Hurry up and wait

Oh, timing is everything. And what timing isn't, patience must be.

Many, many months ago, I submitted a piece to a magazine for consideration. I never heard a peep, and a few months after I sent my submission, I noticed a blurb in the publication that said, in so many words, "no unsolicited manuscripts." Ah, well, I thought, and ended up sending that little piece to another, smaller publication, which published it. And everyone was happy.

Yesterday the magazine editor called me, wondering if the piece I sent last spring were still available for publication. The short answer is yes, of course the piece is still available, since I have no contract with the smaller publication and the publisher has made clear to me that freelancers own the copyright to their own works. But.

Things got a little sticky when the magazine editor started talking about the ins and outs of the publication, contract, rights retained by the author, etc. I felt that I had to tell the editor that while the piece was still very much available for publication, it had, in fact, been in print already. And the whole time I was saying this, I was glad that we keep no arms in the house, because I might be tempted to really shoot myself in the foot, instead of just figuratively.

Of course, the magazine editor wasn't as excited about publishing the piece when I told her it had been published already, albeit by a publication that could in no way be seen as a competitor to the magazine. I asked her what we could do, thinking maybe some legal language from the smaller publication might set the mag's mind at ease. That door, while still a bit ajar, seemed to be closing rapidly.

But the editor asked if I had anything else to send her, and also asked about other story ideas I might have. So I did send her something else (unpublished) and she responded right away to my email, saying that she would read it and was looking forward to my story ideas. This gives me reason to be hopeful that all may not be lost with this magazine.

As I get more into the realm of the published writer, I am seeing that while the writing part of things may come naturally and easily and be so darned much fun, getting published is a bit more complicated. I do believe that honesty is the best policy, and I'm glad that I told her. And I'm glad that it was printed in the smaller publication, because I really wanted to see it published. I guess I just wish I had known that it was under consideration by the magazine before I sent it to the other publication.

Everything happens for a reason, and even if nothing comes of this, at least I now have made contact with the magazine editor and have learned a couple of lessons:

1. Hearing nothing isn't necessarily rejection.
2. I need to be sure I'm comfortable with letting go of a potential opportunity with one publication before sending the same piece to another.

And, most excitingly, at least one magazine thought at least one thing I wrote was worthy of publication. I find that encouraging. Even if I do have a hole in my foot.