Writing poetry can be a powerful way to connect with yourself. Publishing your poetry can be a powerful way to connect with a larger literary community. If you're ready to take your poetry out of the closet and into the world, this article can help give you the lay of the poetry publishing land.

Three Steps to Poetry Publication

Like so many things in life, taking the first step toward publishing is often the hardest. Equipped with this simple formula, you'll have a process you can repeat again and again to find the right home for your work:

1.      Look at the "Acknowledgements" page of a contemporary poet's book whose writing feels similar to your own. Write down seven literary journals where the poems in this book first appeared.

2.      Go to a bookstore or library or visit the websites to read those seven journals; choose the three that feel like a fit for your writing.

3.      Send your strongest three poems to the first journal. (Visit its website for submission requirements.) If the poems are not accepted, send them to the second journal. And then the third. Repeat as necessary.

Following is an overview of the various types of publications and venues you might consider exploring.

Print Journals

While print journals are the classic, most respected venue for publishing poetry, circulation is generally limited to a small subscriber base, some bookstores and libraries. You can expect to wait at least two to three months for a response to your submission, and then another few months at least for publication if your work is accepted. Payment for publication is uncommon; instead, it is typical to receive a copy or two of the journal in which your work appears. Following are a few resources for researching the best poetry markets for your work:

·         duotrope.com

·         Poet's Market

·         thepoetrymarket.com

Online Publications

Increasingly, online journals are gaining acceptance in the eyes of the poetry "establishment." There are a number of advantages to pursuing this publishing path. Generally, response and publication times are shorter than print journal turnaround time. Plus, with a greater number and variety of online journals (including a wide range of topical specializations), you have a better chance of publishing success. Some online journals get as much as a half-million visits per issue, which far exceeds most print journal readership. Simmons B. Buntin, editor of Terrain.org, suggests in the April 2007 issue of Writer's Digest Magazine: "Online journals are certainly as legitimate as print journals. Indeed, because of their real-time and increasingly interactive nature, they may be more legitimate."

Contests

Contests are a great way to get visibility and money for your poetry. Often, contest winners are rewarded with both publication and a cash prize. Plus, "award-winning poet" sounds great on a resume and submission cover letter!

Because most contests require a submission fee-- anywhere between $10 and $20 is common-- and these can add up, be thoughtful about how frequently and where you submit your work. Here are a few reliable resources for learning about contests:

·         absolutewrite.com

·         fundsforwriters.com

·         poetsandwriters.com

·         thepoetrymarket.com

·         winningwriters.com

Chapbooks

Chapbooks, mini poetry books comprising anywhere from 4 to 48 poems, are a great first step in the book-publishing journey. The most typical route to publishing a chapbook is by submitting it to chapbook contests. (You can learn about these contests through the resources listed above.) Self-publishing-- another way to go if you don't want to play the submit-and-wait game-- is steadily gaining in popularity and acceptance. If you're concerned that publishing a chapbook could interfere with publishing a larger volume later using the same poems, don't be! Chapbooks give you legitimacy-- not to mention confidence-- and can even help you publish a book (using some of the same poems) later.

Poetry Books

Poets typically consider publishing a book once they have 60 or more finished poems, and are typically considered seriously by publishers once they have 15-20 of those poems published in journals. Much like the chapbook publishing process described above, contests are the most typical route to book publication; and self-publishing is an increasingly popular alternative. If you'd like to self-publish with minimal out-of-pocket expense, consider print-on-demand with a vendor such as lulu.com. You simply post a formatted manuscript online, and a book gets printed each time someone purchases it.

Creating New Opportunities for Your Poetry

If you're impatient for the publishing world to take notice of you, or you just want to have some fun going public, there are many ways to get exposure for your poetry. Why not create a blog where you can publish your own poetry instantaneously online? Try reading your work in public at open mics or organized readings. Contribute poetry to your own, friends' or community artwork: paintings, jewelry, sculpture. Make an art installation featuring your poems. Or work with a musician to put your words to music. With the right attitude, promoting and producing your poetry can be as creative and gratifying as it was to write your poems.

The only limits to the possibilities for going public with your poetry are your endurance (if you're sending your work out to journals) and your imagination (if you're "producing" yourself.) And now, in the spirit of poetic persistence, I will send you off with a small pep-talk poem:

      Tis a lesson you should heed,

      Try, try again.

      If at first you don't succeed,

      Try, try again.

––Thomas H. Palmer (1782 - 1861) Teacher's Manual (1840)

Sage Cohen is an award-winning poet and essayist. Her books include Writing the Life Poetic, a creative companion for beginning poets forthcoming from Writer's Digest Books and Like the Heart, the World, a collection of poetry. In 2006, Sage won first prize in the Ghost Road Press poetry contest. She has taught writing at universities, hospitals and writing conferences, as well as online. Sage holds a MA in creative writing from New York University where she was awarded a New York Times Foundation fellowship. In Portland, Oregon Sage hosts a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble. Visit Sage at www.sagesaidso.com.

Sponsored links

Ring binders

 

Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer!

How to find a book publisher

Home

Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007 Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
Please contact the authors if you'd like to reprint articles on this site.  All copyrights are retained by original authors.  And plagiarizers will be rounded up, handcuffed, and stuck into a very small and humid room wherein they must listen to Barney sing the "I Love You, You Love Me" song over and over again.

writers writing software