Expectations/Grudges

I'm a poet too and send work to out to magazines on a regular basis. As I mentioned a few days ago, as an editor I try to avoid working with difficult/abusive poets. As a poet I try to avoid working with irresponsible/inconsiderate editors. I like courtesy all around.

When I send work I expect it to be read, considered and responded to in a timely fashion. Timely depends on the publication, of course, and I expect the publication to give a general idea how long I should expect. If a publication states a 6-24 month response time, I've been forewarned. If I have a problem with the magazine or editor, I don't submit there. If a publication is unable to keep up with submissions, I expect them to stop accepting them until they catch up. If my work isn't wanted, I expect to be informed. "No thank you" is brief and perhaps a little cold, but it's sufficient and meets my requirement. If my work is used, I expect to be notified beforehand and really appreciate a galley/proof. I've had work scheduled to appear in publications that didn't appear, typos in poems that weren't mine and published as "Rob Livingston." It's a bummer when that happens and when it does, I expect an "Oops, sorry about that" and if it's possible, corrected. When the work comes out I expect a copy or link/announcement so I know.

As an editor I've made all the above mistakes. In most cases, they were discovered during the galley process and easily fixed online. In one case, in the first Bedside Guide, I somehow managed to omit 2 poems despite a lot of proofing and care. There was great deal of effort to be perfect, but clearly it wasn't enough. In comparision, as disappointing it was to have a mistake made by someone else regarding my work, it didn't sting nearly as much as when it was my mistake on someone else's work. The two missing poems will appear in the next Bedside Guide and I've made adjustments to my organization process so hopefully it won't happen again.

I also expect my work to be published in a timely fashion. If an editor says June and it doens't come out until September, that's NOTHING. That's par for the poetry publishing course. I always expect a delay -- unless it's Didi of MiPO -- then I expect it to come out a week early cause Didi is uber-punctual like that.

Of course, if an editor holds my work for 18 months before I hear back and a year later when I inquire to when it'll see the light of day I'm informed it'll be at least an additional year, who knows maybe a lot longer. I'm pulling my work. No hard feelings, but that's not acceptable to me. Especially not for an online pub.

As an editor I don't expect (or want) a fruit basket or a love letter from anyone whose work I publish and as a poet I don't expect a statue built in honor of my poems. I expect the usual courtesy that most editors and poets I come into contact exhibit. Yes, that's right -- most poets and editors I deal with meet my expectations -- a few surpass them. It's not the honest mistakes or goofs that stand out, that I remember years later. I'm not grinding an ax for the guy who responded to an acceptance letter with "Oh no, that poem was accepted elsewhere two days ago and I was meaning to write you." My axe grinds for the guy who responded to a personalized rejection with "To be honest, I was sort of hoping for a rejection. With the exception of _____ and a couple of other poets, I don't much like the poems there. If direct and tight means superficial and poseurish, I guess I won't be writing anything like that."