Friday, March 26

Ironic: My Blog and Magazines

Posted by Shelly Holder

It seems that the universe is able to smash in with massive irony every time I get a little bit excited about a new project. My Sekret Poetry Blog just started on Monday, and already I have reason to rue my decision. Yesterday I posted on how I was feeling insecure about my writing at the local level. I have decided that the main issue is that I am only getting published at the student level-- and worse, only at the local student level (read: campus magazines). These magazines were truly beneficial to me. I got published when I was starting out, I got confidence when I felt none, and I got established as a writer when I had little claim to the name. Now, however, I have reached the point when student publications cannot offer me anything. So I am moving on. I am now seeking undergraduate journals (these are different because they are run by the English department of the affiliated school, and is reviewed by the professors/professionals to some degree)

And I have done so. I have found two new venues that fit me very well. Both seem to publish my sort of poetry, and I feel that the match would be a good one. So I have been going through my work, picking out pieces to submit. But I have come up against a contract that highlights a very important issue that I, personally, and other bloggers need to be aware of:

Any work that has been posted on a blog, even a personal one, is considered "published" and is not acceptable for use.

This, in terms of my poetry blog, is a very important thing to consider. I really like several pieces, and would like to submit them. For these two venues (Poetry, and Everyday Poets) however, this is not an option. Somewhere else, these poems would still be viable, but one does have to be careful now that definition of publication is changing in the internet world.

I have been lucky in that I never publish anything to my public blog, and rarely to the personal blog. Everything I have, has gone to a publication that does not include similar restrictions in their contracts.

My private poetry blog, however, is now another story. I still use it, because it gives me a freedom and universality when a notebook is not always available, but I am consciously more careful of how I use it. My writing has definitely dropped off. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I might have more things available for publication, but I'm also NOT WRITING.

And we all know which one is more important in the long run.

Right Now:
What I'm listening to: "Just for Now" by Imogen Heap
What I want most: poetry prompts! Send me some? =)

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

wonderful post, thank you.