Recent Poetry Publications & More
I’ve been drowning in my new book for almost three months. With Roar of Sky now in the possession of first readers (and causing me to stare at my email an awful lot as I wait for verdicts), my head is (briefly) above water and I’m catching up on other writerly things, such as poetry submissions, promotional work, and my website. I need to get these things done now, as I expect more work to drop on me in June!
My Bibliography page is now up-to-date. Here are my poems that were published over the past two months:
- “East of the Caldera,” Devilfish Review
- “Note on the Teachers’ Lounge Fridge at the Witches’ Academy,” Star*line 40.2
- “Mother’s Return,” Eye to the Telescope: Alternate Realities
- “No Upgrade Required” and “Final Portion of Elixir Recipe,” Grievous Angel
I also have three poems nominated for the Rhysling Award this year (!!!) and they can be read online as well. The full anthology is available on Amazon.
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Read MoreStart Writing Poetry (Again?) During National Poetry Month in April
Some people describe poetry as a lost art, the sort of effort confined to previous decades or ennui-filled teenage years. Poetry isn’t dead, though. For writers of science fiction and fantasy poetry, the opportunities abound.
Since National Poetry Month is coming up in April, this is a good time to sharpen your pencils (or blow the crumbs out of your keyboard) and embrace your inner poet for the first time in years. Here’s some advice to get you started.
1) Take advantage of Poem-a-Day Challenges
I have published over 100 poems in recent years. I write almost all of those works in the months of November and April, because that’s when the Writer’s Digest Poetic Asides Blog runs the Poem-a-Day challenge. The full challenge involves submitting a collection of works to be considered for chapbook publication, but I just use PAD for the daily poem prompts posted by Robert Lee Brewer each morning. Some participants post their work in comments there, but I don’t advise doing that if you want to submit your poems for magazine publication. You don’t want to give away your first rights for free!
If a prompt doesn’t click for you, find inspiration elsewhere. I usually need to do that a couple times during PAD. I find substitute prompts by scrolling down on the Poetic Asides site to look at the weekly prompts Brewer posts year-round. After all, the ultimate goal is to write a poem each day during the month. The original prompt doesn’t really matter in the end.
When the month is done, I go through my poems to cull, and then I start to revise the salvageable ones.
2) Say it out loud
Revising any work of writing can be a frustrating effort. With poetry, rhythm and flow is vital. Reading out loud helps you to find the flow and eliminate excess words. It’s a good way to find typos, too.
3) Know where to find markets
The Science Fiction Poetry Association’s site offers a good (but not comprehensive) list of poetry markets. New markets open all the time. Other venues will shut down for periods. Others shut down permanently. As you track your submissions, keep up with favorite markets so that you know when they open or close to submissions. The best way to find out about new magazines is to network with other writers through web forums or social media like Twitter.
4) Guidelines to submit work
I wish this had a straightforward answer, but there is no industry standard. You have to carefully read the guidelines for each publication–and don’t trust those guidelines to remain the same from week to week, either.
Many markets use Submittable as their submission platform, so it’s worthwhile to set up an account there. Others rely on email, and requirements may include sending poems in the body of the email, or to only submit poems via attachments in certain file types. Most markets allow a poet to send in anywhere from 3 to 5 poems at a time. This is great after an effort like Poem-a-Day, when you have a batch of poems ready to send out into the world. The only bad side of that is the responses often come in batches as well, so brace yourself to get the lot rejected in one fell swoop.
5) Submit, submit, submit
When I first started writing poetry again a few years ago, I wasn’t confident in my poems. I was becoming an old pro at short story rejections and sent my works out right away after they were turned down, but I had a harder time doing that with poetry. Poetry rejections felt more personal because my poems were more personal.
Here’s the thing. Editors have different tastes and different moods. You never know when a poem will resonate with an editor; you have to make yourself vulnerable, submit your work, and submit again if necessary. Expect rejection.
I have had several poems that racked up ten, fifteen rejections before finding a home. Some have made a circuit of markets over periods of two and three years. A poem might wallow in the slush pile of a magazine for several months, get rejected, wallow on my computer for a few months as I wait for an appropriate market to open, and so on. The long wait is worth it to get an acceptance at long last.
Best of luck in April, poets!
Read MoreRhysling Nominations! Three of them!
The Rhysling Award is the top award in genre poetry. The past two years, I’ve been thrilled to have one poem nominated each year. This year, I somehow managed to get THREE on the ballot.
Those three poems are:
– “The Box of Dust and Monsters”, Devilfish Review 17
– “The Death of the Horse,” Remixt Magazine 1:8
– “Morning During Migration Season,” Star*Line 39.4
If you’re in the Science Fiction Poetry Association, you’ll soon get the nominees bound together in a book; thanks for reading and considering my work! The volume will also be available for the public to buy. On an offhand note, “The Death of the Horse” will also be included in my forthcoming collection Red Dust and Dancing Horses (now available to preorder).
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Late January News & Publications
This has been the January of Let’s Get a Million Things Done as I get ready to go on a big trip and to write my next book. Weird fact: I have a novel outline that’s 11,300 words in length. I have never had an outline that comprehensive, and I find it both intimidating and comforting.
Here are some new links to end the month!
Nice mentions:
– Rocket Stack Rank included my Galactic Games story “Minor Hockey Gods of Barstow Station” on their Hugo consideration list!
– Also on the subject of awards, Jason Sanford gave Breath of Earth a nod over in his recommendations.
– Fiction Unbound delighted me by mentioning Breath of Earth as a way to fight pre-inauguration blues. (It will also prove effective post-inauguration.)
New short story:
– “Left Hand Awakens” at Perihelion SF
New poetry:
– “The Flesh is Weak” in Eye to the Telescope: Robots
– “Being Human” in Star*line 40.1
– “A Net to Snare a Unicorn” and “Preventative Measures” in Mythic Delirium 3.3
Oh yeah, and remember that collection I have coming out in November? You can preorder directly from the publisher for a nice discount right now! It’ll be available to order on Amazon and other sites later this year.
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New Publications at the Start of 2017!
Well, hi there. Things have been awfully busy here. I have a wee bit of breathing space between major deadlines, so I’m trying to get a thousand other things done. It looks like the next few months will stay pretty intense, too.
I sent out my newsletter today. If you’re signed up, check your spam folder! You don’t want to miss my Apple Snickerdoodle Bar recipe. If you’re not signed up, what the heck is wrong with you you can remedy that by looking at the right hand side of BethCato.com and putting your email address in that convenient little box. I’ll be revealing the cover of my new story collection on the Cato Log on January 12th, so sign up now so you won’t miss that!
I had several new works released in November and December. Here’s the latest:
Stories
– 10 Things Newly Manifested Wizards Should Never Do at Daily Science Fiction
– reprint podcast of “Overlap” at StarshipSofa
Poetry
– “A Net to Snare a Unicorn” and “Preventative Measures” in Mythic Delirium 3.3
– At the Very Least in Grievous Angel
Geeking Out
– A Binge-Watcher’s Guide to the Great British Bake Off at B&N SFF Blog
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New Stories and Poems for November
My focus has been on books this past while, but I still have shorter works coming out as well. Here’s the latest!
Novelocity
– 5 Big Reasons Literary Agents are Important Beyond the Book Deal
Stories
– “Moon Skin,” Swords & Steam Short Stories
– “A Recipe for Rain and Rainbows” (reprint), Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith
Poetry
– “Witch and Stick,” New Myths issue 36
– “The Death of the Horse,” Remixt Magazine Volume 1 Issue 8
– “Morning During Migration Season” and “Horse and Girl,” Star*line 39.4
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