Uncle Says: Let’s talk about Getting a Foot in the Door!

Latest Installment of Uncle Says May 2023

Many have approached me about being more active in the literary world over the last year, and I honestly always feel so put on the spot because it feels like yesterday when I had a handful of publications and had just got on literary twitter. My publisher urged me to ‘interact’ and I was not too excited to do so. Dear Reader, Uncle may be younger than most, but Uncle is not a social media person! That said, engaging an audience allowed me to thrive in the literary world through three main areas: social media, readerships, and editorial positions.

Beginning with social media, I thrust myself into my first role as a social media manager at Milkyway Magazine and then began putting out pieces and working on their Youtube recordings. This opportunity gave me the necessary experience to get a foot in the door. I knew that being based outside of the US disadvantaged me immensely (and continues to to this day). But now, social media work has become a staple of my literary world involvement—and after working directly with different magazines and literary-startups, I began to transition to social media consultancy, which allowed me to meet new writers and new publishers and even new opportunities so easily available to white writers.

Readerships like those offered at Chestnut Review allowed me to grow exponentially. In the 2 years and 8 months I’ve been with CR, I have read with numerous poets and writers I deeply admire. A readership at Lazy Adventurer Publishing and occasional reading with Lupercalia Press allowed me to hone in on my skills as a reader, and ensured that I was extra competitive in a literary world that is still overwhelmingly white. Dear reader, I must emphasize, overly white and oooverly male.

Editorial positions gave me the growth I truly craved. As Editor-in-Chief at Fahmidan Publishing & Co/ Journal, I have been able to uplift the voices of POC/Women writers that are so seldomly truly represented beyond the pale of tokenism and performative activism often exercised for the sake of clout. As Poetry Editor at Chestnut Review, I have been fortunate to work both independently and with several other Editors during my tenure, allowing me to facilitate increased diversity on our reading team as well as uplift those writers, who, like myself, are fighting for literary success despite the immense obstacles that continue to bias our global literary community. Becoming Reviews Editor at Full House Literary also expanded my skillset beyond the confines of freelance reviewing.

Dear Reader, being active in the literary world can feel arduous and tiring but you can carve your own community, your own presence, out of the myriad of online personalities, magazines, and enterprises.

You are worthy of literary success so never let anyone tell you otherwise! Complacency is the beast that resides within all of us and feverous fortitude is the only remedy.

Love,

Uncle

A.R. Arthur (formerly A.R. Salandy) is a Black Mixed-race poet & writer who has spent most of his life in Kuwait jostling between the UK & America. Anthony's work has been published over 250 times internationally. Anthony's Flash Fiction was shortlisted and received an honorable mention in the 2022 The Dillydoun Flash Fiction Prize Competition. Anthony has 3 published chapbooks titled 'The Great Northern Journey' 2020 (Lazy Adventurer Publishing) & 'Vultures' 2021 (Roaring Junior Press) as well as a novel 'The Sands of Change' 2021 (Alien Buddha Press). Anthony's Chapbook 'Half Bred' was the Winner of the 2021 'The Poetry Question' Chapbook contest. Anthony is the EIC of Fahmidan Journal/Publishing & Co, Review Editor at Full House Literary & Poetry Editor at Chestnut Review.