It may be just to get your poem in print, in which case any journal will do. It may be to get your work seen, in which case journals with a wider circulation and readership would be better.
And it may be to build your reputation as a writer, which is kind of like the "long game" of getting your work seen. You want more and more people to see your work, even anticipate it, perhaps eventually look for it in bookstores.
I include myself in this last group, and if you are still reading, I will assume you do, too. You have been working hard at becoming a better poet--reading good writing, trying to emulate it, getting constructive suggestions from people whose opinions you value. But you also must work hard at becoming a better known poet.
And that means you might have to let go of the journals that have--finally!--published your work. I know. It's hard. After all, you have endured so much rejection before finally finding a sympathetic editor. How can you let go now? Why not just keep sending them your good stuff and be happy. Are you really such a snob that you refuse to submit your poetry to any place that would have you as a contributor?
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Are you really such a snob that you refuse to submit your poetry to any place that would have you as a contributor?
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It's an option. But it likely won't grow your audience or your reputation. For that, you need to seek out more widely-read, more respected, and more selective journals.
Fine. You are convinced. You will start submitting to The New Yorker (or at least the journal on the next rung beyond your current reach). But why let the others go?
They have served their purpose in publishing you. You can list them in your publishing credits, and no one is going to be doubly impressed when they publish you again. Besides, you should keep your powder dry and save your great poems for a greater destiny. And that means embracing rejection all over again.
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And that means embracing rejection all over again.
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Remember when you first started thinking about getting your work published? If you were like me, you may have overreached and sent it off to places you knew, journals you had actually read, only to find that you rated nothing more than a form rejection.
So you licked your wounds and reduced your expectations and set your sites on something smaller. And then smaller still. And smaller still.
Now that you have had some success, you need to run the process in reverse. Raise your expectations a little at a time. And each time you find success, raise them again. It likely means more rejection at each new level.
But you've learned how to deal with that. Aren't you glad you're now having to learn to deal with some success?
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