Here it is. Honestly, I didn’t give myself the time I should have between announcing and launching, but we did it. I’m going be brief because it’s about the work and the work is good. Very, very good. I am humbled and proud to have been accepted by each of the contributors. Because that’s how it feels. Every single submission received was a letter of acceptance. Artists are inherently risk-takers, so I’m not surprised by how many of you took a chance on us, but I am honored and grateful.
We had to turn away some excellent work. Our goal was to publish 25 pieces. We ended up choosing 33, and publishing 29. Sadly, three of the artists we chose never responded to repeated messages of acceptance, and another replied too late to be included in this issue. If you’re one of those four, we extend an invitation to reach out for inclusion in an upcoming issue.
If your work was rejected, I apologize. I mean, not really, because it’s part of the job, as well as nothing personal. But it stung a little every time we had to say no. Please know that we turned away some very good work and that we would very much like to hear from you again. We ask everyone who submitted to wait 60 days before resubmitting. But we also aren’t sticklers for rules, so… let your passion guide you.
Finally, it’s more than reasonable that our lack of a masthead, and my lack of any kind of calling card or reputation, may have been seen as a red flag. I get it. I also submit work to publications. I know that doing so is putting a piece of yourself into someone else’s care. It is with that same feeling of vulnerability that I set out to create this journal. It is my hope—no, it is my intention—that my work as publisher and editor will speak for itself. Which means that this journal will speak for itself, through you, the contributing artists.
Many, many, thanks,
cc bovarisme
he/him – Editor of Exist Otherwise. Poet and photographer. Survivor of CPTSD from childhood emotional and sexual abuse. cc bovarisme is a pseudonym and my avatar is a self-portrait of the gender non-conforming French artist, Claude Cahun. If you want to know more about me you may use the submission form or send email to existotherwise at gmail dot com.