Become a successful author

After not submitting any work for the last three months, I’m diving head first into the world of chapbook competitions. I spent most of that hiatus working on new poems, and I’ve finally accumulated enough good ones to compile a chapbook. I’m submitting it to five different contests, and the first manuscript went in the mail on Monday. I know I won’t win, but I figured if I could get the required number of poems together there was no reason not to submit. At this point, my submission process isn’t really about getting published, it’s about getting comfortable with the submission process. Once I’m comfortable with it, then I won’t feel as hesitant about sending stuff out.

In order to become a successful author you need to submit your work for publication. This is something I’ve worked very hard at putting off for a number of years. But I can’t do it anymore. If I want people to read my stuff I’ve got to put it out there. That’s all there is to it.

So, inspired by Ariel Gore’s book “How to Become a Famous Author Before You’re Dead” I wrote my first brand spanking new essay is ages and sent it out for publication last week. Of course, it was rejected, but that’s fine. The fire under my ass has already been lit and I’m going to keep sending work out until someone says “Yes, we want to publish that piece you sent us.” I’ve got a couple of poems I plan to submit to an anthology about grief, and I’m reviewing online and print literary magazines to see which ones fit my aesthetic.