On submitting to anthologies and journals

I read this article last year, all about how you can trick yourself into sending out more poetry submissions by aiming for 100 rejections a year. 

One hundred is a big number. It means really committing to sending your work out into the world, and expecting - nay, revelling! - in the knock-backs. 

The #100RejectionsIn2024 project is a way of gamifying the amount of rejection you face as writer, and turning it into something a bit more fun.

Plus, it really helps you to get out of your own way. If a poem is rejected at one press, just mark a talley on your 100 Rejections spreadsheet, and send that poem straight back out to somewhere new! 

The more poems you send, the more likely you are to be published. 

And it's definitely working for me; I've had more published in the past four months than I had in the last two years! 

And, in early April, I was delighted to have three new poems in the “Not Ghosts, But Spirits Volume IV” anthology by Querencia Press. 

Querencia are based in Chicago (USA), and they work to celebrate writing from women and LGBTQ+ folks. All sales from this volume are being donated to Crossroads for Women, a US based charity that works to support women on leaving the American Prison System.

Here's a sneak-peek of one of the published pieces. If you want more, you'll have to get hold of a copy of the book! 

Not like other girls

If you ever woke up tangled in telephone wires,

grew two grooved fangs at the rear of your mouth,

used chemical cues when hunting late at night;

if you ever passed through the tiny spaces between buildings 

seeking refuge from sunlight, lunged at strangers who

pulled your tail; if you survived for days without food,

wrapped your body round him to prevent escape,

unhinged your jaw to swallow rodents whole. 

If you ever produced toxic venom to silence your enemies, 

killed something smaller with a single, guiltless bite,

destroyed the entire native bird population on the island of Guam,

then you’re not like other girls: you are a Brown Tree Snake.

Cover Art - Not Ghosts, But Spirits Vol IV