Getting Your Poems to Readers: A Few Tips

There is no magic bullet for getting your poems published. That’s the cold hard truth. But there are things you can do to make it happen. Here’s a list:

1. Consider your poems with an objective eye. Think critically about your work. You will only get published in places where your work is a nice match with the publication’s project. So knowing what kinds of poems you are writing is important.
2. Know the journals you want to submit to. Fortunately, many journals now have Web presences so that means you can do research online. Read the sorts of poems the journals are publishing. Do yours fit in that company? Purchase sample copies if you can. Sample copies of most journals will cost you $10 or less. It’s worth it! For one thing, you can really get a feel for the journal; and for another, you expose yourself to many other writers and what they’re up to. Unfortunately, public libraries carry few if any literary journals and most bookstores, especially the big box stores carry few journals, and if they do, they carry the big names, The Paris Review or Poetry. These are not likely to be the places you’ll be sending your poems. So depend on the Web!
3. Read the journal’s submission guidelines carefully. Many editors write a few sentences that capture their tastes and interests. Take them seriously. Then follow all the guidelines to the letter. Many journals receive thousands if not tens of thousands of submissions every year. Whatever they can do to trim that number, they will. So if they ask for 3-5 poems and you send 8, your poems may not even get a glance.
4. Many journals are turning to online submissions, but some still require paper submissions. If you send to one of these, send clean, legible poems. Do not use clever type fonts. 12-point Times New Roman is as clean and legible as it gets. Put only one poem per page, and include your name/address/phone number/email address on every poem. If a poem runs to two or more pages, be sure to indicate, at the top, whether the continued text follows a line break or not—simply put in parenthesis (line break) or (no line break). That way, if your poem is accepted, it will be laid out on the page as you intend it to be.
5. Use the online submission manager! These are easy to use. Be sure to follow the directions, especially concerning how to save the document (Word or .rtf) and whether to put all your poems in one document or whether to submit them separately. Submission managers require a password, so use the same password for all submissions—it’s easier to remember.
6. Pay attention to the journal’s reading period. Some journals don’t read during the summer; others only read from November to December. If you submit during the down-time, you’ll have wasted paper and postage. Most journals with online submission managers simply shut down the program, but it’s best to be aware of the reading period in any case.
7. Some poets submit the same poem to several journals at a time. Many journals allow simultaneous submissions, but some do not, so be sure and pay attention to this in the guidelines. If you do submit simultaneously, and a poem gets accepted, you must immediately notify the other journals where you’ve submitted the poem. This is common enough that editors of journals do not take it amiss if you must pull a poem—in fact, they are likely to cheer for you.
8. Keep accurate records. You want to know just what poems are out in the world and where. Keep track of when you sent a submission, and then keep track of when a response came back. You don’t want to send a poem more than once to a journal; and it’s nice to know which editors respond quickly. If you receive a rejection, but the editor suggests that you send more, keep track of this too. When you send new material, be sure and let the editor know that she requested more work. Editors are not likely to remember you so little reminders are good.
9. Here’s a great website that you can use to track your submissions and to learn about journals that are looking for work: www.duotrope.com. This fabulous site allows you to search journals, and it provides detailed information about journals’ acceptance/rejection rates, time to responses, and more.
10. Be strong. You’ll receive many rejections. Of course, some poems may never get published and some probably should not ever get published, but if you are confident about the strength of a poem, send it out again. Don’t give up. Send it again. Many poets send a poem to ten journals (or more) before it is accepted. Be persistent.
11. Revise and revise again. This goes without saying.
12. Keep writing! Keep reading! By writing more and reading more, your own work will improve—and that, finally is what we really want. Better poems that find eager and grateful readers!

Athena Kildegaard writes poetry mostly, but she has also written short stories, scripts for television, columns, and nonfiction. She has two books of poems, Rare Momentum and Bodies of Light, both from Red Dragonfly Press. Her poems appear widely in literary journals and anthologies. She has received grants from the Lake Region Arts Council and from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a lecturer at the University of Minnesota, Morris.  Athena is currently serving as the LRWN Treasurer.