Vespertine Press Is Nice

When I submit work to a journal, I often feel like I'm sending it to a black hole where it moves slowly but surely to the bottom of a pile until the paper it's written upon finally disintegrates, and it's as if it never existed at all.

For real.

And I was beginning to feel that Vespertine Press, a new Asian American literary journal that the charming Barbara Jane (see her? she's the one with lots and lots of lip gloss...) brought to my attention oh so many months ago, was one of those black holes. Briefly at the end of July, their web site basically said that if you hadn't heard from them by August 1st, you should stamp the word "REJECTED" on your forehead. And so I did. Consider myself rejected, I mean. And then just a few weeks ago, I checked the site again to see if the first issue was available for purchase because rejected though I was, I know how important it is to support "minority" (pfffft) literature.

What do you suppose I saw? A message saying they were still considering their 2004 submissions. Hmmmm. Now what's a writer to do? After a week of doing nothing, I finally sent an e-mail asking them--kindly, ever so kindly--to clarify the status of the submissions, as I was simply trying to keep accurate track of my manuscripts.

Two days later, I received a lovely reply from publisher Mamie Ju Raynaud. Why lovely? Because the first line said, "I remember your story!" It proceeded to get less lovely because, well, my story didn't make it into the journal (which, by the way, is experiencing some production delays). But then it got lovely again because she said I made it through a couple of rounds with the editors.

She also mentioned that--strange, is this not?--all the prose submissions that they really liked ("Yours was one of them," she said, pushing the e-mail back into the lovely realm) revolved around death or a funeral. And she didn't stop there! She went on, inviting me to re-submit the story ("If it's not taken by another publication," she said in a distinctly lovely way) next time around.

I'm not too proud to say that I have never been so thoughtfully cared for by a literary journal. And I'm a rejectee! Imagine the silk slippers and scented candles the Accepted Ones will receive! This is the proper care and feeding of writers, methinks. So let it be known throughout the land: Vespertine Press is nice.

Oh, and get this: Mamie closed her e-mail by telling me to feel free to write her any time with questions. Am I mistaken in thinking that most editors, due to the fact that they are already drowning in mail both solicited and unsolicited, will do their hot-diggity-darnedest not to encourage such communication? Told you: nice.