Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Uh-Oh
Eduardo has asked which contests have the most prestige and wants your top three. The usual suspects are coming up, but I'm wondering if I'm doing this all wrong now. Instead of going for prestige I've decided to send my MS to the publishers that have released my favorite collections. A quick look at my bookshelves shows that many of these favorites come from the same small (and as it turns out prestigious, too) publishers. This, of course, lowers my chances of getting the book published tremendously. I remember saying to one of my unwitting mentors that I wanted to be part of a press publishing authors I admired, to be among poets I respected, and if the MS didn't get picked up then it didn't get picked up, so be it. Is that really true? Am I really that stubborn/cavalier/weird? If I am, for instance, that stubborn what makes me think that I would be so willing to walk away for a MS I worked on so damn hard for so damn long after setting up these idealistic/unreal expectations? We'll have to wait and see, eh?
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2 comments:
Personally I think you can play it both ways. I pick three contests a year to submit to and then I also send my book out to places I admire or at least it’s my plan, most of the time I’m a lazy ass and don’t get things done. Nickole Brown of Sarbande said to do exactly what you are doing. Personally right now I think it is a little like getting struck by lightening, our job is to get out in the open field and the rest is up to nature.
Whew, it's nice to hear I'm doing something right. Both ways, eh? Now, that's a good idea. Thanks, T.
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