Lowestoft

I had a strange acceptance last night. It’s for the autumn. Sometimes it happens – an editor likes two poems, only has room for one, so saves if for later. It’s a little annoying that they only use one at a time, but nice to know it’s good enough to keep for later. I also had a fresh acceptance.

As I’ve said before, it’s tricky counting what is a “submission”. If you count every group of poems I’ve sent off, I have made 10 submissions. Five of them were to one magazine, but they are to individual editors in different forms. The other five sets were sent to three magazines where decisions seem to made jointly, so is that three or five submissions? Anyway, whatever happens, I have had five acceptances, and cannot get more than 5 rejections so I’m going to be 50/50 for the month, at least.

Dolphin – Sutton on Sea

In fact, I am going to make a decision. Different editors and different forms – that’s a submission. Different forms to a single editor or group of editors – that’s one submission.  So I made eight submissions last month and so far have had five acceptances and two rejections, having just one submission waiting for an answer. It reduces my submissions counting towards the 100 a year target, but it makes my percentages look better. Swings and roundabouts.

The two that rejected me have never accepted anything from me in the past, so I wasn’t expecting much. The magazine that hasn’t replied yet is one I’ve never submitted to before so I’m waiting with bated breath . . .

Today I have to start submitting for next month. And so it goes on . . .

I’m feeling quite buoyant today. Maybe it’s the spring. Maybe it’s the acceptances. The answer, I feel, is to keep writing.

Today’s photos are more from the same lot I used yesterday – July 2018.

Plaques on the hand rail – Southwold