In the "if I had a nickel for every time department" I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone bemoan his booklessness while rattling off tens of publications the poems from his manuscript appeared in. If 80% of the poems in your manuscript were published in "legitimate" publications, perhaps even those coveted "prestigious" ones -- isn't that enough confirmation that they're good? Doesn't that meet the editorial approval that you crave? How much editorial approval do you need? Can you not make a single step without it? Isn't that a crippling mode for an artist to work in? Do your own ideas and judgments hold so little value? Do you never feel pretty unless someone tells you so?