I've never written, let alone published a book review, but Alan has. George Core took his big essay on Wilbur, and had no idea who Alan was. Tom Fleming at Chronicles took his essay on Hope and his review of Wilbur's Mayflies. Now, Tom had published Sullivan's poetry. But it proves that over-the-transom submissions can work if your criticism is as good as is that of the EfH.
I just send poems, and now I have a stable of sympathetic editors. But that wasn't the case eight years ago. Then it was what we salesfolk call cold calling. Again, I met with a good deal more acceptance than rejection. Sure, I had some friends like Dave and Dana who might have helped me with a couple of venues, but the verse pretty much had to stand on its own most places it went. I try to repay those early favors by putting in a good word with editors on behalf of a great many Spherians.
Which takes us to networking. Something we do here. But there is no better place in the world to network than the West Chester Conference on Form and Narrative. Go there.
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