I was lucky. I embarked on self-publishing right from the beginning, even when I was learning the craft of writing. And guess what, every little praise I got from my handful of readers took my confidence to another level. Please self-publish your poems. If you need help, let me know. There are so many who would relate to your writing. And they are not sitting behind the desk in publishing houses.
Thank you for this encouragement Neera. And yes sounds like your choice to self-publish was a positive confidence building journey. I have limited time at the moment but it is on my list of 'writing things to do'. And thank you so much for the offer to help - if the offer still stands when I have that window of time - I will reach out to learn more about your experience.
Of course, my offer will stand. If you are not already, become a free subscriber to my Substack ‘Author Circle’ and you’ll be in the company of other aspiring authors. We are writing out books in November and we will look at self-publishing in mid-year next year.
Yes I already subscribe :) - and enjoying your writing - thank you Neera! I will stay tuned for when you and your community are looking at self publishing.
I am so with you on this. I’ve been more of a poem hoarder probably because I didn’t really want to give my poems away to people who wouldn’t care anyway. But now I am learning to share without worry about how they will be received. It’s about Love and it always has been and learning to value who I am congratulations to you and I really wish you all happiness and contentment and I will eagerly follow your posts. I’m not too coherent right now, but dammit who cares? I just wanted to let you know that you reached me.
Marilyn - I really relate to that idea of a poetry hoarder. I didn't want to give them away except to the very best homes. And yes let's express ourselves with love and without worrying too much about being perfectly coherent. I understand you perfectly and really appreciated your message and especially knowing that this post reached you. Thank you for sharing your own growth on this topic - I feel less alone in this experience.
Isn’t that wonderful. Me too. I have a craft and I’m sure you do too, but it doesn’t come from a place of scarcity. It celebrates abundance. It’s also as I’m sure you’re aware not about competition. Check out my post, “How I became a poem hoarder.” One or two posts ago. I call my newsletter, “Lessons from the Horse’s Mouth.” I don’t mean to imply I am the horse’s mouth. Somewhat humorously, I am implying there is a greater source of wisdom than “I.”
Thank you Marilyn - yes I definitely will take a look at your thinking on this! It is interesting to learn from others around relating to and releasing our art :)
This is so true! Letting the poems loose and letting them be a thing that has meaning because of your time and effort and flow, your development, the moments of time and the many different yous that they capture us everything. So often we look for someone external to say yes, you can now be a ‘writer’. But there is so much more value in claiming it for yourself. Also, I love your poems, and thanks for coming for a virtual walk with me this week!
Yes I so relate Bonnie - you capture all the dynamics of this so well. Someone approving our voice/our story. And the meaning a moment had for us layered into it.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Catriona. I found myself nodding along with so much of this. The thing that always strikes me is how few people actually read the literary journals I spent so much time and energy trying to get published in! But that's the writer's life. Submitting everywhere and getting rejected 95% of the time!
Yes that sounds a very similar experience Clare. When I look back I wonder why these journals seemed so important and how much admin it took to do that process of submitting.
So interesting to come across this piece today, Catriona, just as I have been looking at some of this year's submissions (all rejected bar one) and wondering what to do with them... It was only a few weeks ago that I finally got clear on what I want my writing to do, and it is to inspire ordinary people who, by and large, don't read literary journals (I don't read them either, and I'm a writer!). What matters is that we share our stories, and I'm here (on Substack) for that.
Love that new clarity Annette - and love these little synchoniticites too which help us to cross paths here. I completely agree - if we want to connect with people through our stories, literary journals are probably not the place we are going to reach people who meet us with heart and connect. They seem more like spaces which engage intellectually with writing. I also feel more free to share here stories as they are - which feels very freeing.
I was lucky. I embarked on self-publishing right from the beginning, even when I was learning the craft of writing. And guess what, every little praise I got from my handful of readers took my confidence to another level. Please self-publish your poems. If you need help, let me know. There are so many who would relate to your writing. And they are not sitting behind the desk in publishing houses.
Thank you for this encouragement Neera. And yes sounds like your choice to self-publish was a positive confidence building journey. I have limited time at the moment but it is on my list of 'writing things to do'. And thank you so much for the offer to help - if the offer still stands when I have that window of time - I will reach out to learn more about your experience.
Of course, my offer will stand. If you are not already, become a free subscriber to my Substack ‘Author Circle’ and you’ll be in the company of other aspiring authors. We are writing out books in November and we will look at self-publishing in mid-year next year.
Yes I already subscribe :) - and enjoying your writing - thank you Neera! I will stay tuned for when you and your community are looking at self publishing.
I am so with you on this. I’ve been more of a poem hoarder probably because I didn’t really want to give my poems away to people who wouldn’t care anyway. But now I am learning to share without worry about how they will be received. It’s about Love and it always has been and learning to value who I am congratulations to you and I really wish you all happiness and contentment and I will eagerly follow your posts. I’m not too coherent right now, but dammit who cares? I just wanted to let you know that you reached me.
Marilyn - I really relate to that idea of a poetry hoarder. I didn't want to give them away except to the very best homes. And yes let's express ourselves with love and without worrying too much about being perfectly coherent. I understand you perfectly and really appreciated your message and especially knowing that this post reached you. Thank you for sharing your own growth on this topic - I feel less alone in this experience.
Isn’t that wonderful. Me too. I have a craft and I’m sure you do too, but it doesn’t come from a place of scarcity. It celebrates abundance. It’s also as I’m sure you’re aware not about competition. Check out my post, “How I became a poem hoarder.” One or two posts ago. I call my newsletter, “Lessons from the Horse’s Mouth.” I don’t mean to imply I am the horse’s mouth. Somewhat humorously, I am implying there is a greater source of wisdom than “I.”
Thank you Marilyn - yes I definitely will take a look at your thinking on this! It is interesting to learn from others around relating to and releasing our art :)
This is so true! Letting the poems loose and letting them be a thing that has meaning because of your time and effort and flow, your development, the moments of time and the many different yous that they capture us everything. So often we look for someone external to say yes, you can now be a ‘writer’. But there is so much more value in claiming it for yourself. Also, I love your poems, and thanks for coming for a virtual walk with me this week!
Yes I so relate Bonnie - you capture all the dynamics of this so well. Someone approving our voice/our story. And the meaning a moment had for us layered into it.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Catriona. I found myself nodding along with so much of this. The thing that always strikes me is how few people actually read the literary journals I spent so much time and energy trying to get published in! But that's the writer's life. Submitting everywhere and getting rejected 95% of the time!
Yes that sounds a very similar experience Clare. When I look back I wonder why these journals seemed so important and how much admin it took to do that process of submitting.
..and how much writing I could have gotten done if I hadn't been busy submitting things to publications few people ever read.
100 % I know - all those other things we could have written. Or all the fun we could have had with all that extra spare time!
So interesting to come across this piece today, Catriona, just as I have been looking at some of this year's submissions (all rejected bar one) and wondering what to do with them... It was only a few weeks ago that I finally got clear on what I want my writing to do, and it is to inspire ordinary people who, by and large, don't read literary journals (I don't read them either, and I'm a writer!). What matters is that we share our stories, and I'm here (on Substack) for that.
Love that new clarity Annette - and love these little synchoniticites too which help us to cross paths here. I completely agree - if we want to connect with people through our stories, literary journals are probably not the place we are going to reach people who meet us with heart and connect. They seem more like spaces which engage intellectually with writing. I also feel more free to share here stories as they are - which feels very freeing.