Submissions

For a few months I've been blitzing the magazines - I've 13 stories, 3 flashes and 7 poems doing the rounds, some at places that charge submission fees. So far it hasn't gone well - just 3 acceptances, though I'm in profit having got $20 for a flash. I'm hoping to match my 2017 performance when I had 11 of my 17 poems published and 5 out of 14 stories - better than my lifetime acceptance rates of 1 in 3 for poems and 1 in 6 for prose. In the graph the blue line shows the number of poems written and the pink line shows poems accepted.

I've little left to send off - 1 good story and 2 so-so ones, 3 sub-200 flashes which are ok, and 2 poems that somebody might like - so while I await the rejections I'm trying to write new stuff because to some extent success in magazines is a numbers game: the more you send off, the more acceptances you get. Quantity as well as quality has always been an issue for me - many years I don't manage to write a poem a month. On the other hand, the graph above shows what might happen if I relax quality control: 2013 stands out as a year where I wrote far more than I published - I wrote more than usual but it was rubbish.

Future Karaoke #1

On June 7th at Anglia Ruskin University Jon Stone organised an event where people picked an animal from the list he provided and wrote a poem inspired by it. It was a hybrid evening - there were Zoom participants and listeners.

The series of events is a chance for ARU students to meet local writers - and maybe one day for the other university to join in too. Readers included Claudine Toutoungi, Anne Berkeley, Kirsty Irving, etc. In future there might be video poems, or a live/video hybrid.

Having now attended 3 poetry events in a fortnight I'm beginning to form some generalisations about how much I'll like a open mic poem based on the age/gender of poet, type of introduction, length of poem etc. I know I have a terribly short attention span when listening to poems, but all the same, some of the pieces sounded long to me, even the ones that the poets described as "short". When a poet approaches the mike saying "Just 2 short poems. Is that ok?" trouble's ahead. Or more ominous still, "this began as a poem but it turned into a short story".

National Poetry Day

I went to the event at Waterstones, Cambridge. Mina Gorji was the headliner, and "Environment" the subject. Some CB1 mainstays were there too. I thought Lindsay Fursland's set worked best in the situation - punchy and entertaining. The open mike session was varied - not all the pieces were too long, though several of the introductions were. Nice to see a full house.

CB1: John Greening

On 27th September I went to see John Greening at CB1. Evenings there can sometimes be rather quiet (attendance figures depend on the weather, if it's during term, etc) but yesterday there were well over 30 people - standing room only. For the open-mic I read an updated version of my recent "Oh I do like to be" poem from Acumen, not knowing at the time that I was sitting next to Susan Mackervoy, who'd written a review that was in the same issue.

John Greening was aimable, providing helpful commentary on his poems. As I've said elsewhere, he's published many (20?) books and pamphlets, has done collaborations, and writes some long poems, which are all features which instinctively put me on my guard - irrationally, because he's won the Bridport for heaven's sake. I liked his Egyptian poem, but I still wasn't convinced by his poem (really a list of short poems) about a totem pole, or another list poem involving types of wood.

Sloppy writing?

Some phrases from books that I've recently heard/read attracted my attention, not least because some authors repeatedly used them. None of these phrases were in a character's voice. In some (but not all) instances I think the redundant words are helpful.

• Tears welled up in her eyes - Where else could they well? Isn't "Tears welled up" enough?
• She let out an audible sigh - Or "She sighed", because all sighs are audible?
• There was nothing there - Or "Nothing was there"?
• Outside, the wind was rapping on the window panes - We know the wind isn't inside, but beginning with "Outside" effectively shifts readers' attention.
• She had a fiercely stubborn look on her face - Or "She looked fiercely stubborn" though I suppose you could have a look elsewhere than on the face. All the same, it sounds more "tell" than "show".
• He nodded to himself - The person in question was talking to someone and had just come to a conclusion about something - i.e. the nod wasn't a communication. But the expression sounds strange.
• He thought to himself - Who else could he think to?

Acknowledgements

When someone asked me once how I decided whether to buy a book, I said I look at the acknowledgements. He didn't know what I meant, which is no surprise - he, like most people, only reads novels.

Yes, poetry books and short story collections can contain thankyous to family, teachers and friends, but they also have a list of places where the works were previously published. A glance gives me a fair idea of the writer's standing.

Some authors seem to have focussed on competitions, mentioning appearances in short/long lists. For example, in "Sightings", Elisabeth Sennitt Clough lists 14 prizes and commendations that the poems won.

Others are in some themed/regional anthologies, a market I've never looked at.

Some authors have an extensive list, showing that most if not all of the works have been published before. I view with suspicion books where the list is short - if the pieces haven't gone through the periodical filtering process, I wonder if they're good enough for a book.

Some story writers thank by name the magazine editors who accepted their pieces - not something I've ever done. These editors sometimes suggest revisions so I suppose it makes sense.

The books I'm most likely to buy are those whose acknowledgements page mentions several magazines I've been in, and some I've tried but failed to be accepted in. I'm also tempted by mentions of Bridport and National Poetry Competition shortlistings.

Signed books

Buying second hand books means you sometimes get a bonus. Here are a few I've found.