The submissions started rolling in! What a thrill it was to hear that the numbers were increasing each day. With each submission, we knew another brave member had polished their work and made the courageous decision to hit “submit” for a chance to be published in the anthology. I submitted two very different poems: The Rollercoaster explores the emotional ride we experience when a loved one faces cancer; and Barnyard Duet depicts a humorous incident involving my goofy goldendoodle and an unwanted duckling named Quackers.

And so, with everything ticking along nicely, the anthology committee (with lattés in hand) sat back, put our feet on our desks and relaxed. 

Just kidding! There was way too much work to be done to enjoy more than a momentary virtual clink of glasses. This was confirmed as I researched past emails in order to write this blog. There were thousands of communications between the A-Team members as we worked furiously behind-the-scenes to research publishing options, figure out promotional opportunities, find an editor and finance the project. While the London Arts Council grant had covered a large part of our expenses, it wouldn’t cover everything. We decided to seek out sponsors from community members. Brenda’s years of expertise with corporate sponsorship served in creating levels of support and incentives such as being mentioned in the anthology, thanked on the website and social media channels and, for some levels, logos added to the tote bags. 

From family members to local businesses to friends of the LWS, we were humbled by the amount of support we received. Brenda coined the term “Literary Champion” because that’s what each sponsor was to the anthology project. It cannot be overstated the gratitude we felt, and continue to feel, toward the sponsors who made this project possible. 

When the portal closed at midnight on October 15, 2024 and submissions were no longer being accepted, an image of a closed door with a huge padlock appeared on our socials. The anonymous entries were sorted by category and sent to our panel of First Reader judges. 

We provided our First Reader judges with a scoring rubric (generously provided by Mirror World Publishing) to ensure that they were reviewing each entry consistently. Based on the judges’ final scores, the top percentage in each category formed the longlist. The judges had a month to review the submissions. And so, we waited.

On November 15, 2024, it was a thrill to announce the longlist. But as in any contest, there will be those who do not advance to the next round. The anthology committee received some emails and in-person conversations about the disappointment of not being chosen. As we faced these conversations, the words of one of my writing teachers, Alison Wearing, came to me: “Rather than taking rejection as evidence that you are not a writer, it’s also possible to take it as evidence that you are.” 

The truth of the writing life is that there’s a lot of rejection involved. While I know this personally, I also keep a list of famous rejectees near my laptop: J.K. Rowling, Beatrix Potter, Agatha Christie, George Orwell, Stephen King. A favourite story is that after King’s debut novel was rejected more than 30 times, he threw it in the trash, only to have his wife retrieve it and encourage him to try again. A few years later, Carrie was published and became a bestseller and major motion picture.

The longlist entries were passed on to Emma Donoghue who would curate the shortlist which would become the anthology Out of the Woods. An agonizingly long month stretched out ahead of us as we waited for word from Emma with the results.

To be continued…

  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings.