. 05-21-10
Storyglossia not found. 05-21-10
storySouth submitted! 05-23-10
Summerset Review poetry is WHORES! submitted 05-23-10
Tarpaulin Sky not accepting poetry/fiction submissions till the fall
2River told me no 03-27-10
3AM Magazine not accepting poetry submissions. 05-09-10
3rd Bed published in a language that is decidedly NOT english, except for the word "RESPECT."
Unpleasant Event Schedule the full deal of someone named daniel nester. he doesn't seem to want my poems. hmph. 05-09-10
Web del Sol told me no 12-2009
Word Riot published two of my poems 11-2009
Words Without Borders can't figure out where to find the submission guidelines!

my newest mission.

i admit, i'm not what anyone could call "self-motivated." i'm just not. even when it comes to my writing, which is my biggest dream in life. this completely muddled and non-lucrative "being a poet" thing is all i ever wanted to do and i'm not doing a very good job at DOING it.

i get discouraged too easily. i applied (very sloppily and hastily) to three schools for a Ph.D. in English with Creative Writing dissertation right after i graduated from boise state with my mfa, and was rejected by all three. at the time i was crushed and CONVINCED those rejections meant i wasn't going to be successful as a poet & writer - despite the fact that my applications were sort of thrown together and i wasn't very well prepared. instead of realizing that i just needed to really THINK about why i wanted to go into a doctoral program (since then, i've officially discovered that i probably DON'T want a Ph.D. not in that, anyway), i beat myself up. and i've been at a standstill ever since.

i take rejection too harshly. sending out my poetry for publication is always a nail-biting experience. i mean, i KNOW i won't be accepted by every press, but ... like ... i still WANT to! who wants to be rejected, right? but i let that slow me down, and i think the reason they slow me down is because i don't submit my work to ANYWHERE NEAR enough presses, mags, etc. don't give myself a chance to get in the groove and keep going.

oh yeah, and i had a kid and got a job and stuff. i don't regret having my daughter, as she is the coolest person on the face of the earth, but motherhood (especially SINGLE motherhood) is time-consuming ... draining. eleni sikelianos recently asked me on via facebook chat if i'd been keeping up with my reading since i graduated. i asked her if dora the explorer "say it two ways" books counted. i guess you get the picture.

anyway, blah to all the excuses. i need to submit my work more places and stop being such a wuss. (i'm also thinking of applying for a SECOND mfa in poetry. leave a comment on this blog telling me your thoughts on that idea.)

sooo, here's my new mission. i've decided to work my way through the online AND print publication links listed by a really great online literary journal called failbetter. i'd been skimming through the list, researching and reading some of the journals and even submitting a couple of places. then i decided it would make the most sense to just submit to ALL of them that still exist and that would accept my work right now. gives me something to focus on, a task to complete, and some sort of structure to my creative endeavors. i guess you could say i'm trying to toughen up and live by the samuel beckett quote from which failbetter got their name: "ever tried? ever failed? no matter. try again. fail again. fail better."

i'll blog every few days with a list of the places i've submitted my work.

wish me luck, 'k? gonna need it ...

*oh, so far i've submitted to coconut poetry and rattle.

a nod to harryette mullen and cheryl pallant (inspired by terrence hayes)

special y’ooze

(for cheryl pallant)

you’re too much waist in time.

you’ve been rending a room in the wrong house

this whole time and

your bill was late. you’re bent on audit.

you’re auditory, gotten notice after

the fact of certain.

you are seven of the thinnest dimes I’ve ever seen

and even at one stroke.

you are a Mabe of all seasons, a dog of one.

you’re all bonkity-bonk and diddity-doo the kind that don’t

bite back.

you’re that bigger-than-the-both-of-us brand of file

in the cake

and featherweight.

you back against the wall and forever back

after these messages

you will not sway me with your swamp thing smile

and sorcery-less sword,

your whispers swindle.

you’re the wrong swine for this truffle

and it’s been too long.

too much trouble.

you dine on the wills of men

I will not abide, and you will not attend.

you will not attend the Death Star Disco.