If you write and then submit writing for long enough, you end up getting every kind of rejection. It is, if you will, a writing truth universally acknowledged, all acceptances are the same, but rejections have categories.

I can now add a new rejection to my repertoire of experience: the submission, acceptance, the set date for publication, and then…nothing. Nada. Nil to confirm the site is defunct, no response to my email, and hence no poem published. Thanks goes to the editors for the big overture and then the non existent show. Whoops. That reads a little bitter.

It’s worth acknowledging that publications and sites shut down all the time for a wide assortment of reasons. I do understand. Life happens and publications take time and effort and money to run. However, while nothing lasts forever, not even with the internet, my best experiences in these situations have been when publishers and editors have been honest with contributors. I’ve had published work delayed by health crises, had publishing companies accept my work only to financially collapse, gain new owners and then shelve all projects. I know this because I was kept in the loop. And it helped to ease the tension and disappointment eases a bit with understanding. Ultimately, clear communication is the thing that aids writers like me with plans and hopes for their works. Communication keeps alight the tiny flame of willpower to keep writing. Don’t snuff out writer’s little flames with the death of your publishing venture.