Ha! You're not alone, Joanna, as so many poets have told me that, & I
often found it to be so too. So I took great pride once when a poet
told me I was the only editor who had ever taken the poems he thought
were the best in his package.
On the other hand, Ken, I don't find it insulting that editors think it
might be a good idea to check out their publications (even at a library
if possible; & certainly online when they're there) before sending
material in to them, as 'you' might just be writing the kind of work
they don't even consider....
Doug
On 25-Jul-05, at 12:32 PM, Joanna Boulter wrote:
> Hm. In that case, can anyone tell me why it is that an editor
> unfailingly picks to publish *only the poem that I put in as a
> makeweight?
>
> joanna
>
>> Thank you, actually, for making me think about that statement. "Send
>> only your best work." And there we are again, enmeshed in an
>> unwinnable layered contest where part of the "fun" is seeing how
>> closely your judgment lines up with the editor's. This sounds very
>> much like a variation of the other game: "Read several issues at $12
>> a pop before submitting." Think like the editor, win a prize? Could
>> you imagine including a cover note: "This is just some crap I threw
>> together over the last week to keep in practice. The stuff I love is
>> out at Ploughshares. If they reject it I'll send it to you."
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> --
>> Kenneth Wolman
>> Proposal Development Department
>> Room SW334
>> Sarnoff Corporation
>> 609-734-2538
>
>
Douglas Barbour
11655 - 72 Avenue NW
Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
(780) 436 3320
I give up these words easily, they are easy
to give up, like changing currency before
a border: the cursive line between mountain
and sky, say, as perfect a mismatch as any
made in heaven.
Méira Cook
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