I don't know about you guys, but I've received more responses to submissions in the past week than in three months preceding. Mostly bad news, some good news, but just, a lot of news all at once after a long silent period. Is this a coincidence? Or are editors perhaps clearing their desk before Thanksgiving? Maybe they want to send rejections well in advance of the winter holidays, when we fragile humans are liable to get depressed anyhow?
I asked a couple of literary agents I know, and one said yes, pre-Thanksgiving desk-clearing is going on; the other said no, the desk-clearing doesn't happen until December. In my case, the responses are coming from editors of small literary magazines, some of them affiliated with colleges and universities but most of them not.
Come spring, I'll once again let it all hang out and tell my dirty submission secrets. Until then, despite hearing a lot of "no no no no no," I'm proud to announce I've already quadrupled last year's poetry salary!*
*($12 up from $3)
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