Thursday, June 19, 2008

doorstop and spitoon

What is it with journals that don’t take simultaneous submissions but also don’t send rejections – only acceptances? And on top of that don’t indicate how long their response period is (for accepted pieces)? What do you do? Grow cobwebs?

And ezines that only take postal submissions? The word that comes to mind is hypocritical. I understand the logic of this policy, but this policy is selfish.

I prefer if journals allow electronic submissions. I live in Germany, modestly. It gets kind of expensive. Don’t even ask about SASEs.

I also like journals that answer me in one or two days, and the answer is ‘yes.’ Call me if you know any of these.

Speaking of ‘yes,’ I love the last passage of Joyce’s Ulysses: and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

I also love Aretha Franklin singing "I Say a Little Prayer." That is hard to beat.

I do enjoy fat novels, too. Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Bleak House, Cloudsplitter, Daniel Deronda, The Stand.

Don’t tell my colleagues but I like the coffee from the office coffee machine.

I am extremely fond of Paul Klee’s painting Fish Magic. It’s in the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I have seen it many times. Paul Klee is one of my favorites. I once seduced a very handsome man by talking about Paul Klee. It wasn’t my intention when I started talking. Other Paul Klee paintings I like are Landscape with Yellow Birds, Pastorale (at MoMA) and Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber (MoMA).

I am a big fan of thunderstorms, too.

Not to mention Camper shoes.

et Guillaume Apollinaire!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

To me, for editors to tell authors they can't send simultaneous submissions is the height of arrogance. I can't imagine doing that. It's none of our damn business how you choose to submit your work.

I wasn't aware that there are ezines that don't accept electronic submissions. Holy cow.

Talia Reed said...

I agree with Dave on the simultaneous thing.

At my university, I much preferred the coffee machine to the fancy shmancy stuff sold in the cafe.

Sara Kearns said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sara Kearns said...

surprise, surprise ;) my agreement is almost unanimous...

of course, i haven't had the coffee at your office, and big novels often intimidate me, but wow, the joyce quote, aretha franklin, thunderstorms, and journals that respond in two days with a "yes:" these are a few of my favorite things.

and i checked out the klee painting -- it's wonderful. i'm going to philli soon to visit my sister so i think i'll take the opportunity to see the real thing.

'hoping you're doing well, sarah.

sam of the ten thousand things said...

I don't encourage simultaneous submissions but I certainly will and do consider them. I also try to - try to - keep the read time between two and four weeks. But, I absolutely understand the merit of your point, Sarah. My reason for not encouraging simultaneous submissions is to give myself a more true read of the material. Simultaneous submissions, like hefty bios, can put a bit of a cloud over the read. And I do like for bios to be included with the submission, but they can get in the way sometimes. As for submissions, I only want electronic.

The Klee is amazing.

Rachel Mallino said...

Ha, I too like those "yes" journals.

SarahJane said...

I sympathize with editors who don't want simulataneous submissions, though I rarely go that route having waited months and months sometimes for a negative answer. If the response time is really short I may try it, though. But not to take sim. subs and not to respond with an answer is too much. Just make a timeframe for submissions!

Sara - yes go see the Klee painting. I hope you'll like it - of course it looks better in real life.

I have twice received an acceptance overnight. I also once received a rejection overnight. Ouch. But most of the time it takes the editor as long to read the poem as it took me to write it.

smile

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