5 Tips For Publishing Your Poetry

by Therese L. Broderick

Many articles about how to get your poetry published offer the same ten tips: set a realistic goal (traditional, self-, or subsidy publishing); research the market; submit only your best work; adhere to submission and cover letter requirements; maintain accurate records of correspondence; manage your time and money; keep reading a wide variety of poetry; keep writing and revising your own poems; start small and move steadily toward greater challenges; and never give up.

Sound advice? Most often, yes. However, sometimes truisms need to be qualified, even contradicted. If you haven’t yet been able to get published by following the usual how-to’s, maybe it’s time to consider these five alternative approaches.

1) Submit a wide variety of your work, not just the best. The poem that you think is mediocre may be exactly the kind of poem that the editor likes. The “well-crafted” poem may be conventional and boring, whereas the “amateur” poem may be fresh and authentic. Moreover, some publications employ a rotating roster of editors, each of whom prefers a different kind of poem. And publications can unexpectedly change editors and alter their style.

2) Write a good cover letter, but write better poems. Beginning writers think that an assertive, bragging cover letter might persuade an editor to read and publish a poem. Not so. At least one magazine editor I know doesn’t read the cover letter until after reading the poems; and if the poems are no good, he may not read the cover letter at all. Besides, many poetry publishers now accept submissions via email text, email attachment, or website-based form. It is just as important to master these new modes of submission as it is to know how to compose a traditional letter.

3) Research the market, but not only with annual print directories. Before submitting to any publication, check its website. Even if the publication doesn’t yet have an online equivalent to its paper product, it will have a website. Often, the website provides information that is more current than the profiles within the annual print directories. A one-stop listing of many literary websites is New Pages at www.newpages.com.

4) You don’t need to choose only one of the three publishing options: traditional publishing, self-publishing, and subsidy publishing. As long as you can afford the financial commitments, distribute your different writing projects among all the options, either in sequence or in overlapping intervals. Welcome any opportunity to get your work into circulation. Even posting a poem on your own blog is a kind of publication.

5) Yes, it’s essential to keep reading and writing poetry at the same time that you are seeking publication. But it’s just as important to listen to poetry. Many poetry websites now provide audio recordings or podcasts. Just click on the icon and listen. Notice how the poet uses his or her voice. Pay attention to the sound of words. And there are many more opportunities for hearing poetry out-loud: stop by a local open mic; go to a college reading; register to attend a festival or conference. Poetry events are listed in the arts section of your newspaper. In addition, a “National Poetry Calendar” of events is available on the website of The Academy of American Poets at www.poets.org.

Therese L. Broderick, MFA, is a freelance poet residing in Albany, NY, with her husband and daughter. Visit her blog "Ekphrasis" at poetryaboutart.wordpress.com.