Incredibly Nervous Feedback: Trying to Publish

[mojo_cat]

Thanks for clicking.

I'm submitting work to magazines and journals tonight. I'm going through my work and trying to pick two more poems from what I have, and I need help.

I have one picked out (not published on Lit) and I'm torn as to the rest. If anyone has the time, could you suggest which of the works I have published here would be most suitable to send to the world for imminent ridicule?

I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for all your support in the past, it's a big factor in why I am doing this at all.


My stuff:

 

[Guest]

this one - for sure.

Good luck!

 

[Maria2394]

this one - for sure.

Good luck!

yep, that one!! and Inchoate is a good one to include as well...
good luck, sweet cat

 

[mojo_cat]

thank you both...i wasn't sure about Saturday because it's new, and my new style is receiving mixed reviews from the little Garp that lives in my head.

But I will take your word for it as the forums here are notably ruthless at times..

So, for the second?

I'm afraid of Inchoate because of the huge amount of anonymous negative feedback I received at time of publishing from women who felt the topic was sensitive. Though I feel making others react is a huge part of the effectiveness of poetry (which to me i sbasically a means o fconveying an emotion, in a bottle, for later consumption or SOS), I don't want to put off publishers. I mean, I don't want to sell out, but I am not sure if my opening salvo into publishing should be with that.

I dunno. Am I being a weenie?

ps. thanks Tris for the pat on the back yesterday also

 

[Guest]

Mojo, I think you're one of the freshest voices of all Lit. poets, and many other contemporaries. I love your work, and I love beyond 'love for words' - Inchoate. Send anything, everything out, over and over. You've got hard passion and a feel for language. You're it!

best, Perdita

 

[Rybka]

Of the poems that you have posted on Lit. I must agree with Maria and Tristesse, "saturday coffee in the hospital" and "inchoate" are by far the better works as the Hs and the E indicate. - My only caution is that both deal with medical/health situations and may tend to indicate that your interest/talent is somewhat subject limited. Perhaps your interest is, but if not, then I hope that your non-Literotica posted poems display your talent in other areas of interest.

Regards, Rybka

 

[Angeline]

Go for it cat! Both poems are wonderful and certainly both are, imo, publishing worthy. I've had poems published, and I've had even more poems rejected, lol. I have come to understand that getting "picked" has as much (if not more) to do with submitting your poem to the right place as with how good of a poem it is.

There are some places where I simply don't submit because I see what they publish and it's so different from my style that I know sending my stuff there would be pretty much a waste. I put a lot of time into searching online through literary journals and magazines to find the places where my poems should have a good shot.

It's also important to try to get a feel for how willing a publisher is to consider poems from an unpublished writer. Some pay lip service to it; others are sincere. Also some publishers are pretty narrow-minded about erotic content and see eroticism in phrasing that would make me yawn, while others are pretty open-minded. That's another good reason to look at a few back issues and see what was published--you see what their limits are.

Good luck and don't be discouraged if your poems are rejected. Send them elsewhere. You have a gift and I'm sure you will be published if you're persistent.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Mojo, I would just like to add my agreement with all that has been said, especially, by Perdita and Angeline. I've been in love with Inchoate for many months (I could be wrong, but I believe I even sent you some feedback maybe six months ago), and have been paying a lot of attention to all your new poems since. You have a very distinctive voice, strong, and the emotional negative feedback is only natural. It means you're striking a cord. I have no doubt you will be published.

PS: I was just looking in my email archive for the name of the person who had sent me the link to your page, and turns out he just started to post on this board today! Funny.

 

[mojo_cat]

Thank you all very much.

I've published non-fic freelance off and on for a while, but didn't think my fiction work (if poetry is fiction...)was good enough, seeming as a lot of the poetry I've read in Canadian journals, etc has been pretty much Tim Hortons'-centric (we have a such a national identity crisis.)

Lauren: I've kept all my feedback since I came on the Lit boards, and it's predominantly anonymous, so I'm sure yours is in there somewhere...who sent you a link to my poem? gotta thank that person.

Perdita: Thank you again. Your support was overwhelming when I first posted here and you remind me very much of one of my favourtite teachers, way back when I was in school.


I guess I proved that a high school dropout can still write decent poetry. Screw you, school!

I think I'll go with Saturday and maybe inchoate. I was thinking about "morning blowjob" because of the punch power of the title and the winter feel, being as our winter has barely begun. However, I shall take the advice of those present.

and Rybka: yes. but that's because poetry is a lifeline and a way to sort my head out. my abortion and my recent hospitalization and disgnosis with BPD both led me to frustratingly emotional places without exit doors clearly posted. The other poem I've chosen is a humour piece about foreskins. So i figure that should balance out my medical content.

Thank you all again for the support. Feel free to keep suggesting, but I'm not trying to attention whore..I just can't believe no one has anything negative to say.

Typical writer. Only believing the bad feedback. *sigh* Part of our charm, I suppose. Or, you know, the reason so many of us kill ourselves.



merci d'avoir!

 

[jthserra]

You might want

to be careful in the submission if they are asking for unpublished work. Even though getting things posted here are very easy, most publications will consider whatever you have here as published. If it becomes an issue, I guess you could always quickly pull it from here.

jim