Category / nonfiction

by J.L. Smith

Happy New Year

Thank you for reading this blog. Your support and correspondence over the year (and beyond!) means a lot to me. This blog has grown a lot since I started it over a year ago, with many, many works added to it. I hope to continue to add more content over the next year to make it an even better experience for you, the reader.

Even after being fortunate enough to have published about 60 works (thank you, dear editors and journals!), I still feel like a new writer at times, and often wonder how other writers go about writing and submitting their works for publications.  Enter Trish Hopkinson’s New Year post about her blog and submission totals for the year. Reading her stats, I am in awe of her blog stats (it is an awesome blog, check it out here, if you haven’t already!) and of her submission stats too, so I decided to look at my own.

Using Duotrope, I looked up my stats for 2016. I write mostly poetry, though, I also write and publish fiction and nonfiction occasionally.

In 2016, I submitted 197 works for publication. These are Duotrope stats.

187 were poetry –this does not include my Alaska Women Speak submissions, of which I had 9 poems published. Duotrope does not list them, so they are not included in the raw numbers.

7 nonfiction – This number leaves out 1 AWS submission as well that was published.

3 fiction – This number, again, leaves out 1 AWS submission that was published.

Overall, I had a 14% acceptance ratio, without the AWS submissions counted. Poetry acceptance was 13.1, fiction was 100% (OK, believe it or not, I just got lucky here for this year, for one of these pieces was rejected in 2015, which doesn’t count this year). Nonfiction acceptance was 16.7%.

In 2017, I plan to submit to more tougher markets (yeah, I know, isn’t it hard enough to get published without MORE rejection!), so my acceptance rate will probably decrease quite a bit next year.

38 works were accepted for publication in 2016, with 3 to be published in 2017.

Not bad, definitely, but as a writer I always strive for more challenges.

Next up are goals for 2017, which I have not articulated yet.

Writers out there, how was 2016 for you?  Please post and share!

J.L.

 

 

 

 

 

 

by J.L. Smith

Alaska Women Speak

Hey my Alaskan folks!  Alaska Women Speak has just released their Spring 2016 issue: Adventures in Foreign Lands. I have four pieces in this issue.  My three poems and nonfiction piece center on my stay in South Korea in 2002-2003.    Locally the magazine is available at Barnes and Noble in Anchorage and Fireside Books in Palmer, as well as other stores throughout the state.

Check it out!

Poems: A Greeting at Imjingak, Chaos and Conformity, and Bibimbap.

Prose: A Forgotten War.

 

by J.L. Smith

Alaska Women Speak

I’m pleased to announce that Alaska Women Speak will publish, along with 3 of my poems, a nonfiction piece of mine called “The Forgotten War.”  This piece is about my visit to the DMZ that separates North and South Korea.  For all my local readers, these works will be available at Barnes & Noble Anchorage, Homer Bookstore and other outlets throughout Alaska.

by J.L. Smith

Throwback Thursday: The Important Things

This nonfiction piece was published by Alaska Women Speak in its Winter 2015 issue.  The theme was “talking over coffee (or tea).”  This my first creative nonfiction piece to be published.  Enjoy!

The Important Things

It’s been that kind of a day and now, at home, you are faced with a household tragedy: the tea supply has run dry. Not that fancy, loose tea that sits atop of the cupboard by the stove: the rooibos, the jasmine, the gunpowder green. The kind that requires the French press, a teaspoon to measure, four cups of water, and four minutes to brew. No, you are out of the ordinary Red Rose Tea, the one that comes in the bulk 100-count boxes. The ones that are not individually wrapped for freshness. Those are the ones you lack and need.

You leave your husband and the overtired one-year-old who refused to nap today to make the important journey. You travel to the only grocery store in your small town that has this tea. Forget about the decaffeinated version, you want the real thing, and buy two boxes. When you return home, his raised eyebrows, sigh and silent house tell you that he’s succeed in his mission and the child is asleep. You produce the tea, proving you were successful in yours, too.

The evening proceeds like many others do. You select the preferred cups: his, is the plain, white ceramic; yours, the clear glass Starbucks one. You are not fancy. This does not require much decorum. Just two cups of water, a microwave, and two minutes.

After a moment of silence, you turn on the TV. Forget about the Syrian refugee crisis and the falling Dow Jones, you discuss the important things of life over Futurama: like Katey Sagal’s career after Married…with Children ended and how much adults like Disney cartoons, too.

Your tea is the liquor that calms the nerves and re-energizes your soul. The last sip, overly sweet and growing cold after fifteen minutes, gives you the final jolt you need to pack the diaper bag, make the turkey sandwich lunch and check your calendar one more time, before winding down to a short sleep before the day begins again.

 

by J.L. Smith

Happy 2016 – A look back; A look forward

Happy New Year, Everyone!

First of all, I want to thank you so much for being a part of my blog and supporting my work.  I am humbled to have my blog supporters.  Your support encourages me. It means a lot to me.  Thank you so much!

I also want to extend a great big thanks to all the editors and journals that I have worked with over the past year (and into 2016, as well!).   I have had 23 acceptances this year.  17 of which were published in 2015; 6 will be published in 2016.

If you have a moment, please check out these great editors and their journals.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your year.  I hope to share more writing with everyone in 2016!
Creative Nonfiction:
“The Important Things” – Alaska Women Speak – Winter 2015 issue

Fiction:
How to Eat a Bagel – 50-word Stories – Sept 15, 2015

Poetry:
“Femininity” – Cirque – Summer 2015
“Sitting in the Bathroom” – Yellow Chair Review – July 2015
“A Happy Poem” – Eunoia Review – August 2015
“Willow Rebuilds” “Spectators” “Fire Angels” – Alaska Women Speak– Fall 2015
“Dark Clouds Descend Low” – Three Line Poetry – Issue 33 – Sept 2015
“Da!” – Peeking Cat Poetry – 8th issue – Oct 2015
“Three times my baby’s stroller passes by” – Eunoia Review – Oct 2015
“Babushka’s Samovar”, “If I May Speak”, and “High Tea and Fancy Things” – Alaska Women Speak – Winter 2015 Issue
“Joanna’s Child” – Cirque – Winter Solstice issue 2015.
“Away with the Bitterness!” – Peeking Cat Poetry – 9th Issue – Dec 2015
“Away with the Bitterness!” – Alaska Shorts (49 Writers blog) – December 22, 2015
“The Reflex”, “The Drop Off”, and “Crossed Eyes” – Eskimo Pie – Feb 2016
“The Fragments You Carry”, “The Fireweed Dies”, and “Crabapples” – 13 Chairs – Spring 2016

 

by J.L. Smith

Alaska Women Speak’s Winter Issue: Publication

Hi everyone!

Just got my copy of Alaska Women Speak yesterday.  I was so excited to see my four (yes 4!) works in their latest issue, which centers around drinking coffee or tea.  Alaskans, you can get your copy via subscription (of course) or at Barnes & Noble in Anchorage, or in my other fine retailers listed on the website.

Works included:

Nonfiction:  The Important Things

Poems: Babushka’s Samovar, If I May Speak, and High Tea and Fancy Things.

Check it out!

Jennifer, who adores drinking tea, loves writing about her favorite beverage!