January has been a busy month. Besides the start of school, I have been trying to keep up on individual writing/reading/publishing goals. This past month, I think I’ve written five new poems. I say think because I’m never really sure when I am finished with a poem. I really like to let my poems breathe a bit before I send them out to find homes. Once, I wrote this poem that I thought I really liked — I sent said poem out five or six times and got rejected. I took another hard look at that poem and ended up breaking it apart and writing two poems — like when a worm breaks in half and both parts wiggle away. The good news is that both poems got published!
I digress. I wanted to send poems out to 10 journals per month this year, and this past month, I barely made that goal. Do I not know enough journals? Am I not simultaneously submitting enough? Am I not writing enough poems to send out? I’m not sure, but I promised myself that I would be more aggressive this year with submissions, so I need to work on this number.
Other number news? Three acceptances and one rejection. And many, many journals that still have my poems. Plus, I did end up reading 10 poetry collections this past month (full length collections and chapbooks). Like I mentioned before, it’s going to be a great year in poetry!
A final note for the month: for those who preordered my new chapbook, publishing schedule is on time, so Wearing Heels should be in your mailbox very soon!
The Scrapper Poet 