A Writer's Notebook, Day Three-Hundred-And-Thirty-Six
At the moment, I am making efforts to begin building an audience for my writing. This blog, of course, is a part of that, and sharing poems here is now a major part of that process as well. In addition, I am submitting work to various venues. I currently have two different chapbook manuscripts out, and I am working on a third as well. All of this is new for me, really, and I have often been apprehensive in terms of sending out my work.
That is, of course, a natural thing, I would imagine. Sending out work to publishers, magazines, agents, and other venues is like asking for rejection. While acceptances do come, they are often rare, and it can take months to even get a response at all. Waiting that long for a response, then receiving only a chain letter informing you to try again in the future and wishing you luck, well, it stings, and it is not hard to imagine why it might be difficult to get into the groove with that kind of work.
However, even sharing work here on my blog feels fraught. For one thing, I am aware that putting work on here limits my ability to sell that work in the future. While it could easily be accepted as part of a collection, those individual poems would considered as having already been published by most journals, even if no one ever viewed the content. I do consider this, at times, while thinking about what poems are going to be posted on here. It makes sense to reserve work I think has the ability to be chosen for publication in journals that I respect and which might help me to develop a wider readership. But, really, that issue is fairly minor to me. I recognize that having one poem make an impact online, one piece that becomes moderately successful with some group, could result in a decent readership, and I am taking that gamble.
While I am aware that the development of an online following is something that can take a long while, and is often about luck as much as anything else, I also cannot help but judge my efforts here by the metric of page visits. I can see how many people have looked at any poem, and I cannot help but be a bit down when I notice how few views most of them have. Of course, that is not an accurate perspective; the numbers reflect my influence, not how many people would appreciate the work. It is the reach of my voice, which is not to do with the quality of the work, and when I consider it from that perspective, I do feel a bit cheered, for I do believe that it is a matter of dedication, that the work will be seen by more people who might appreciate it enough to think it worth sharing with others.
That is, of course, a natural thing, I would imagine. Sending out work to publishers, magazines, agents, and other venues is like asking for rejection. While acceptances do come, they are often rare, and it can take months to even get a response at all. Waiting that long for a response, then receiving only a chain letter informing you to try again in the future and wishing you luck, well, it stings, and it is not hard to imagine why it might be difficult to get into the groove with that kind of work.
However, even sharing work here on my blog feels fraught. For one thing, I am aware that putting work on here limits my ability to sell that work in the future. While it could easily be accepted as part of a collection, those individual poems would considered as having already been published by most journals, even if no one ever viewed the content. I do consider this, at times, while thinking about what poems are going to be posted on here. It makes sense to reserve work I think has the ability to be chosen for publication in journals that I respect and which might help me to develop a wider readership. But, really, that issue is fairly minor to me. I recognize that having one poem make an impact online, one piece that becomes moderately successful with some group, could result in a decent readership, and I am taking that gamble.
While I am aware that the development of an online following is something that can take a long while, and is often about luck as much as anything else, I also cannot help but judge my efforts here by the metric of page visits. I can see how many people have looked at any poem, and I cannot help but be a bit down when I notice how few views most of them have. Of course, that is not an accurate perspective; the numbers reflect my influence, not how many people would appreciate the work. It is the reach of my voice, which is not to do with the quality of the work, and when I consider it from that perspective, I do feel a bit cheered, for I do believe that it is a matter of dedication, that the work will be seen by more people who might appreciate it enough to think it worth sharing with others.
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