Literary Grab Bag: Lit Camp, Handling Rejection and The Review Review (with Cappuccino)

This week brought more great news to my writerly world:

Congratulations! You are being offered a place at Lit Camp. We had more than 250 submissions for only 40 spots. Everyone who was chosen represents the very best in fiction and nonfiction writing. It was a pleasure to read your work! 

Mayacamas Ranch, Calistoga, CA

Sponsored by Litquake and the San Francisco Writers Grotto, Lit Camp is an annual spring writers conference that takes place at Mayacamas Ranch, a retreat center in Calistoga, CA. Take a look at the rigorous Lit Camp schedule, which includes a Yoga for Writers workshop; free time to enjoy the hot tub, saltwater pool and spring-fed pond; and plenty of 'Booze and Schmooze' opportunities with writers, literary agents and editors of esteemed publications such as ZYZZVYA, McSweeney's, The Believer and The Rumpus. Oh, yeah, and some writing workshops!


The bad news: A couple of my writer friends didn't make it in. Which brings me to my next topic: Handling Rejection. I happen to know that these two are excellent writers; one just scored an agent and a possible publishing contract for her book. So here are some refreshing perspectives to share.

Helen Dring at Black Fox Literary Magazine makes the claim that "rejections will make you better":

You see, receiving rejections means two very good things. First, my work is out there in the world being read...   

Second, sometimes rejections come with feedback...

In her blog post, Rejections I Have Known, Susie Meserve reveals the good, the bad and the ugly (as well as sweet) in her folder of 282 rejections -- including some nostalgia for handwritten notes.

I borrowed the rejection links above from my weekly shot of The Review Review, which sends me an e-newsletter I never reject from my inbox. Amid all the spam is this constant gem, filled with fascinating tidbits from the writerly front, from interviews to blogs to lit mags to the ever-so whimsical parting words of its founding editor, Becky Tuch, who created the website from the ashes of rejection:

In the spring of 2008, I stopped submitting to literary magazines. As a fiction writer, trying to get my work published felt as futile and inconsequential as trying to write my name on a snowflake.

Here is how Ms. Tuch signed off this week. How can you not love a newsletter like this?

And that you white-tea sippers, you acai-berry chewers, you leafy-green consumers, you who love your antioxidants, you who are a dangerously free radical, you who are fit, you who are strong, and you there, just trying to get through the day without spilling food on yourself, is the news in literary magazines.

Well, it's not white tea or acai (pronounced 'a-sa-ee' -- it rhymes!) that's for me.

The Review Review: "good news, harsh reviews & all things lit maggy"

A few days after posting last week's Life After the MFA my colleague Amber Starfire forwarded a newsletter from The Review Review, an online review of literary journals, with the exciting news that founding editor Becky Tuch posted the following blog mention and link:

In other news, if you’ve gotten your MFA, are mid-MFA or potentially pre-MFA, you might appreciate Nicole R. Zimmerman’s encouraging and level-headed article, “Life After the MFA: Exploring Publication Options.” 

 Since I'm also exploring career options (journalist? editor? marketing specialist? tutor? adjunct instructor? creative writing teacher? all of the above?) I found these other links informative:

You might also appreciate this piece on The Millions by Nick Ripatrazone: “Got an MFA? Teach High School.” Nick’s article makes a reference to The Adjunct Project, a rather distressing website that features a database of adjunct pay scales at universities around the world. If seeing this database is a bummer, you might be encouraged by this comforting photograph, a record of one writer’s rejection letters from various literary magazines. And if you really want a jolt of encouragement, then check out Beyond the Margins’ own Randy Susan Meyers’ wonderful piece, “Fifty+ Shades of Publishing A First Book When Over 40 (50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Years-Old)” which offers a hardy list of writers who got their big break later in life.

 Sign up for the weekly newsletter (I just did) or you can get a recap on the blog Beyond the Margins. Or, if you're interested in carefully reading and critiquing a literary magazine, become a reviewer!