What's the best way to get my stuff published?

Question

I'm a poet and would like to get my stuff in a collection and I want someone to support it? What's the best way to do this? Where should I turn? I live in Omaha? Any suggestions? I'm not bad... just want to know if any publishing company could help me....how do I go about this?

They have published one of my poems...It worked and I was appearently "nominated" for "poet of the year"....I don't know, I didn't have to pay to have it published but to buy the book it costs around $80 I think....I wnat something legit....I'm not as sure about them....THX much though.

Answer 1

I'd avoid any operation that wants you to buy the book just to see your picture/poem/story in print--that's basically a vanity publication. You might want to get a copy of THE POET'S MARKET 2007, which you can either order online or through any local bookstore. It's a good resource for all types of poets (religious, doggerel, 'serious', etc.) and has lots of tips of who publishes what. There are also lots of small publishers around the country who put out "little magazines" which might accept your work. But start with PM.

Answer 2

You could submit your poems to this site.
http://www.poetry.com/

I must warn you. I received this site in my e-mail and they claim that they will publish your poems but
I wrote a bs poem (I'm a pretty good songwriter/musician/vocalist) but I wrote a fast poem just because I was bored and wanted to see if they would publish a poem that was written in under 10 seconds. Actually, the poem wasn't that bad, but it was written quickly and I could have done a lot better. I submitted the poem and two weeks later; I received a letter about how everyone at Poetry.com thought that my poem was exceptionally great.

How their service works is, if you submit a poem, they will take all the poems that they receive and put it in a book for a fee. Not sure how much you have to pay. I don't think it is $100. I think it is less, but could be more.
But after you pay them, you will receive a book with a bunch of poems in it including yours.

To tell you the truth, my 10 second poem was probably published in the edition that was being put out then, but unless you buy a book, you will never see it published. But I don't care, like I said it was a fast poem to see if they were interested in publishing it.

I think if you wrote a poem like this, then they would publish it:

I love the way the wind blows through your hair
I love the way the sun shines on you
I love the way your eyes sparkle
I really love being with you