There were multiple places back then that refused to read photocopies, so everything had to be typed fresh. It was always a dilemma if you had too many whiteout areas, with handcrafted lettering added in in Bic pen. And then there was that weird paper that was made so you could erase typing and re-do it... the only problem being the type could be smeared easily. So lots of places refused to deal with that either.
Frankly, there was much less competition back then because of the grunt work it took. One reason anyway. The only thing I really miss was that I would sometimes start exchanging correspondence with editors, even if they never took any of my work. Now you can get a "we love it! It will post in there months" which is great, but lacks a little something.
It was labor intensive indeed, and the pain of rejection was proportional. I was sending stuff to US publications from Europe and I had to buy special "vouchers" that the publication could then redeem for stamps, so one more step - my Belgian stamps wouldn't cut it on the SASE! Every submission was precious and carefully considered. No wonder I got my first acceptances in local publications, in French, lol!
Yes, I remember sending out stories in manila envelopes, and wondering if anyone read them before sending them back or sending a rejection note. I also remember retyping the first page of many stories after discovering fingerprints, tea stains, etc., a sign that at least that page had been read. Much prefer electronic submissions.
If I'd known that one meaning of "perseverance" is "sitzfleisch" I could've had a different name for my publishing company! I, too, went for years after my first article sale before another one.
Lev, my first book of poetry has just been published by a small press, Human Error Press here in Western Mass. It's selling on Amazon Journeys of Voices and Choices. 110 p. 75 p $15.00. It's. in six sections, like a pink grapefruit or a jazz orchestra. I think you may especially like the first: Brooklyn,Jews, and Family. Innocuous and almost tiring enough ( I can hear some people go "Oh NO, notAGAIN!" The first five poems concern the Holocaust.
I can now no longer joke that I could paper my bathroom with rejection letters!
and you save most of your saliva, a very underrated part of our lives since without it, it's more difficult to be a person with good taste.
There were multiple places back then that refused to read photocopies, so everything had to be typed fresh. It was always a dilemma if you had too many whiteout areas, with handcrafted lettering added in in Bic pen. And then there was that weird paper that was made so you could erase typing and re-do it... the only problem being the type could be smeared easily. So lots of places refused to deal with that either.
Frankly, there was much less competition back then because of the grunt work it took. One reason anyway. The only thing I really miss was that I would sometimes start exchanging correspondence with editors, even if they never took any of my work. Now you can get a "we love it! It will post in there months" which is great, but lacks a little something.
It was labor intensive indeed, and the pain of rejection was proportional. I was sending stuff to US publications from Europe and I had to buy special "vouchers" that the publication could then redeem for stamps, so one more step - my Belgian stamps wouldn't cut it on the SASE! Every submission was precious and carefully considered. No wonder I got my first acceptances in local publications, in French, lol!
Yes, I remember sending out stories in manila envelopes, and wondering if anyone read them before sending them back or sending a rejection note. I also remember retyping the first page of many stories after discovering fingerprints, tea stains, etc., a sign that at least that page had been read. Much prefer electronic submissions.
If I'd known that one meaning of "perseverance" is "sitzfleisch" I could've had a different name for my publishing company! I, too, went for years after my first article sale before another one.
Lev, my first book of poetry has just been published by a small press, Human Error Press here in Western Mass. It's selling on Amazon Journeys of Voices and Choices. 110 p. 75 p $15.00. It's. in six sections, like a pink grapefruit or a jazz orchestra. I think you may especially like the first: Brooklyn,Jews, and Family. Innocuous and almost tiring enough ( I can hear some people go "Oh NO, notAGAIN!" The first five poems concern the Holocaust.