15 June 2008

Summer entertainment.

So it has come down to this. The old "put Mr. Potato Head glasses on the kitty" prank. Summer is in full swing over here.

One more week of my summer class. One more set of papers (to be submitted tomorrow, and graded thereafter). At the end of the tunnel: light. In a few weeks, we'll be here, hopefully enjoying the sunshine and doing a bit of relaxing.

LuLu Barnes is making herself at home. She needs to learn not to jump on counters and scratch furniture (she was a stray, so she's probably never been around either), but she's letting Gabi carry her around, and she's already tons more affectionate than most of our cats. Schubert (see above) doesn't mind her one bit, and they were even smelling each other's t-shirts yesterday.

Since this is supposed to be a poetry blog, here's a question. Do you send poems to journals you've published in before? It occurred to me that I never have. The only mag I've published in twice (I think) is ACM, and the second time was because it was a solicitation. But there are some I would like to send to again. It's been, like, ten years, and the poems are quite different.

What about you? Repeat offender, or one-timer?

10 comments:

Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kells said...

Since this is supposed to be a poetry blog, here's a question. Do you send poems to journals you've published in before?

Repeat offender, or one-timer?

****When I first started submitting, once I got into a journal I wouldn't submit there again. It was sort of like crossing names off a list--been there, done that.

As I've grown I've realized that I prefer certain journals and appreciate the relationship between journal and poet.

I have joked that North American Review could be my sponsor, as it's probably the journal I've been published in most, but I like that journal and want to support it.

So now (being the Capricorn that I am) I keep a list of journals I'd like to appear in as well as journals I've been in and enjoy.

Just my 2 cents. cha-ching.

Steven D. Schroeder said...

When I get into a journal and really like the results, I usually try to send work there again after a reasonable period of time has passed (say, a year after the first issue with me in it appears). So far, I'm a repeat offender in 32 Poems, Pebble Lake Review, Copper Nickel, three candles, New Zoo Poetry Review, and The American Poetry Journal, all places I like a lot.

I also tend to make repeat offenders out of a lot of poets I like for the journals I edit... :-)

Mella said...

I'm not a poet, but with my short stories I haven't submitted again to a place I've been published before. No particular reason why...then again, I only just started submitting anywhere pretty recently (a little over a year, I think) so who knows what the future will bring...

(Love the kitty-glasses...)

Mella said...

I'm not a poet, but with my short stories I haven't submitted again to a place I've been published before. No particular reason why...then again, I only just started submitting anywhere pretty recently (a little over a year, I think) so who knows what the future will bring...

(Love the kitty-glasses...)

Nin Andrews said...

I love certain reviews and their editors. So I send to them again . . . Sometimes I worry about it, but I assume if it's a problem, they will just, well, reject me. Sigh.

Amy said...

It's been to my detriment that I've only sent poems to places a single time... even when they've asked for more... duh.

Jeannine said...

Yes, I send back again, especially if I like the journal (32 Poems and Columbia Poetry Review come to mind) Sometimes I feel an affinity with an editor's work, or they state an affinity for my work, and again, that's a good reason to send again. It is about building relationships. And not just acceptances - I think I send to The Atlantic just so I can get those nice typed out letters from the editor, telling me why my poems didn't quite make it but why he liked them.
On the other hand, you don't want a journal's readers to get bored with you, or feel like you're annoying an editor, so spacing out repeat subs makes sense.

Leslie said...

I've never repeated until I sent a submission recently to one of the first journals who published poems of mine. Alas, apparently they've gotten more popular or I've gotten less, because I got a rejection.

That is my entire repeat experience.

newzoopoet said...

Great question, and one that I posed to myself lately. I am not a repeat submitter, having taken Kelli's approach (hmmm, I'm a Capricorn, too). But I can see the merit in waiting a few years and revisiting successful publications, as Steven suggests. This has sparked a question on my blog... ;)

Valerie Loveland said...

It's been fun reading everyone's answers to this.

I repeat submit.

There are certain magazines like Thema, where I always try and write to each of their themes as a writing exercise (3 issues/themes a year). Then there are others I just like so I keep submitting poems.

Charleston gratitude and overdue update

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