Disaster!!!  For the first time since May 3rd, I missed my 4 a.m. wake-up.
 
But this is actually good news!!

Why?

Because I felt really bad about it. It made me mad. The reason I overslept is because I had a good time on Sunday and wound up staying up a bit later than I should have. So, I paid the price...  It's infuriating to be put off my game like this!

Sometimes our emotions send us messages we don't really "get." For example. when we're mad we just feel... mad. In this case, my anger is a positive sign that I'm committed to my regiment, that it's not just a pose or a momentary flight of fancy.

So what do I do about botching my Monday wake-up?

I carry on as usual, try to make up for the lost hours by working even harder today and get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow!

Tally
Poems Written: 293
Submission Tally: 47
Rejections: 17 (10 tiered)  
Acceptances: 0
Poem written today: "Sleeping Late"​  
Music track (unmixed demo) completed "Global Rain."

Two poems drafted this morning: "Honeysuckle" and "Small Self-Portrait." The first poem came after taking a bike ride yesterday and seeing honeysuckle everywhere.  Also, I had a brief but troubling encounter with a "fugitive" man who struck up a conversation with me in the park. 

The second poem, "Small Self-Portrait," is about 8 lines long and I wrote it mainly to fill up the rest of the page in my notebook.

Some  Stats

Writing:
291 poems written since 3-19-20.  Probably about 35-40 typed  and submitted. 
Submitting:
45 submissions.  16 rejections. 0 acceptances.  9 tiered rejections. 7 standard. 

Geeze, Daniel, no acceptances? I thought you were good at this! Well, I'm only submitting to the toughest markets right now by design, so you know how that goes...  

Since May 3rd, I've been getting up at 4 a.m. each day to work on poems and I'm determined to write a poem each day, type up a draft each day, and make a submission each day. I'm interested to see what comes of this push, foremost in terms of whether or not it seems to make my poems better. I've been feeling inspired lately and I want to make the most of the creative energy while its available!

I'm also working on some music tracks and prose pieces that I hope to release and/or publish soon. 

Meanwhile, I'll probably post more blog entries like this one, just keeping a tally of my trek. Once my energy is expended, I'll almost certainly go back to tips and reviews...  I'm seeing good work out there on social media and in the literary journals and 'zines.  Keep it up! It's deeply inspiring.

Meanwhile if you want another set of eyes and ears for your work, hit me up through one of the buttons below. The editing and critiquing services have been working out extremely well. I've had absolutely zero complaints or dissatisfied customers and have dealt with scores of individual poems. So far, I've heard nothing but enthusiastic praise and many poets have become repeat customers.

If you want some help, just click one of the buttons below!

I'd like to thank everyone who submitted to the First Flashes poetry anthology. It's been a great experience reading your poems and responding to them. From the outset, the plan was to choose only a very small number of poems and poets to showcase in the anthology. This, of course, means that more poems had to be rejected than accepted.

If your poem was rejected, this doesn't say a whole lot about your creative capability or your poetic skills. It just means your particular poem didn't meet my current needs for this particular project.

I urge you to keep an eye on this blog, on my Facebook page, and my Twitter page to stay in the loop for soon-to-be-launched projects and future submission calls.

Just by submitting you've gained my interest and earned a well-deserved nod of admiration for your spirit and enthusiasm. I wish all the best in your future creative endeavors and look forward to sharing the published anthology with you all very soon!!!​  

If you're looking for an edge in submitting to publications or contests, consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Or simply send an inquiry to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

I've also posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at my Patreon page. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings. Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan

In my last post I mentioned some reasons why I think it's still a good idea for poets to submit poems for publication. In this post, I'm going to list three big perils of publishing. Of course, there are more than three!  But these will get us started.

1) Long response times. It's worse for poetry than in any other sector. I know because I submit (or have submitted) everything from flash fiction to novels. Go back and read that first sentence again. Underline it. Bold it. I can't overstate this. I've waited years to hear from journals. It's not unusual to wait six to eight months just to get a form letter. In fact, this is what happens most of the time for most people who submit.

2) Rejections.  No  matter how talented you are, or how thorough, expect to get far more rejections than acceptances. Also, don't try to read anything into your rejections. We all get the same notices. If an editor specifically requests you to send again, that means something, but if it's a generic "feel free to try again" that's not the same thing. You can increase your chances by sending your best, most fully polished poems, and targeting them to the right places.

3)  Ambivalence. It can be tough to  fight your way through long response times, grueling competition, and long lead times before publication only to find out no-one really cares that your poem's in a journal. How many people do you know who've even read a single poetry journal in their lives? You may find that even your closest friends and family just can't work up much excitement for your triumph. It's not like you won a sports trophy or got a bunch of money.

With these perils in mind, it's still definitely worth your time and energy to submit your poems. I'll get back to talking about why in a future post. 

And remember: the best way to avoid rejection is to send your best, fully polished work to journals you want to publish in with a simple, short cover letter (or email).

If you'd like some feedback on your poems, or want to get an edge in submitting to publications or contests, consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Or simply send an inquiry to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

I've also posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at my Patreon page. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings. Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan