When You’re Ready to Publish

How do you know when you’re ready to publish? Is it after a certain number of drafts? After you’ve hit a wordcount? After you’ve run out of ideas?

Last April, I sent two poems to a local magazine for publication. It’s not because I’m an expert on the subject of the poems. It’s not because they were exceptional to my other work.

I was excited but not nervous. Part of me couldn’t see getting a rejection letter, but the other part of me knew that’s probably what everyone thinks on their first submission. Part of me knew I couldn’t keep waiting for the perfect moment of readiness I knew would never come. Part of me wanted a rejection letter to tack on my bulletin board. The other part wanted to see my poems in the magazine. Part of me wondered if I did my best, but the other part of me wasn’t sure how I could make the poems better. I’d done what I could. So, it was time.

If you’ve written something, have received feedback on it, and done your best, yes, there’s room for improvement. Always. But if you don’t know how you can make it better, it’s time to check out a couple of relevant publishers and send your work off. You might hear back. You might not. And if you do hear back, and it’s a no, rejection won’t kill you. It’s time to see.

By the way, I have a nice rejection letter on my bulletin board now. And I have a friend who asks me, “How are we doing on the rejection letters?”

This month I sent off two more poems to the same magazine, so the next time I see my friend, I can either tell him, “Hey, I’m in,” or “I’ve got two letters on my board!” Either one’s a win because I’m moving forward and growing.

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“There isn’t, unfortunately, any way of discovering whether you can write a publishable novel except by writing it.” – John Braine

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