My first rejection-Anyone been throught it?

Question

Well I have recently been submitting my poetry into various publications, magazines etc through the poetry and writers organization. (www.pw.org) A couple that I have sent off for are ongoing but one through Alehouse Press I thought I had a shot. Well I my self addressed envelope back and when its started with "Though we appreciate..." my heart sank. I realize 1,200 poems were submitted and well my chances of my three making it were slim I still feel like, well if my poems are as good as others have been saying or if my poetry was that superb I would of been picked. Am I being heard on myself? It makes me want to quit, I cannot take rejection

Anyone else who has been doing poetry awhile been through this?

(And do not tell me to go to poetry.com they are a sham)

Answer 1

I've been rejected hundreds of times and have rejected others 1000s of times. You should not take the rejection personally. There are many reasons a poem can be rejected regardless of the poem.

First, each magazine has their own aesthetic. If your's and the journal's don't align, then the poem will probably get rejected. So you should know what the journal is about before sending there.

Second, though this isn't true of Alehouse, a lot of journals have inexperienced readers doing the initial reading of the poems. They miss things sometimes, and it doesn't advance to the better readers where the decisions are made.

Third, an editor may have just read a slew of really good poems, and yours didn't compete at that reading. Perhaps, in another reading, they would.

Fourth, the editor just read a slew of really bad poems, and assumes this poem will be bad, too.

Fifth, the editor is tired.

Sixth, the editor is rushed.

Seventh, the editor has something else on his mind.

Eighth, you caught the editor on a bad day.

Ninth, bad luck.

Tenth, try again. If a poem is good enough, it will find a home.

Also, if a poem does get rejected, especailly often, take another look at it. This happened to me several times. I've had poems that have been rejected over 50 times each. After a while, you realize the editorial excuses I just gave don't cut it. Something is wrong with the poem. You should look at the poem again. Re-work it. Re-vision it. Revise it. Heck, maybe even just say, enough already with the poem. I'll move on to others.

But always keep sending out the poem. Send the poem to a bunch of journals. Show it off. Get it out in the world. Make it feel comfortable in the world. Maybe the poem is shy, and it just takes some time for it to warm up to the outside world of poetry.

One more thing. As the other guy mentioned, a 10 percent acceptance ratio is about average. So rejections are going to happen a lot more often than acceptances. Keep sending! KEEP WRITING!

Answer 2

Hi Dragon, sorry I didn't respond to this question because I am no where near trying to get anything I have written published,!

Some of my writings I have posted and did post one thing I thought that might have been worthy, but it was kind of shot down in a nice way!  So made me think I am not even ready to go in that direction yet, I need more study and more critical answers!

I wasn't ignoring your question< just didn't qualify to do so!!  Cheers!!

Answer 3

I have went through periods where I have submitted to many magazines and literary journals--and even if your work is good you will be rejected probably 9 times out of 10. That is just the nature of the business. It isn't fun, but perseverance is what gets you there. Try to hang in there.

Answer 4

Yes, and after a while I stopped submitting, but not writing. I may well submit again in the future, though I might go down the self publishing route. It's probably best to work on your writing for a decade before you submit anyway. Try not to be so disheartened, recognitions nice but it's not the be all and end all. Don't give up your poetry and if you submit again try and remember its just a numbers game. I think you are being too hard on yourself.