Publication Brings Invitation to Read at a Concert

As the result of getting my poem "A Widow Starts a Letter to Her Beloved" published, I was invited to do a short reading at a house concert featuring the Milo Trio headed by pianist Carl Banner with violinist Celaya Kirchner and cellist Emma Johnson. Our host was the man of all seasons Captain Richard White.


 I felt it was somewhat awkward to present a political poem despite it being wrapped in an envelope of loss and deep love at a classical music concert featuring the works of Beethoven and Schubert. Nevertheless, the comments from audience members after the conclusion of the much appreciated and well executed musical performance were thoughtful and informed me that there was room for my poetry.

Publishing Strategies for 2019

Has anyone noticed that it has gotten immeasurably tougher to get a single poem published in a literary journal? Over dinner with a bunch of poets, the Steiny Road Poet raised the problem and the overall agreement is that Submittable, the electronic system that helps literary journals and publishing house with online submissions, has exponentially increased competition.

 

One poet in that discussion said that what she is doing is looking for journals that are not using Submittable. She figures that these journals are getting fewer submissions which increases her chance of being published.

Another poet that evening said his tactic is to blitz—he sends out the same poems to different magazines maybe as many as 100 times. Yes, he has to send out a lot of withdraw letters when a poem is accepted but he is getting poems accepted. He also said it doesn’t matter if the publisher takes a long time.

Poets who show up in the literary arena and stay visible sometimes are solicited for poems. So Steiny thinks the only answer is to work harder and faster in submitting work.