Congrats to Robert Guard for being our featured client. Bob told us a very touching story this past week about an acceptance that he recently received, and he’s been kind enough to share his story with you! Bob’s secrets to success are Writer’s Relief and—magic dust from a poet laureate’s handshake? Watch his video to learn more!
Bob’s poems, which first came to us in 2008, are intense and intensely honest; this is not a writer who hides behind his words. His poetry is courageous and often expresses those things others may fear to speak. When he writes, his ear for language combines with his unapologetic subject matter, and the results are poems that both confront and confess.
In His Words:
I learned four things along the way to having over twenty of my poems accepted in the last three years thanks to Writer’s Relief. I think they are four principles upon which writers can continue to build success:
•Work hard
•Follow your intuition
•Don’t be afraid to fail
•Don’t be afraid to succeed
I have written poetry for over three decades, but until just a few years ago I had not published since my college days.
Why? I didn’t send anything out!
That’s a blinding glimpse of the obvious, but I was surprised at how the whole submission process could be handled so effectively and painlessly when I started working with Writer’s Relief. As Dennis Hopper says, “You need a plan, man.”
Writer’s Relief had a plan that changed everything for me. I worked harder because I had a goal every submission cycle and great people who held me accountable. I worked faster, following my intuition, making more leaps of faith in my poems. I was afraid of rejection at first, but with the volume of publications that WR was targeting for me (about 25 per cycle), I got used to it, and soon I learned to let “Thanks for your work, but…” roll off like water off a duck’s back. Quack!
And I became a believer in my own success. That’s a big one. I started to see my work in print with other great writers. I became more confident and everything else flowed from that confidence. So my advice is to get out there and give it a try. And the best place to start, in my opinion, is Writer’s Relief.
About Robert:
Robert Guard’s writing is eclectic both in content and style, from emotional introspection to the phenomena of human consciousness. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Argestes, The Chaffin Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, descant, Eclectica Magazine, Eclipse, The Florida Review, G.W. Review, Harpur Palate, Nimrod, Poem, Poet Lore, Quercus Review, Quiddity, Reconfigurations, RiverSedge, Studio One, Sycamore Review, and Tightrope.
While attending Ohio University, he studied under Wayne Dodd and Bin Ramke, and studied with Walter Tevis, Daniel Keyes, Stanley Plumly, and Carolyn Kizer. After graduation, he became an advertising copywriter and has worked in the marketing field for most of his career. He recently completed the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and has been invited back to attend future workshops.
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