This week I was curious to see if I could find a link to the first poem I was ever paid for. I stumbled upon the blog of the artist who illustrated it for Children’s Playmate Magazine (which merged into Jack and Jill Magazine as part of the U.S. Kids Publications). Not sure why this made me smile so big. I suppose it was just fun to see it again. Yes, I have a copy of it stashed away in a folder of other magazine publications, but I don’t dig that folder out often (if ever).
This was my first author contract. My first paycheck for something I wrote. My first publication. I remember getting the letter in the mail. It came to me in a green envelope because at that time I sent all of my submissions out with green self-addressed-stamped envelope (SASE) because publishers would only send you a rejection if they didn’t have to pay the postage to do so. I used colored envelopes so when my rejections came, I could brace myself for the let-down before I opened it. But it wasn’t a rejection! It was a contract!! I was so happy, I cried.
So, I suppose we can call this a Flash-Back Friday’s Favorite! As I send my edited manuscript to my agent so she can start sending it out to publishers, I celebrate this little poem that made me feel like a “real” writer.
A huge thanks to Phyllis Harris for bringing my little poem to life with her beautiful illustration all those years ago!