Le Voyage Magnifique

Progress?

TASK FOR JANUARY 15th:

1) Visit the following pages:

http://www.marketlist.com/semiproindex.asp
http://www.marketlist.com/proindex.asp

Perusing these links, I found the guideline links to several of the publications no longer valid and one was blocked by my internet security program, so I sought refuge at my old reliable Duotrope’s Digest: http://www.duotrope.com/



2) Choose 2 markets that appeal to you for the same story or poem.

Being the contrary sort, I prefer to write my poems from whatever inspiration my muse provides (usually one of the many contests here on WDC), and then go searching for a suitable market. Having kept in touch with several market resources over the years, I often have a few prospects in mind as I start writing, but many times the poem or story will end up going in another direction altogether. I’m not about to argue with my muse if he wants to go off on some adventure instead of following the prescribed path. In this case, I selected four potential markets which seemed appropriate for one of my poems:

Sojourners
http://sojo.net/about-us/poetry-guidelines

Ruminate
http://www.ruminatemagazine.com/submit/submission-guidelines/

The Christian Century
http://www.christiancentury.org/submission-guidelines

joyful!
http://www.joyfulonline.net/submityourwork.htm



3) Read all the guidelines and become familiar with the style of their published stories/poems.

While the guidelines may provide specific requirements, such as formatting, length and means of submission, they usually give only a general description of the style they are seeking (“expressing the beauty, creativity and ironies of the human experience” or “poetry that reflects simple celebrations of life and beauty”), leaving a great deal of room for the individual writer’s interpretation. There is no substitute for obtaining a sample copy or two of each publication to get a true taste of its unique flavor, but that’s not really practical in these economic times. In the end, I selected Sojourners (because they pay $$$ in addition to copies) and submitted three poems on January 3rd.



4) Start a blog.

Blog resurrected on December 27, 2011.



5) Post your research on your blog, the idea for a story, the timeline you have given yourself.

Ooops! “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Although I had all the other tasks covered well in advance of the January 15th deadline, it took me an extra week to sit down and write this progress report.

X

What was I doing with that time? Well, I wrote a poem "Invalid Item"  and submitted it to four contests: "Stormy's poetry newsletter & contest" , the poetry form challenge at "Invalid Item" , "Invalid Item" , and "A Poem A Day Contest " .

Then, I started researching requirements for submission of a fantasy poem to Aoife’s Kiss
http://samsdotpublishing.com/aoife/AKguidelines.htm

Their formatting specifications are very precise, so I’m taking my time in preparing the manuscript and learning all the technical aspects involved in submitting online.

Oh, yeah. I received a rejection letter from Sojourners last weekend. Bad news there, but at least the quick turnaround will let me get those poems back in play with submissions to another publication.

I guess five steps forward minus two steps back still equals progress, eh?


Let the creativity flow from your soul!
Dave