Talking about Poetry Book Reviews, and a Couple of Down Days due to MS, Rejections, etc.
- At May 11, 2019
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Blog
- 5
Down Days (Rejections, MS, etc)
I’ve had a couple of “down” days the last couple of days, due to the 88 degree heat giving me terrible MS symptoms, and seven rejections (including one book rejection) in two days – a record for me, I think.
I can’t really do much about the MS symptoms in the heat , except avoid the heat. I almost went to the hospital when my symptoms got bad (screaming leg pains, this time, a newish symptom), but I survived. I am just looking forward to the weather getting back to our summertime normal, which is closer to 70 than 90. I had to cancel pretty much all my appointments, social and medical, which gave me spare time to think about my rejections.
One way to think about rejection is that it is a sign you are aiming high, or aiming outside your own personal comfort sign. It is a sign you are trying. If a gymnast fell once off a balance beam, and said “Well, that’s not for me,” she would be losing out, not achieving her potential. It’s the same for us. Now, I’ve been doing this a long time, so of course it’s discouraging to get rejections – even encouraging rejections. You think, “I should have this down by now.” But the truth is, every publisher is not the right publisher for you. Every literary journal isn’t going to be a perfect fit for the poems I’m writing right now, even if they were for the poems I wrote a decade ago. And I am aiming higher than I used to, which I think is a good thing.
In the quiet time, I had time to watch birds – we have two pairs of quail living near our yard now, and the red-winged blackbirds are singing, and the peacocks at Chateau Ste Michelle are walking around with their beautiful feathers. One of my favorite flowers, the lilacs, are just about done blooming. Here are some Woodinville pics from the day it was cool enough to walk around outside:
Talking About Book Reviewing
I know this is something I’ve talked about before, but I just thought I’d write a little reminder as we get into the summer months, good months for writing and submitting poetry book reviews. Every poet wants their book to be reviewed. I always get asked, “How do I get more book reviews?” And I almost always say, “Well, how much time have you spent writing poetry book reviews?” And if the answer in none, well, remember, there are way more people who want their poetry recognized than people who want to do the hard critical labor of reviewing books. I’ve been doing it now for a dozen years. I finally (at the encouragement of several friends) joined the National Book Critics Circle.
Now, there are different types of poetry book critics. There are poetry critics who get joy from putting poetry books down, showing how clever they are at the expense of the writers. I encourage you not to be that kind of critic. I myself try hard not to do that stuff. Because while most people aren’t reading enough of the great poetry books out there – especially not books by people of color and women – I try to write the kind of review that might get someone excited enough to actually buy the book. I’m not a cheerleader, but if I choose to review a book, it’s not because I hate it. It’s also not because I think it’s flawless, but because I think it is interesting and deserving of others’ attention.
It is surprisingly easy to place a poetry book review, because not many people are out there desperately sending out book reviews, the way they are fiction or poetry. So I encourage you to review a book of poetry, hopefully one that hasn’t already been reviewed a thousand times. (It happens – one book captures the world’s imagination all at once, perhaps focused on relevant social themes, or current events. It’s not a bad thing.) It’s the one thing that costs you no money that might make another writer really happy.
Rebecca Loudon
That picture of Glenn smelling the lilacs is priceless. Poetry will always be a tough business. I had a panic attack today while submitting four poems.
Love
Rebecca
Jeannine Hall Gailey
Yes, I caught him at the perfect moment – so hard to get a real smile out of him in a picture!
Panic attack while submitting poems = the title of my new feminist punk rock band.
Brian James Lewis
While I don’t have the same afflictions, mine are similar and I got nailed with problems out the blue this summer, too. Grrr! I agree that it just takes the wind out of your sails and kills your happiness. I also agree that the poetry market has gotten a little “elite” at some publications and it seems very difficult to submit the right thing because when you send exactly what they asked for they say that’s not it. From my reading of various magazines and blogs, it also appears that we’re getting a lot of people who want to make this a get rich quick popstar kind of thing with little regard for craft. When the presses are swamped with that kind of thing it really slows things down for veteran writers who’ve been in the trenches for decades. That’s kind of what I’m seeing on the review end of things and the folks who are going for popstar get really mad when I decline to review their work. But like yourself, I don;t WANT to write negative reviews and what I read has to engage my heart and brain. That’s it. No “Why try? I’m gonna die! Sigh” nonsense. Write bad words, make up words, make up lands, but do it with soul and love. I’m hoping things turn around for you soon. You are awesome, your writing and poetry are great. Thanks for all you for others and the inspiration you provide!
Ann
Re: submitting: Keep at it–as I know you will. I had a little flurry of rejections in April, which bummed me out because hey, it’s poetry month, but oh well!
Thank you for encouraging people to write reviews. I did a fair amount of reviewing for a few years (in fact, I recall reviewing one of your earlier collections!) but recently have been too busy at my day job to devote the necessary time to that labor of love for the poetry community.
And it is a labor of love and a task worth shouldering and sharing. I hope to get back to reviewing eventually. Perhaps when I retire…
Poetry Blog Digest 2019: Week 19 – Via Negativa
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