| PUBLISHING YOUR POETRY |
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| So, you've written a number of poems, spent some time crafting & workshopping them, & now you're anxious to share them with the rest of the world? Two options: self-publish a chapbook or start submitting batches of individual poems to literary journals. If you want to legitimately publish, and eventually have a reputable publisher publish your poems (where the press pays for the publishing) start by submitting to magazines, journals & reputable online 'zines. Having had your work in literary journals shows that editors (not just yourself) consider your work print-worthy. Getting a chapbook published by a university press is the next step. A chapbook is a small collection of 16 to 30 poems. Often they are stapled with a heavy stock cover. To have a chapbook published, you need to query university or small presses, or you can enter legitimate contests. There is an entry fee for such contests, ranging from $10 to $20. This is common practice for even legitimate contests. Poets & Writers magazine is a good source of legit contests After the chapbooks, next up is a full collection of poems, a book, which is at least 60 poems. By the time you're ready for a full length book, you won't be needing to read this! IF all you want is a book of poems for friends and relatives, instead of a vanity press (where the author pays for the printing, paper, design, layout, etc. ), take your work to a local printer and they (or you) can print up 50 copies and bind it. The difference in cost is considerably less and the end result can be just as nice. You can use heavy card stock for your cover and have the chapbook staple-bound. I've made several myself at Kinko's to sell for a few bucks while I was giving readings until I had my first chapbook published for me by Heartlands. _______________________________________________________________________________________ WHO TO SEND TO How do you get poems in these journals and reviews? The first thing you must understand is your market: what magazines and editors your work might appeal to. Drowning Man is a good list of publishers and Poetry Today Online lists contests and links. Browse through a guide such as POET'S MARKET (Writer's Digest Book/ see Amazon.com). This book lists magazines that publish poetry along with how open each is to new writers and their guidelines for submitting. Poets&Writers magazine also lists contests and magazines that are open to submissions. My links page lists a few other sources. Do some investigative work by reading the journal you think your work may be suited for. Every journal has an editorial staff with their own notion of what they consider publishable. Other magazines have theme issues. To send inappropriate work to a magazine shows an editor that you didn't do your homework. You can buy sample issues of most magazines without a subscription or search for their website. _______________________________________________________________________________________ WHAT TO SEND Read the submission guidelines for whatever magazine you wish to send to and follow them! In general, send 4 or 5 poems with a brief cover letter. Address the letter with the editor's name. In the 1st paragraph, list the poems you're submitting. In the 2nd, give a 2 sentence bio and list a few places you've had poems published. If you haven't published, don't mention it. Never write anything such as "I'm new at this." And don't get chatty. Most editors don't have the time to read how you got started writing or what inspires you. Always always always include a self addressed, stamped, business-size envelope for their response. Some editors will toss the submission if there's no sase. (see sample cover letter) Send clean, clear copies... no creases or coffee stains! You can send them trifolded into a business envelope, or better yet, folded in half in a 5 x 7. I've done both. Be sure you have enough postage (don't forget enough on your sase too if you want your poems returned.) ________________________________________________________________________________________ KEEP TRACK Keep careful track of what you send where. Some writers use spread sheets on their computers. I use a file card system. Each poem gets its own index card. Under the title, I write the name of the journal(s) and when I submitted the poem there. Cards go into a file box divided in three sections: In, Out, and Published. If a poem is rejected, I draw a line through the journal's name. When I send the same poem out again, I add the next journal's name below. This way I don't send the same poem to the same place twice! Record keeping is important-- you need to know exactly what you sent where and when. You may want to submit a different batch of poems to the same editor later (especially if "Send again" or some other encouragement is written on the rejection letter.) By the way, if you do get published, it's a good practice to send a thank you to the editor after the poem appears. Many small press editors are volunteers who pump bullets of sweat into their journals. They always hear from disgruntled writers whose name was mispelled or a word was left out, but seldom get a cheer when things go right. _____________________________________________________________________________________ SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS Many new writers wonder about sending multiple submissions. It's a fairly common practice since some journals don't respond for up to 6 months, which ties your poems up for some time. However, Do NOT do this if the magazine's guidelines state "No Simultaneous Submissions." Never. It can get sticky. When I was just starting out, I sent duplicates everywhere, figuring that the chances of two journals wanting the same poem were slim. Well, it happened, and I was pretty embarrassed. I immediately wrote to the journal to inform them that the poem they wanted was accepted elsewhere, and luckily they asked to publish another poem of mine. It taught me to be very careful. So, you may send simultaneous submissions to different publications as long as their guidelines say it is okay to do so. Note on your cover letter that your poems were submitted to other publications also. If a magazine accepts a poem, be sure to write to the other publications and tell them, with apologies, you must withdraw the submission. _______________________________________________________________________________________ POETRY CONTESTS There are legitimate contests run by reputable magazines and there are so-called contests that publish every poem that's submitted to them in a huge, unedited volume that the poets are expected to purchase and pay shipping charges for. This is not considered legitimate publishing. If you are notified that you've "won" in a contest, or you didn't win but your poem was "selected" to be published, and you must purchase the book to see your poem in print, it is not likely a legit contest. You can certainly buy the book just for kicks (and find your poem squeezed on page 185 in microscopic print) but should not consider this to be a publishing credit, and expect to be solicited to purchase a plaque with your poem, coffee mug, t-shirt with "I'm a Famous Poet,", trophies, etc. These presumed publishers are actually businesses, and they are out to make money by feeding off the poet's ego. I bought into this years ago, ordering three copies of the hefty book with my poem. Soon afterward, I was invited to be a "guest of honor" at a special presentation in California where I'd be presented with a certificate and could read my poem. Dinner was over $150. I would also have to pay for my lodging, air fare, etc... in other words: it was all at my expense. Even stranger was that the Master of Ceremonies was to be the late comedian, Milton Berle. Bless his heart, he always made me laugh, but an MC for POETRY? I didn't attend. Most legitimate chapbook, book and poetry contests run by small presses or university presses do have a reading fee to cover their own costs. They often have judges who are reputable writers that do not work for the press. These presses award monetary prizes to winners and present free copies to the authors. ________________________________________________________________________________________ MAKING MONEY Publishing in journals doesn't typically pay except in complimentary copies. The journal may ask you to buy a subscription, but they won't insist. Again, as in the contests, if you're required to buy a copy to see your poem in print, it is not considered a reputable publication. So, if you don't get paid, why do it? Because it's great to be able to share your work with the world, it validates your writing and all the effort you put into it, and it establishes your publication record. This is important if you want to have a chapbook or book published at some point. Publishing credits show editors you're serious about your work and others also view it as serious work. _____________________________________________________________________________________ PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED & COPYRIGHTS Do not submit published poems to other magazines unless they specify that they accept them. Your poem, once published, is YOURS to put in a chapbook, book, or journal that accepts previously published poems, but you must give credit to the first publication. This is called First Rights. If another journal is re-publishing a poem, request that the first journal's name and copyright appears with the poem or a credit in the acknowledgment page. Copyrights: Putting a copyright notice on your poem when you submit it to a magazine or share it with a writers' group is considered pretentious. I would only use it on something posted on the internet. _________________________________________________________________________________________ HANDLING REJECTIONS Rejection letters are not easy to receive and can even feel hurtful. You may think "how could they not see all the sweat that went into this work of art?" Remember, there are hundreds of editors who each have their own opinions. What one does not like, another will. Often editors will develop a loose theme for an issue, and your work may be rejected simply because it may not fit. Don't take it personally. Send them back out into the world. Some of my poems were sent to nearly a dozen different magazines before being accepted, and come to think of it, rarely have any been accepted by the first place I'd sent it to. When an editor writes "try again sometime" on the rejection slip, do it! Send another batch in a few months. Some journals take up to 6 months or even more to respond. If you don't get a response in 6 mos. you can write to inquire about the status of your work. List all the poems by title when you do so. An editor's job can be chaotic and occasionally poems or stories do get "misplaced" -- so save files of your work in your computer or elsewhere. Always be businesslike in any correspondence with an editor. ___________________________ ____________________________________________________________ KEEP AT IT The more places you send your work, the better chance of publication. Some of my poems were sent to a dozen different places before they found a home (and they were tidied up along the way too.) The reward of sharing your words is worth it. This is the way poets create a community and enlarge the human experience. Remember, if you continue to write and learn, you can only get better. Don't hesitate to send a new, different batch of poems to a journal that may have rejected you last year, especially if the editor wrote an encouraging comment on the rejection letter. Take it as a positive sign. Sometimes editors build an upcoming issue on a theme, and it just may be that your poems didn't fit in at the time. If an editor writes that they'd like to see more of your work, do so, and thank them in your cover letter for asking you to do so. ________________________________________________________________________________________ POET BEWARE An excellent article on scams by Victoria Strauss: There are many legitimate markets and opportunities for poets. There are also many schemes and pitfalls. Some appeal to your ego, some to your frustration...and all want your money. TAKE THE TEST! Are you ready to have your poems critiqued? WALLPAPER THE SKY - home page Email Linda Questions? Are you interested in having your poetry critiqued? Email me for details and rates. Please note: This is not a free service Linda's Home Page Art, Fiction and more poetry Note: you will be leaving Wallpaper the Sky with this link Linda'a Blog Tell Me When You Start to Feel It - And tell me how and why. Thoughts on creativity and inspiration You will be leaving Wallpaper the Sky with this link © 2003 Linda K Sienkiewicz All Rights Reserved back to top |
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Email for rates if interested in a critique of your own poetry. Linda K. Sienkiewicz has had poems, and short stories published in over 30 literary journals such as Prairie Schooner, Spoon River Poetry Review, RATTLE, Clackamas, Permafrost, Slipstream and more, and her artwork has appeared in CALYX, From East to West, and the MacGuffin. She won a Poetry Chapbook Award in 1997 from Heartlands, nine other chapbook finalist awards, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is currently working on her Masters of Fine Art in Fiction at Stonecoast. The Monty Python call "And now for something completely different" serves well as an introduction to poems by Linda K. Sienkiewicz. Her work is alive with surprise and with dreams made real.- Larry Smith, Milldust and Roses: Memoirs, & editor of Heartlands. Linda has a delightful way of fusing fact and fiction and imagination in solid accomplishment.-- Stellasu Lee, Editor, RATTLE |
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