How I'll Handle Solicitations This Year....
At the beginning of this year, I received a solicitation to send work to a fairly new journal. The journal itself looked very cool and very earnest about its desire to publish exciting, cutting edge writing. Right up my alley! Normally, I’d be thrilled to send my poetry to a journal whose editors / staff read and liked my work enough to shoot me a note asking to see new pieces.
But this year, of course, I can’t. Because this journal, as far as I can gather, doesn’t pay its poets. Probably because it doesn’t have the resources to do so, like so many worthy and wonderful journals, but still wants to get exciting work into the world for all to see. And what a conundrum my project becomes at this point. I’m a poet, a former founder and editor of both a journal and a press, and also incredibly interested in getting good writing out into the world. But no matter how much I might want to, my pledge means I can’t support this journal; not this year, anyway.
I honestly don’t think I expected this part to be such a bummer. I don’t like telling good people, good editors and poetry advocates that I appreciate their interest and time, but no thanks. I don’t like insinuating that money is the main way I estimate the value of my poetry, or anyone’s. Because it isn’t true. I understand the many ways poetry, and publications that disseminate good poetry, are valuable. But I also understand that if I want to encourage a real conversation about this, I have to do some uncomfortable things. I have to stick to my guns, and I have to see what happens at the end of all this.
I wrote a letter to the editor of this journal that I’ll post below, in case you’re wondering how I plan to handle this sort of query. (I redacted the names, because no one gave me permission to post about them and I don’t want to be presumptuous.) And let me say again: it’s not easy to be this reductive. And I recognize that this pledge is, ultimately, reductive. But it’s a bold (if perhaps rash) move, and I think boldness is due at this point, if anything is going to change in our field. If we’re even going to allow ourselves to talk about change, really, and give ourselves the option of it.
Here’s the note:
Hi [Editor’s Name],
Thanks so much for writing. I checked out your website and the [Journal Name] looks amazing! So interesting, really. I’m honored that you’d like to see some of my work. And I will absolutely send you something…but, next year. Weird, I know. And I hate to do this, especially when I’m solicited, but I am declining submitting right now because I’ve made a pledge to only submit poetry to paying markets in 2015.
And yes, that’s crazy. Or sounds crazy. Maybe is crazy, because I obviously don’t expect to make a living off poetry. But it’s part of a project I started called “Poetry Has Value,” which aims to encourage the conversation about the worth of poetry (www.poetryhasvalue.com). Of course I mean monetary worth, but please don’t think that’s the entirety of it - the project and blog are intended to discuss and explore all notions of the worth of poetry, from monetary to emotional to spiritual to cultural. But the pledge itself stands; if I’m going to spark discourse on the nature of poetry, money and value, I have to take a hard line of some kind. So that’s what I’m doing.
Please know that I’m a fan and will do nothing but encourage [Journal Name]’s success. And again, I’m so grateful to hear from you. If you’re interested in following my project or (preferably) joining the discussion, please do at www.poetryhasvalue.com. The blog isn’t just my ideas but includes and will include guest posts (even from people who don’t believe in monetizing poetry or don’t think it’s possible) and interviews with editors and founders of magazines who pay writers, offered as a resource for those who might think it’s an inconceivable approach.
Thanks so much, again. I hope 2015 is the year of [Journal Name]!
Best,
Jess Piazza
www.jessicapiazza.com
www.poetryhasvalue.com