The Story of an Essay
a peek into the process of publication
Hi, readers of the intangibles! I’m essayist Allison Kirkland, and this publication was created to celebrate and discuss the art of creative nonfiction.
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The publication process of an essay is a learning experience, both mystical and unpredictable. At this moment in my career I personally believe that every rejection is the universe’s protection (in writing and in life, y’all …) and that essays end up where they belong, even if the process looks confusing from the outside.
I am not a patient person, but polishing my essays for submission and then doing the hard work to find a place for them has been an almost spiritual exercise for me. It has taught me to sit with uncertainty, to trust timing and to be open to possibility.
I thought I would outline the process of one of my recently published essays, to show how it came into being and found a home.
“Loving the Alien,” Summer 2024 issue of Under the Gum Tree
I wrote the first version of this essay about 9 months after David Bowie passed away in 2016. I wrote it as a lament, as a way to process his death, a death that made me cry real tears. However, when I finished it I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Maybe it was just a writing exercise? I’d graduated from my MFA program a few years prior and I was in a fallow period of not knowing if I wanted to be a writer.
A year later I sent the essay to a friend who wanted to read some more of my writing, and when she read it she told me that a friend of hers had launched a local literary magazine and was looking for music writing. This opportunity didn’t feel quite right for me (I wanted a larger audience, although I probably couldn’t have verbalized that at the time!), but it was the first inkling I had that maybe I could publish it somewhere.
I kept trying (and failing) to remind myself to submit this essay to magazines so they could time it with the anniversary of Bowie’s death or with a new posthumous album release or album anniversary. I thought it might be a good fit for a music-related magazine. But my brain doesn’t work on calendar time (it never has) so each year January would surprise me and I’d think, “oh darn, I didn‘t manage to place that David Bowie essay anywhere.”
When he’d been gone for more than three years I thought I’d missed my window for the publication of this essay. Every year there were fewer and fewer remembrances of him, a sad testament to the speedy news cycle and our culture’s tendency to move forward with great speed.
But still, there was something about this essay that grabbed me, and I found myself tightening it, revising it slightly, over the span of a few years.
I submitted it to two literary magazines I admire (at the time the essay had a different title) on March 10th, 2022. Those two magazines rejected me — one rejection came right away in late March, but the other rejection didn’t come until September of 2022. It was a long wait, and during that time I worked on other essay drafts.
I felt discouraged after the two rejections. I let the essay sit for awhile.
I took a class with Gina Frangello, and she read the essay. “Make the essay less about David Bowie and more about you,” she said. It was good advice. And good advice for any personal essayist.
At the time I was focused on getting another essay published and so I set this essay aside, with Gina’s voice echoing in my ears. I wanted to make it more about me, but I wasn’t sure how yet.
When I revisited the essay in 2023 I saw it differently, and with Gina’s advice in the back of my mind I made some slight revisions. I also changed the title. I struggle with titling my essays and this one popped in my head with the feeling of “of course that’s the title of this essay!” almost like it was handed to me by the late Bowie himself. I think the title made the essay much stronger, because unlike my previous title it expanded upon and connected with many themes in the essay.
I submitted the essay again in March of 2023 — a full year after my first round of submissions — this time to one of the same places that had rejected me previously, and also to another literary magazine — this one more pop-culture focused — that I had long admired.
I got another rejection from the magazine that had rejected me previously. Once again they rejected me right away, in late March.
BUT! The other place I’d submitted this piece to — the one that was more pop -culture focused but still literary — sent me a tiered rejection. That means it’s a rejection but they’ve taken the extra time to let you know that they like your work. In this case they said:
“We found much to admire in this essay and we hope you’ll continue with your work.”
This small message let me know that I was on the right track, and that I should continue sending this essay out for possible publication. At that point I was taking an online class through the Pioneer Valley Writing Workshop with writer Dorian Fox and I admired his knowledge of the industry. I browsed his website and noticed that he’d been published in a literary magazine called Under the Gum Tree.
When I visited their website I was bowled over by the gorgeously-formatted magazine and their impressive roster of writers, many of whom I admired. I browsed a few of their issues and found several essays that I liked.
From a career standpoint, I appreciated that Under the Gum Tree submits work from their magazine to the Best American Essays Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. This meant that if I published there my essay might have the potential to reach an even wider audience.
Most importantly, I noticed that they regularly published music-themed work.
Could Under the Gum Tree be the place for my essay?
I made one last round of edits, which I think made a difference, and I submitted the essay to Under the Gum Tree on October 20th, 2023. I had almost forgotten about it when I received an email in my inbox on April 17th, 2024 that said: “Thank you for sending us "Loving the Alien." We are happy to let you know that we would like to publish it in an upcoming issue of under the gum tree. One of our editors will be in touch before too long with more details.” I did a happy dance! I screamed! I was so excited, and I still am.
It was a lot of work, but I learned a lot about myself and about what this particular essay needed during the process of trying to get it published.
Does it always take this long to publish? Sometimes. It varies. In fact, Chill Subs, a database that helps writers collate and organize the submission process, asked their community of writers for examples of how many times various essays or poems or stories had been rejected before they found a forever home. They found a variety of answers. I’ve included a few below.
If you dream of placing a piece of writing in a traditional publication — which is not the only way to become a real writer, by the way — it’s best to be open to the process. I know it has taught me a lot.
Until next time,
Allison
You are reading the intangibles, by writer and creative writing instructor Allison Kirkland. This publication is geared toward writers of memoir and creative nonfiction and the people who love them.
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"Every rejection is the universe’s protection" – I love that, Allison. I think I'll start using that as my new mantra ❤️
Congratulations! This was so encouraging and helpful to read as a nonfiction writer. I have an essay on motherhood and yard sales and I too always forget to time it with Mother’s Day! Every year I think, darn, I should’ve revised more and tried to send it out. I’m so glad your work found its home. Thanks for sharing!