Alyce Wilson

Let’s see if I can get this done today… cruising towards the end of the 31 Queries in 31 Days project:

26) Submitted five poems to Found Poetry Review (so excited to find this outlet; I’ve been writing found poetry for years).

27) Submitted five poems to Poetry East.

Here I am again, close to the end of the month, but I’m determined to pull out a success in the 31 Queries in 31 Days project.

23) Submitted two poems to Hoot Review.

24) Submitted four poems to Literary Mama.

25) Submitted five poems to Paper Darts.

Updates: I received a rejection from “The Georgia Review” as well as from “Fabula Argentea,” which came with comments.

I’m trying to get caught up with the 31 Queries in 31 Days project:

15) Submitted a flash fiction piece to Fast Fiction.

16) Submitted a flash fiction piece to Every Day Fiction.

17) Submitted a flash fiction piece to Fabula Argentea.

18) Submitted poetry to Silver Blade.

19) Submitted a proposal via Elance for a short educational article on ladybugs.

20) Submitted a proposal via Elance to work with an author who’s developing a romantic novel.

More progress on the 31 Queries in 31 Days project:

14) Submitted five poems to North American Review.

Update: I got a response from “Parenting” magazine about my query letter. While they declined it, the editor wrote a hand-written note encouraging me to pitch another idea. I’m working on generating some and will definitely follow up on this!

While working on my 31 Queries in 31 Days project, I’ve actually begun looking for poetry-related jobs via Elance, because it’s easy to do through their search function.

8 ) Submitted a job proposal via Elance for a job crafting a Halloween poem for an advertising firm.

In addition, I also sent out some poetry:

9) Submitted five poems to FIVE Poetry Magazine.

Yesterday wasn’t exactly a day off from the 31 Queries in 31 Days project. Rather, I was doing some brainstorming for my next query:

3) Submitted a proposal to Bitch magazine for a series of blog posts titled “Ms. Mom.”

Then, I sent out some poetry:

4) Submitted six poems to Miracle literary magazine.

Update: I got a message from the client who was looking for people to write thoughtful pieces for a new app, saying he was putting me on his list of potential writers. He is going to complete development of the app and contact me about the project.

I took the time to do some writing today. I sent a new essay, about material possessions and motherhood, to the client who was looking for essays for a new lifestyle app. I’m not counting that towards my total for this month, however, since I’d already applied for that job.

2) Completed and submitted a personal essay and photo to VoxPop at Metropolis, which is looking for pieces by Philadelphia-area writers.

Then… almost immediately, I received an automatic response saying that Metropolis has folded, so not to be deterred, I sent the essay instead to Brain, Child magazine.

Update: The Elance jobs copyediting a novel and formatting a PDF/ebook have been awarded to other freelancers.

I spent much of the day either writing a sestina for a client or procrastinating before writing said sestina. Once it was finished, I took a break away from the computer to spend some time with my son, and then I managed to put together one submission for the 30 Queries in 30 Days project.

17) Put together a submission of children’s poetry for the magazine “Jack and Jill.”

Hmm. I’ve got 13 queries left and three days to do it in. Can I pull this off?

Today is my birthday, so I’m going easy on myself. I meant to do two queries yesterday for my 30 Queries in 30 Days project, but between a hair appointment and spending some quality time having a “Sesame Street” dance party with my 3-year-old boy, I didn’t get the chance.

So here goes:

7) E-mailed a request for Writer Guidelines to the editor of “Parents Express,” a Philadelphia-area parenting newspaper.

Then I put together a poetry magazine for West Branch, the literary semiannual of Bucknell University, down the road from where I grew up. Going through my poetry submission file, I saw that they’d written a note on a rejected submission years and years ago, but I’d never sent them another!

8 ) Submitted six poems to West Branch.

And now an update:

I got an e-mail earlier today, regarding #6, my proposal submission via Elance to write a press release for a new business book. The client rejected my proposal, giving the reason “preferred another style.” Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about that! It would have been nice for them to tell me what sort of style they preferred. Perhaps, if possible, I’ll follow up and ask them.

Writers become used to rejection, but despite making snarky comments about papering our bedrooms with rejection slips, few of us really enjoy hearing “no.” Whether it’s a letter with a hand-written note from the editor or an impersonal slip of paper, rejection notices are never fun to read. It’s hard not to view them as a personal assessment: an indication that perhaps we’re not the writer we thought we were.

Losing a contest is no easier, especially in the cases where we were certain we had a chance. Perhaps we imagined how much of a difference the cash prize would make, or exactly what we would do with the free time that a grant would allow us.

So how do you get something positive out of rejection? First of all, if possible, find out what beat you out. In a contest, read the winning works. In the case of a literary magazine, check out the latest issue. Compare that to the pieces that you had submitted and try to figure out what the published pieces had that yours might have lacked.

About 90 percent of publication has to do with finding the right fit, with 10 percent being professionalism (proper spelling and grammar, polite cover letters, following all guidelines). So when you’re rejected, try not to take it personally. Instead, try to figure out where your work might fit better.

I compare it to trying on clothes in a department store. As any woman knows, this can be a disheartening experience, whatever your body type. A long time ago, I learned a technique for saving my self-esteem: rather than blaming myself for every ill-fitting outfit, I tried to assess what it was that made the outfit a poor choice. Then, when I returned to the floor, I looked for items that might be cut in a more flattering way. In other words, don’t blame yourself; just accept that the clothing is wrong for you and spend your efforts finding something that works.

You can’t avoid rejection, but you can change how you respond to it and find a way to turn it into something positive.