Publishing?

Question

I hope to possibly publish some poetry, or a book of poems. I was wondering how best to go about it. I bought 2006 Poets Market but haven't had the time just yet to read it. I would appreciate any advice.

Answer 1

Firstly, you need to think about where you want to be published. Think about specific poetry magazines first of all. If you're in the UK, the poetry society is a good place to start. Being published in poetry magazines will raise your profile and help you get noticed by publishing houses.

Next you will want to think about sending your manuscript to publishing houses. Make sure you include a SMALL segment of your work that shows a BROAD rane of your styles. Also write a small covering note that is not self serving. Remember as a rule of thumb, Faber and Faber get around 50 poetry manuscripts sent to them a week, so there is a lot of competition out there.

You can also think about self publishing. There is advice on this and general tips on getting poetry published in the sources.

Answer 2

Your "2006 Poets' Market" should be relevant still, so do look through it since it is a legitimate source for discovering who might actually pay you to publish your poems, a good thing! I self-published a novel through Xlibris, because I became frustrated with the process of endeavoring to find a paying publisher. I was contacted by a literary agent before I resorted to Xlibris because I had previously registered my manuscript with the Library of Congress; she invited me to submit my manuscript to her which I did, the result being that she attempted to refer me to an editing service which offered to do a line by line edit for an outrageous sum of money. I also received mailings from other so-called "vanity" publishing houses that likewise wished to charge exorbitant sums; I had heard, too, that with some such companies, as the author, you are required to purchase a set number of copies of your printed book and that those are not always bound. Xlibris has several packages at different prices with many options for format and dust covers; the finished product is quite professional in appearance . They also use digital publishing on demand, so that you are not required to purchase any particular quantity of your book, and it will never be out of print, plus they do all the "leg work" for you such as acquiring copyrights and International Standard Book Numbers. The disadvantages: You must do your own editing and proofreading so are ultimately responsible for whatever gaffes are present in the finished product, plus, corrections which you make to your galleys from Xlibris will be expensive (about $2.00 per error); you are responsible for your own marketing, although they will (happily!) sell you marketing packages; and lastly, they charge very high prices for your published book, so that you might have problems finding potential buyers. Obviously, your best case scenario is to sell your prospective book to a publishing house. Best of luck!

Answer 3

My advice is make the time to read the Poets market. Writing and publishing is hard work. Those not willing to work at it will fail. There are no shortcuts.