Life Update: I Got Published in an ACTUAL Print Magazine

Long time, no life update, am I right? Yeah, I’ll stop trying to be funny here.

First thing’s first, I haven’t abandoned this blog. In fact, I’ve been optimising my old blog posts and going wild on Pinterest.

I’ll be posting a couple of blogs about that at some point here.

Now, with that out of the way, this blog, as the title suggests, is a life update. For my new readers, I only do life updates when something big happens, and in the span of this blog’s lifetime, there has only ever been one other life update.

That was about the first time I got published in a literary magazine. I’ve come a long way since then. You can see all my written works under publications. These days, I’m largely focused on polishing my manuscript. Older readers will know that I’ve been working on a novel for a very long time, and we’re super close to the finish line now.

Critical Manuscript Update

Basically, I got my manuscript edited by Awais Khan back in May, and based on his tremendously helpful (and incredibly detailed) notes, I’m on my final edit right now.

Hopefully, in the next few months, I’ll have another life update with details on a release date for my debut novel… fingers crossed. But so far, 2024 has been treating me really well.

I like to think that it has something to do with the fact that my frontal lobe has fully developed (yes, I’m one of those people) and I actually have a fixed routine now.

But yeah. I never re-published my New Year’s Resolution from 2022 when I brought this blog back online in May last year. But old readers will be happy to know that I still very much have resolutions. In fact, I might actually achieve all my goals for the year.

I know. Yikes. Consistency, at least in this blog space, is not my strong point. But I’m quite consistent on Pinterest these days.

And yes, I will be posting about my experience with Pinterest marketing soon.

But, back to the primary reason behind this life update:

I Got Published in an ACTUAL, PRINT COMPENDIUM

Full disclosure here, I haven’t actually submitted to any lit mags since September 2023. The last acceptance I got was in August 2023, with most of my recent works coming out at the end of 2023.

I simply didn’t have time, partly because I started working as a Product Designer at this place in Izmir, and partly because, well, I was finishing my manuscript. Also, I was commuting between Istanbul and Izmir on a bi-weekly basis. I have way too many videos from that period in my life, which I should really monetise at some point, but yeah.

Life was busy. Somehow, during all of this, I managed to get the blog up and going, and that’s basically because my “commute” was of two hours and airport Wi-Fi is actually pretty good in Turkey.

So, imagine my surprise in March, when the editorial team at the Ignatian Literary Magazine reached out to me with the following message:

Dear Sura,
Congratulations! We’re happy to share with you that your piece, 7 Things Nana Used to Say, has been selected for publication in our Ignatian volume 36 compendium. The compendium is an annual collection of our favorite pieces we’ve published over the past year, enshrined in print. It will be released on May 7 alongside the digital release of volume 36.2, and a copy will be mailed to you shortly after this date. Please confirm that your mailing address is the same as the one you originally included in your Submittable submission. We are excited to see your piece in print!
Best regards,
Ignatian staff

Of course, I was shocked, and excited! Because I’ve NEVER been published in an actual, physical magazine before.

And now, after so many months, I present to you, my very own copy of the Ignatian Volume 36 Compendium:

And here’s the piece I wrote:

Isn’t it beautiful? I’m so happy! This is so exciting! The timing couldn’t have been better. I’m re-editing my manuscript and I have this beautiful thing as an affirmation that my book just might be a thing!

More Life Updates

Apart from that, I recently started focusing on CRO (conversion rate optimization), and it’s been pretty topsy-turvy. If I’d known that I’d be doing this when I first went to university, I would’ve gotten a degree in psychology or anthropology. Not kidding, it’s insane how this particular industry makes use of psychology to get you to buy stuff. Absolutely, insane. And I’m kind of into it. Not sure completely.

For those of you, who’ve emailed me about jobs, how to switch careers and move up the corporate ladder, I also have something coming up for you guys. Might take a while but you know I like having the full picture before imparting any advice on the internet. So, watch out for that.

On another note, something I’ve been struggling with since March is productivity and, as I’ve said earlier, I’ve somehow managed to develop a routine. The unfortunate truth about my life is that, though I’d say I’m a very tech-oriented person, I’m a writer at heart, and I write best at the wee hours of the night, just after the witching hour.

I’ve also overcome that. On the week days.

So, yeah. That’s basically it.

I promise I’m not abandoning this blog. Realistically, I don’t think I’ll be able to post on a weekly or bi-weekly basis so my new target is to get at least one blog out there every month. This life update does not count, of course.

Full disclosure: I have a blog post ready, but I’m trying to write at least two more before I start publishing again. Just trying to establish a routine in the very likely case where I’ll get super busy again.

So, everyone – hope you guys liked this really quick life update.

Keep an eye out for a new blog post coming soon!

Best,

Sura