The Synchronicity of Submissions

I’ve sent off quite a few submissions in my time. At least it feels that way. If there was a low strike rate during lockdown, I blame it on the growing number of people with more writing time on their hands, and them doing so. My preference for submitting is to non-fiction magazines whose work I enjoy, or to those lit mags announcing a theme relevant to me.

Patience is not my middle name. But during Covid, when it came to successfully submitting work, I found that patience was thrust upon me.

At an Elwood Writers’ meeting last year, one member announced they were off to see Samuel Beckett’s play, Happy Days. Another alerted me to an Australian poetry magazine opening to non-fiction submissions. Aha, I thought, I have a personal essay involving Samuel Beckett which might fit the bill. The short piece met the magazine’s word count and seemed to suit its reflective sensibility. I’ve found it also can be beneficial to get in on the ground floor when an editor is formulating a new direction for the publication.

I forwarded my story ‘Waiting for Beckett’ to Cheryl Howard at oxygen magazine and shortly afterwards received an acceptance letter. (Ms Howard is old school, with most correspondence done by mail.) The essay’s placement felt right. I was happy to be in the company of Rumi, Phillip K Dick and Australian author, Kate Richards. Maybe Samuel B. was happy too.

I owe thanks to my writing group, Elwood Writers, for sending me the dual signals – if one unwittingly – and to the power of ‘letting things be’ until the time is right. My long-ago-begun short story about Beckett’s influence on me had found its home. Did he ever know the literary impact he would have on generations?

If you’d like to know more about oxygen magazine, you can do so at their blogspot link here. As for the great Irish playwright himself, Samuel Beckett needs no link.