I’ve recently been submitting a batch of my poems to poetry journals. Since I’ve been submitting to journals for five years now, I know what to expect: a barrage of rejection letters. Being a writer is all about persistence in the face of rejection. Most rejection letters are formal, short and standard. However, I’m always happy to receive a few in the bunch that are more personal and even sometimes encouraging. These rejection letters keep me afloat, and I actually save them.
I received this rejection letter today:
Dear Maryam,
Thank you for your recent submission to ********. This group of poems
wasn’t right for us, but we’re grateful for the opportunity to consider
your work. It’s a mixed blessing that we receive so many impressive
submissions. We sometimes have to turn away poems that we consider quite
strong.
–The Editors
And this one two weeks ago:
Dear Ms Chahine – thanks for the submission. Though none in this batch is right for ******* (‘Flying while Muslim’ the closest), happy to read a further selection of your work in future.
I’ll be posting some tips on my experience with the submission process in the coming days.
I wish you the best luck on your poetry ventures. I know you will find your outlet one day
Thanks so much for the kind encouragement!!!