Return of the Light

I've noticed my writing follows patterns that follow the season. Winter is often a fallow period and if I do write poems they are full of ice and darkness and grumpiness at both. It's been a tough winter, twice the car's battery has drained and twice the electric car has been stuck on the driveway because it's not powerful enough to make it over the 4cm of ice. A pipe has burst in the shed and I have shovelled a mountain of snow, over and over. I hate winter at the best of times, but this one can seriously get tae as they say in Scotland, with a colourful flourish at the end. 

Proper spring is still a long way off. Finland is still buried under a blanket of snow and the temperature is currently -15C and these both show no sign of easing up. However, the light has returned. My poems are starting to show hints of hope, sun and an activity that they don't show during my winter hibernation. I'm hoping that I'll start writing more and this will help lift my mood. 

I joined Angela Carr's January online writing course and though I don't have a lot of time or energy in the week to write, I have been dipping into her prompts at the weekend. I'm also considering Wendy Pratt's What to Look for in Spring course. I often find this sort of prompt-based online course gives me a boost to get back into writing after a quieter period and I've done various courses with Wendy and Angela over the years with good results. 

I need to get outside more, but with all the ice, the world is a dangerous place. We've had teachers and students breaking and bumping themselves over the past few weeks as every path and surface is an ice rink. So I will just soak in the sun from my couch, wrapped in my fluffiest blanket with my matching fluffiest cat.

If you need me that's where I'll be today, writing. At least until the Scotland Six Nations game begins. 

I've also been listening to a reading of Ulysses by the Friends of Shakespeare and Company, the bookshop that originally published the book. It's amazing, Joyce was a poet, weaving beautiful and alive language. 

Enjoy.

  

Submission Stats 2023 - Why Try?

Rather late, here's my stats for 2023.

wrote 32 new poems              
finished 2 poems from previous years                 

9 book submissions                                        
31 magazine submissions                                     

9 magazine acceptances                

10 book rejections                         
28 magazine rejections 

12 magazines published 22 poems                                                   

21% acceptance rate

Acceptances were much lower than in previous years, but it stands to reason, I submitted less work and as a result, had fewer poems accepted.

I did try to get my collections a home. I've given up on the publisher that accepted my Scottish collection back in 2019. Every year they'd send a group apology to all their unpublished poets with vague excuses and promises to publish in in the next year. I'm not even sure if I would accept if they actually said they were going to start work on the process. I have lost all faith in them. Currently, I have no other options, so I keep on submitting.

A friend in my writing group and I were discussing yesterday why we want to get books published. He writes fiction, I poetry. I accept I'll never make any money from my poetry, but he'd like to see some return. At least, not lose money trying to get his books published. He's self-published but now wants to try magazines and other publishers.

Traditional publishing has changed a lot since I worked in it. He was talking about rights, that fantasy and sci-fi writers don't have their rights protected anymore. I have no experience in fiction, but I'm not surprised. Big publishers have control of the market and little publishers just try to get by and get noticed.

In poetry publishing, it's become more and more that the poet does most of the publicity and sales. Small publishers expect you to pay for various services. Often they don't edit the collection. 

And yet, I still want to be published. To be considered part of the scene, to be considered good enough. I am published regularly enough in magazines and journals, but can't get a publisher for a collection. 

I mentioned that I'm probably not visible enough on social media and wondered if that was a possible reason. Publishers want someone who is a voice, that will sell their books through readings, on social media. I have struggled this year with posting on Twitter. I've joined Blue Sky and Mastadon (@grimalkingerry on all), but haven't gotten the hang of them. I guess that needs to be a goal this year tied into finding a publisher.

Publication news: my poem 'The Lake Swimmer' has been published in Alternating Current an anthology published by thi wurd. And I have two poems in the City of Poets 2023 anthology.