proofs

I just got word this morning that the proofs for my chapbook, Wingward, are in the mail. Proofs are always an amazing thing for me. They make the publication process real. There is a time between having a poem or book accepted, and the actual publication, that feels like walking through the empty quarter, not many landmarks and your final destination not in sight. You know it’s out there, but often for weeks at a time, there is no communication from your destination. Then the proofs come, and suddenly you have a glimpse of where you are headed.

Jane Yolen says in her book on writing, Take Joy, ” Know this about being published: it is out of your hands.” Not only is the acceptance of the story you spent hours composing, editing and rewriting, out of your hands, but so is much of the process. The best thing to do during those times is to let go, and keep writing. It was nice today to have a glimpse of the process, and know that it is working.