over the cliff

Well I got a reponse from Ideomancer. Alas it was of the ‘not quite right for Ideomancer’ variety. Once they start actually publishing poetry I can see what kind of poetry they do like, and so hopefully I’ll have a better chance with my next submission. However I will say this was the nicest rejection I’ve ever received, and so Jaime Voss goes on my list of ‘favorite editors’.

More and more I’m thinking that “Prince Charming” was just a fluke. I know that it’s all a question of ‘right time, right place’ but I guess a part of me always hoped that if you write a good poem/story, then it would find a home. Now I’m not so sure. “Prince Charming” is definitely one of the best poems I’ve written, but I felt the same way about Cockroaches. So far it’s been rejected from Full Unit Hookup, Flesh & Blood, Dreams and Nightmares, Fortean Bureau, Abyss and Apex, and now Ideomancer. “Why I Learned to Cave Dive” is another one of my favorites. And it’s been rejected from Dreams and Nightmares, Flesh & Blood, Strange Horizons, and Star*Line. Star*Line had the nicest wording, said there were some nice images, just not what she was looking for. I sent it off to Surreal last night, but I’ve lost hope for placing it. Hmm. Maybe I should send Cockroaches to Strange Horizons. I haven’t before since one of the editors of SH is the editor of Full Unit Hookup so it seemed weird… but maybe what’s wrong for FUHU is right for SH?

Le sigh.

I guess what’s so frustrating about it is I feel like I have a fairly decent grasp of poetry, and I can write ‘publishable’ poems. But I’m sooooooo far away from that in terms of fiction. No where close. So if I’m having this much trouble selling poems I love, how in the hell am I ever going to sell stories that I don’t? I know, I know… the answer is to write and write and write and write and eventually you’ll get better… but… bleh.

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