I’ve Got a Bad Feeling about This

A certain literary magazine (no, not Yemassee) accepted one of my poems, and they have not sent my contributor copies yet. The contributor copies were supposed to have been mailed in April. I e-mailed one of the managing editors in late April and inquired about the contributor copies. I was told rather tersely that they have not been mailed yet.

The literary magazine recently revamped its web site, and parts of it are still under construction. On one of the under construction pages there is a list of what appears to be contributors to the issue. I don’t see my name among them. I e-mailed the same managing editor this morning inquiring again about the contributor copies and pointed out that I don’t see my name on what appears to be a contributor list. I sent the e-mail read receipt. I know the e-mail was delivered and read this morning. I haven’t heard back yet.

I’m probably wringing my hands over nothing and should just relax. There was probably a delay at the printer, and they are probably mailing the contributor copies soon. The web site is still under construction. I don’t know for sure if what I was looking at was a contributor list. If it was, maybe my name just hasn’t been added yet….

Still, I’m probably a little paranoid because my first acceptance ever didn’t pan out. When I inquired with the editor around the time I was told the contributor copies were supposed to come out I was eventually (after several e-mails) told some b.s. story that the editor tried emailing me to confirm my acceptance. When I didn’t respond back, she assumed I wasn’t interested. She also took this opportunity to say that some other people looked at my poem (after it had been accepted) and pointed out what they believed to be some issues. I interpreted all of this to be that the editor either changed her mind or messed up in some way and was not willing to own up to it, so she invented a story to save face and make herself feel better. At least later that same year the poem was accepted by another literary magazine without incident.