Upturned knees,
Blushed lips.
His carpet is white.
Blushed lips.
His carpet is white.
|
Nurse clog prints
stained bus seats. Shift gone to muck. Rolled up, cigar style
Rainy days would vaporize If I had you... If I had you, rainy
days would vaporize, rolled up, cigar style. Go check out the latest post on the Late Night Feelings blog, questioning if you should compromise your manuscript. There's a poll so remember to take it! Your input helps!
Day 292 - Should one compromise their manuscript for submissions? Happy Tuesday! Don't worry, I'll be posting haiku later! Let's say you spend months agonizing over how many poems should be in your chapbook. You research what's the average number of poems in a typical chapbook. You ask people to give you a number. You gather all of your poems and start playing "You are the weakest link". You toss a coin to choose between the average max and your favorite year in your 20's. You go back and agonize about your choice for a couple of more weeks. But as you choose and arrange your poems, it becomes clear. You know how many will end up telling your story. Maybe you have one or two poems that aren't necessary, but the book would feel weird without them. You go with the magic number of 32, the age of your mother when she pushed you into this fate. You finalize editing and formatting and ta-da! Your manuscript is done. You let it simmer for a few days before you start searching for small presses and contests to submit to. You start to look over guidelines when you get a big ol' slap in the face. Please submit 20-25 pages. Please submit 18-24 pages. Please submit less pages than what your manuscript is.
This is the horrid reality of my journey with submissions. So far, I've submitted to a couple of places that haven't asked for that requirement. But there are places that I REALLY want to submit to, but are asking for less pages. I've looked over my manuscript a million times and even if I eliminate one or two poems, I would still be over the requirements. Writers, this is my question to you: Would you chop down your manuscript just to shop it around to small presses or contests? Would you do it if you were aiming for a bigger press? Are you willing to sacrifice your vision just to be published no matter what? (I guess that was more than a question). You can leave your opinion in the comments section. Or you can take this lovely poll below. Either way, your input would be appreciated. This is a bust.
Memorials of identity sprung to life.  Image from Rivaflowz.com There are many writers and artists that I admire. Each one inspires me to be bigger and better One of my all-time favorite writers who I would love to be when I grow up (in a writer's sense of course) is Miss Erica "RivaFlowz" Buddington. Her writing knocks the wind out of your heart. It's that powerful. Every time she posts a link from rivaflowz.com on my Facebook wall, I know I'm in for a good read. Through her blog posts, Riva has helped me see what it really means to be a writer in their 20's, typing away at a keyboard to get to their dreams. Now she needs some help. Riva has the opportunity to go to Callaloo Writing Workshop AND get her book edited by a great editor. She is currently fundraising at Indiegogo. Whether it's by spreading the word or contributing to her fund, I am asking my readers (I know you guys are out there somewhere!) to help out. I'm already doing both because I believe in her dream as much as I believe in my own. If I can't take my opportunities yet, I want to help someone else take theirs. So without further ado, here are the links that will help her get closer to her dream: Help RivaFlowz Get to Callalloo. (Her blog post about the campaign) Help RivaFlowz Get Free Verse Edited and go to Callaloo Writing Workshop! (Her Indiegogo page) Share on it Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, whatever you may have. If you have a blog, do a write up about it. Share this blog post if you want. Just SPREAD THE WORD pretty please, my Write Queeners. If you can contribute, even better.
As she always does, Riva has opened up my eyes to something else: Indiegogo. I think I will be looking into starting my own fundraiser for my projects ;) Have a great Sunday Write Queeners! And Riva - I hope this helps! Nude, naked, stripped. Uncommon sense, Unknown pleasures. Don't kiss me.
|
Christina D. RodriguezA Latinx poet and entrepreneur who blogs about poetry, music, writing, and life. Archives
April 2019
Categories
All
Follow The Write Queen |
RSS Feed