when to give up, if ever?
Mar 09
Literature, Publishing journals 5 Comments
there are a handful of journals that reject me over and over, usually via form. i “get” the journals’ aesthetic, read all the time, and “like.” but, i’m starting to feel silly and ridiculous for continuing to submit. of course, i was on an 0-19 streak with a journal and recently got an accept.
do you ever quit subbing to a journal for similar reasons? if not, is it pride? something else? time to put the kids to bed so i’m rushing this a bit. may not make it back down tonight. fried.
Mar 10, 2010 @ 07:31:21
You’ve got to trust your instinct and letgo of regret.
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Mar 10, 2010 @ 07:56:27
I’ve only given up on one journal, and it was because the editor I “got” left and was replaced by someone with an aesthetic I did not understand.
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Mar 10, 2010 @ 14:27:47
I think perseverance is a good quality until it isn’t but only you, as a writer, can know when it’s good to give up on a publication. As an editor, I’d say this. Most writers who submit time and time and time again continue to get rejected not because we have a problem with repeated submissions but because they send the same kind of story/poem/etc over and over–a story/poem/etc that in some way doesn’t work for us. IF your work continues to be rejected, it can help to try and assess what might not be working for that market–there’s probably a pattern there.
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Mar 10, 2010 @ 16:34:07
P.H., that song will be in my head for a few more hours now ha ha.
Yeah, Nate, that has happened to me as well, once or twice. Fickle business!
Roxane, of course you’re right…every writer/publication will be different. I’m curious whether I’m alone in the weird feeling of “stalking” certain journals, “knowing” they won’t accept my pieces but subbing anyway (convincing myself “this time” will be different). I think I fall into the category of sending similar stories to the referenced journal. I do think that’s part of why they aren’t taking my pieces. I feel okay about not submitting any more, which I think is a good thing. I’ll keep reading them and if I think my stories at some are a better fit, I’ll start subbing again. Thanks for commenting.
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Mar 30, 2010 @ 22:39:44
Stalking, you said. That’s exactly it.
I’ve done that, and will probably do that some more. The litmag that jumped immediately to mind for me was a poetry zine that I submitted to for about two years; the first time because I just “knew” I’d found my people, and the subsequent times because it had to be just a fluke that they didn’t understand my piece, or had lacked coffee the morning I’d submitted, and so on and so forth. Then there was a yearlong phase of distinct intimidation… but I liked the zine enough that it became a personal mission, a benchmark I needed to make me stop feeling like an impostor.
Finally, I hit upon a poem the editor actually liked; she accepted, and elation ensued. Then I realized they were accepting TWO poems–including one that had been accidentally discovered in the same editor’s year-old email slush, another poem she just happened to reread and change her mind about.
Weird, weird shit happens.
Best we can do is keep trucking.
I’ve never claimed to be the world’s best writer. I’m just too obsessed to quit now.
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