The road to publication requires persistence, and patience. This is true whether you’re on the editing side of the table or the side of writers writing. Then, submitting. Then, biting nails, waiting and hoping and anticipating.
Last week, COMPOSE, a new literary journal online, released its first issue. As Assistant Editor, I participated in the behind-the-scenes work that comes with putting a journal together–not an easy task. As Suzannah Windsor says in From the Editor, “the challenge [of creating a literary journal] is greater than just finding some writing and publishing it. The challenge—if a journal is to be successful—is to go beyond the ordinary, to create something that stands out for its content, design, community, and professionalism.” This first issue looks amazing, and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of COMPOSE.
Just as exciting, I lived through the writer’s side of journal publication by having one of my short stories chosen to appear in the inaugural issue of COMPOSE. I worked on this particular story for a long time, and Tamara Pratt, one of the Fiction Editors, gave me wonderful feedback that helped make my work stronger. Thank you to her and Suzannah for giving my story a home.
I hope you’ll take a look at the journal as a whole. And, if you’re partial to fiction, take a peek at my short story, The Saint of Lost Things.
Then, if you like the look of the journal (and I think you will), consider submitting your own work.