BBP News — Episode 1
(Includes an update on the BB Spring Writing Competition)
Welcome to the first-ever Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Poetry newsletter. I have no idea who will get to see this. If you’re the only one reading, you are more special to me than you will ever know!
A big thank you
Firstly, thanks very much for being here. Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Poetry has 261 followers and over 100 poets on board. When I first launched in November last year, I had no idea whether anyone would jump aboard, so I am incredibly touched that the publication has gained as much support as it has.
Would you like to contribute?
If you would like to become a contributor to BBP, please check out the submission guidelines here first. and note the following changes:
- Heading format — in an effort to keep some elements of the publication consistent without dampening creativity, I was using title case for all headings and subheadings (sometimes people use sentence case for main headings). From now on, all subheadings will be in sentence case.
- Nationality statement — BBP celebrates diversity on all levels. If it drives conservative, right-wing minds crazy, assume that we support it. Our authors have always been encouraged to state their nationality at the bottom of their stories, but I standardised the format (British Writer, American Writer, Indian Writer), which I now believe was a bit restrictive. For many writers, their ancestry is more complex, or they want to add more context. From now on, do it your own way.
A reminder on editing rules
I don’t edit poetry — wouldn’t that be sacrilege? — but I do offer editing suggestions. These are usually quite petty (a comma here, a semicolon there, a typo over there). As neurotic as it sometimes feels, authors thank me for paying attention to details. We have each other’s backs.
Vernacular language
While I only make suggestions for poetry, as the editor of the publication, I will edit any prose that comes before or after poems. By maintaining high standards, I believe everyone benefits by being part of a more professional, high-quality, well-respected publication. So, I try to iron out typos and grammatical errors while putting some simple formatting rules in place, all of which add clarity. However…
BBP is supposed to be different. Our motto is “For every kind of poetry”, and I want people to write in their native tongue, including vernacular language. If you use American English, I’m not going to change it to the British variety, and the same applies vice versa.
One of the reasons why I wanted people to state their nationality/heritage was to add context to how they write. I have recently been learning more about African American Vernacular English (AAVE), for example, and will be taking extra care not to try ‘fixing’ text that isn’t broken. If I believe an author is using vernacular language, I will leave it as is.
I think I’ve been guilty of being stuffy sometimes, and I want to change that!
The Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Spring Writing Competition 2023
If you didn’t know, Jason Provencio (founder of the Bouncin’ and Behavin’ brand) and I have launched a writing competition. Everyone is welcome whether they are members of Medium or contributors to our publications or not. Jason, the ‘Godfather of Medium’ if you didn’t know, is the founder of Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs, which I strongly recommend you take a peek at. He’s a pretty prolific and awesome writer as well.
For $25 an entry, you get to submit a poem (up to 300 words), a snippet (up to 600 words), and a short story (up to 1500 words). The rules and guidelines are here.
New deadline
The original deadline was the end of May, and I set this to give people time to plan, prepare and write their entries. However, it has left Jason and me with no idea how many people are interested. We have received a few entries but for all we know, there’s going to be a sudden flood in the last week OR none at all!
The competition can only run with the prizes outlined in the original announcement if we get a minimum of 50 entries. Therefore, the competition will close as soon as we have those 50 entries; the sooner, the better.
We are looking forward to seeing your short stories, poems, and snippets!
For now, it’s cheerio from me. Thanks for your support!
British writer
