Publish or Perish?

POETRY CENTRAL  Volume 2, Number 3  ~ Publish or Perish? ~ 

How do I get my work published?  Are my poems, short stories, manuscripts for novels, good enough to be published?  What are my short-term versus long-term goals in getting published?  Is this a one-time proposition, or do I want to try to make a career of my writing?  These, and other relevant questions, need to be considered before launching into what is a very time-consuming, frustrating and often irritating process.  I can speak from experience.  What follows is a slanted, biased view from one writer's experience.  Although I have been around the block, and have successfully published several books, I fully understand that everyone's expectations and experiences differ markedly.  I hope we can use this article as a forum for an ongoing discussion and critique on the wonders and pitfalls of publishing.

Recently, my experience in publishing has centered on my poetry.  But several years ago I worked on two non-fiction books that finally were published by a prominent publisher in Gretna, LA (Pelican Publishers).   When my wife and I first settled into a routine in Seattle, before our first child was born, we used to haunt all of the antique shops in the greater Seattle area.  She would hunt for antiques, and I’d inquire if they had any “old books.”  I started finding older children’s books, published in the early 1900’s, and my wife, who comes from a long line of celebrated artists (her aunt was the illustrator of the Dick and Jane books!) would steer me toward the better ones.  Before long I started forming a collection of early children’s books by an American illustrator, Jessie Willcox Smith.  I began reading about her in the library, researching the art period in America at the close of the 20th Century.  I wrote booksellers to see if they had books illustrated by Smith.  After about five years, I had acquired the largest and most complete collection of her first editions in private hands.  So I started working on a definitive bibliography of her work, describing all of the books, edition points, priorities, magazine appearances, calendars, prints, etc., and making a photographic record of over 400 individual images.  To do this, I had to learn how to write a bibliography.  I consulted books, friends in libraries, ran drafts by friends and family, bounced ideas off anyone who would listen.  Finally, I had something of a finished product.

The next step was to see if I could find a publisher for my work, which was not a fully completed manuscript, but nearly so.  I put together a color packet with representative photographs, included about five pages of text which showed the kind of “nuts and bolts” of the book, and wrote a snappy introductory letter describing the artist and her impact on the American art history scene.  I then went to the public library and found a list of publishers and a subset of those who issued art books, art history and bibliographies.  I came up with about fifty and sent packets off to every one.  I then waited, and after awhile started getting rejections.  Rejection after rejection.  Until one day I got a phone call (not a letter!) from a publisher who was thoroughly excited about the prospect (Pelican).  We went on to publish five books together. 

Granted, the above case history is in the non-fiction sector.  But I think the basic principles involved in publishing are transferable from non-fiction to poetry as well.  As I see it, here are the essentials.  1) There was a developmental phase where I concentrated on my craft (in this case, building a collection, researching the art history of the period and learning how to write a definitive bibliography).  In the fiction/poetry genre, that would equate to honing your craft, taking writing classes, participating in workshops, etc.  2) There was an assessment phase.  Is my work worthy of publication?  How does it compare, objectively, to similar examples in the particular genre I’m writing?   To assess this, you need to find qualified people who will give you the straight shake down, no holds barred.  Send examples to friends, associates, contacts in literary circles.  Post your work on writing forums, social communites like MySpace, Facebook, and of course, Gather.  3) There was a self-examination phase.  What are my goals in getting published?  Are my goals in line with my product.  For example, getting a poem or a short story published in a journal is one thing, getting a novel or memoir published quite another.  Do I need to take incremental steps, like publishing in journals, or am that good to get my novel published in book form by a publisher that will actually market and distribute the book? 4)  Am I prepared to commit time and energy to help publicize the product either by making public appearances or spending hours on end networking and huckstering.  5) Then, of course, if it’s all-systems-go with 1-4, you arrive to the submitting phase.  In order to address this, I’d like to talk a little about my experience in submitting poems to journals.

Publishing poems can be among the most frustrating of all publishing endeavors.  You get the unique opportunity to have your individual “creations” come back in the mail, literally daily, with cute little letters explaining that your poems are excellent, just not what the publishers are looking for.  In the past year I have submitted about 30 separate poems, in five different mailings, to about 100 poetry journals.  To date I have about a dozen published poems.  I'm pretty happy with these results.  But it hasn't been easy.  In fact, it's been very taxing.  Lately, I come home and my wife doesn't even alert me to the fact that I've got  letters from journals.  One, two or even three letters have been neatly opened and stacked on the table.  I still read the various rejection letters and mimic in some sacrcastic comic voice a not-so-laudatory summary of the respective journal and editor.  I hear my wife snickering upstairs.  

Submiting poetry to the prominent poetry journals today, either in print, or in the many superb online poetry journals that now rival printed poetry reviews, is an extremely competitive and time-consuming proposition.  Less than one half of one percent of poems submitted to most of the more acclaimed poetry journals are accepted.  Further, there is a long-standing fraternal relationship that many journals maintain with already established, well-known poets.  After that, editors often are looking for young up-and-coming authors in English departments at universities, who have a sort of visibility and can bring credibility to the magazine.  Finally, there is a prominent “speak” that editors are often looking for.  If you are a very good poet with your own voice, you may be excluded because your poetry doesn’t fall into the genre that is currently being published.

So with all that under consideration, why even try?  One thing is for sure, you have to believe in yourself.  You have to have the energy to be persistent, in the face of rejection.  And you have to understand the process.  I think it’s important to resist the temptation to be insolent and pass off rejection as being a function of the editors.  Things are what they are.  If you don’t like the process, there’s an easy way out.  Don’t submit.  Or you can have your work published by a plethora of fee-for-service “publishers,” which is really no different than paying for the printing costs.  There is no distribution or visibility in the package.  And that may be all that one is looking for, which is all well and good.  However, if you want your work read, and you want to be published in venues that have wide readership and distribute their product, and perhaps even provide you with royalties (we should be so lucky!), then you need to work on perfecting your writing.  Submit.  And submit. 

With regard to publishing your poetry, specifically, I think it’s far better to have an established record of publishing in journals before trying to get a collection published in say a chapbook or a book of poems.  To this end, you have to know the publishing guidelines of each journal.  This is extremely important.  Each journal has different specifications.  Some require that you submit only three poems at a time, others five or six.  Some will say they accept by email, but no attachments, others will accept only in rtf attachments.  Most print journals will only accept poems submitted in a typed manuscript, and nearly all insist that you include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your name and address on it.  If you don’t have one in the envelope, they won’t even read the poems!  Then there is the reading period.  Most journals have a specific reading period, like September through May.  Try to send some poems in June and back they come, pronto.  Finally, include a short biographical sketch (no more than 5-10 lines max) and a nice, terse introductory letter.  Don’t be cute or witty, just professional.  Trust me, they get so many poems and so many crooked, crazy intro letters, they can smell a bad one in a stack of a hundred letters.

Below, I have provided some links to a number excellent online poetry journals as well as some prominent print journals.  Go to their sites and read examples of the kind of poetry they’re publishing.  Most journals will provide a few poems as examples, and some will have archives of past numbers, many with multiple examples of poems.  If you feel you’re up to it… go ahead and submit some poems.  Make sure the poems you submit do not already appear in any online journals.  In most cases, a poem appearing on an online community like Gather, a private poetry group, or even a blog will not be a problem.  Still, you should withdraw the poem(s) from online venues before you submit it.  Some journals are pretty touchy about that and may google the the title or the first few lines.  If ten lines pop up from a search, you can be sure your poem will be panned.  Finally, don’t forget to go into the “Guidelines” or “Submitting” section and pay close attention to the specifications for submitting poems. 

So there you have it, not an exhaustive account on how to get your poems or short stories published, but perhaps a starting place for some and a prod for others to get you to start thinking about publishing your work.  It can be an extremely rewarding and gratifying experience to have your work appear in print or on a prestigious online journal.  Please use the comment thread below for any questions you may have, not only directed to me, but others here at Gather who have achieved far more than I have in publishing their work.  I’m sure they’d be happy to interact here as well.  And don’t forget to relate any personal testimonies of publishing successes or failures.

Some Top Online Poetry Journals (starred my favorites)

Able Muse

Adirondack Review 

Beloit Poetry Journal*

Blue Jew Yorker

Blue Moon Review 

Boxcar Poetry Review*

Kenyon River Review*

Le Petite Zine

Merge Poetry

Mipoesias Magazine*

Modern Review

Mudlark* 

Orange Room Review

Penwood Review* 

Poesy Magazine

Rattle 

Shampoo

Shine

Tears in the Fence*

Thick With Conviction

White Leaf Press

Some Top Print Poetry Journals (starred my favorites)

American Poetry Review 

Antioch Review*

Atlantic Monthly*

Barrow Street

Chicago Literary Review

Cimarron Review

Cincinnati Review

Fence

Kalliope

Missouri Review

New Criterion

New England Review*

New Yorker

Nimrod

Paris Review

Poetry*

Seneca Review

Southwest Review

Yale Review*

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Written by Edward Nudelman, Books Correspondent for POETRY CENTRAL

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