I am pleased to announce the publication of About Time: A Coming of Age Poetry Anthology published by Red Penguin Books. 

I had the distinct pleasure of serving as the collection’s guest editor, which was the first time I held such a role for an anthology. As editor, I sifted through the submissions after printing them and cutting off any identifiable information from each poem because I personally knew a few of the poets who submitted their work for publication consideration. I wanted every poet to have a fair chance regardless of whether I had a prior connection with them or not, so I blindly read each poem five times during the selection phase. 

The challenge of whittling down the number of accepted poems from the pool of over 300 submitted poems was real. I ultimately divided up the poems into three categories: yes, no, and maybe, then carefully read each poem two more times before making the final selections.

The hardest part of the process was contacting the poets in the “no” pile. I have received more rejections than acceptances in my writing life and know firsthand how it stings to find out my work wasn’t accepted. I did my best to pen a graceful and encouraging rejection letter, and to my surprise, received some replies from poets thanking me for such a kindly worded email. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every part of my role as guest editor for About Time, from redesigning the book’s cover and selecting poems that best exemplified the book’s vision and theme to providing a publishing credit for many new writers. I hope to work with Red Penguin again in the future!

You can order a copy of About Time by clicking this link.

Thank you to those who have purchased and/or read Enduring the Waves ! If you haven’t, I guarantee you’ll make at least one connection to Kelly’s story. Click on the book cover above for ordering links and more, including a Reader’s Guide (kind of like a study guide for the book, should you be interested in a deeper relationship with it).

Please reach out to me via email (jillocone@gmail.com) if you are interested in having me speak or present at your next book club or community group meeting. I’m happy to meet you!

Thank you for joining me on my journey. I’m so glad you are here.

With light and love,

Jill

“About Time to Promote ‘About Time” was posted on jillocone.com on April 19, 2024. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not endorsed or compensated in any manner by any entity; views do not represent any of my employers. Copyright 2024, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact Jill with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries using any of the links below.