Forklift, and it's so charming and unusual that, of course, upon consuming all of the available text, I wished to submit something charming and unusual of my very own.
I was a little bit hesitant because there are several big name poets (including Dean Young - and since one of the two poets who influenced me in a Great Big Way was my teacher, Bob King, and since Bob King was under the poetry-teacherish-influence of Dean Young - it makes sense to me that they might like my poems. They might not publish them, but they might like them just the same) I thought maybe submitting to them was a waste of time. But then I got a little bit of that "don't hurt to try" spunk out of the closet (maybe it fell on my head) and decided what the hell.
So I clicked around (not the most obvious website in terms of labelling their links according to the information stored within - instead it's all metaphoric, which might just be a little bit of an indication of their snobbery, but I didn't catch on), until I found their submission guidelines under logistics.
Now. I don't know about the average Joe (or Jane, and why does Jane usually get paired with Dick until she dies and then it's John, and what's up with Joe, anyway?), but this seems a little sketchy to me:
"If you are interested in being included in an issue of Forklift, Ohio, we request that you first purchase and read a copy of the journal.
Then, before sending any work for consideration, please query the editors by E-mail at editors@ForkliftOhio.com. "
I understand that journals are often battling to stay afloat financially (as the editor of Plain Spoke, I can empathize wholeheartedly), and I often purchase copies of journals in order to read them and familiarize myself with them before I submit work. However, forcing people to purchase in order to query is a bit snitty, to say the least.
Also, even if I wasn't opposed to being forced into a purchase, I could not buy the journal if I wanted to because it's sold out. I get that it's "Be hand-assembled in limited quantities from a variety of unusual materials," but that much exclusivity is just for the birds.
I guess I just have to stick this one in that big heap of crap I'm not interested in, and move on.
How disappointing.
2 comments:
you are wrong, here. they want you to buy an issue mainly to become familiar with what they publish, so you can then decide if you are a good fit and want to submit. this is a very normal process as not all poetry magazine are the same. and forklift is sick as f-ck.
Because there's no way I might come across the magazine at Half-Price Books or another used bookstore or have someone else hand me an issue. I'm sorry, but a policy in which they monitor whether you buy a copy off of their website is ridiculous.
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