My initial attempt at a first-authored paper was quite the adventure. I was in the midst of dissertation data collection and my early focus was on the intersection of secular spirituality and music. Someone I had met at a conference forwarded me a CFP for spirituality and music in a religious journal, and I thought it sounded like a good fit. I was working with one of my committee members on the paper, and as she was both the head of the religious studies and performance studies programs, I thought I was set in terms of support. I hadn't really done any thorough vetting of the journal, so when I received an email from them shortly after submission stating that they were interested in publishing it, I was a little wary. Part of this unease came from their declaration that there was a fee of several hundred dollars to do so. While a novice, I still knew something was fishy. I mentioned this to my coauthor and she advised that I withdraw the submission, which I did. Then the editor of the journal said that they liked my paper so much that perhaps they could waive the fee this time. Another red flag. I decided I should take it to one of the journals in the field of leisure studies and try my luck there. So I submitted it to Journal of Leisure Research in August of 2013 where I went through three revisions until it was finally rejected in January of 2015. Despite the progress made, the manuscript was ultimately denied due insufficient progress and inadequate significance. It was a frustrating start to my career. -- From the first author's journal.