The question comes up at a time when Steiny has completed a book-length
manuscript of poetry and wants to enhance the marketability of that manuscript.
Therefore, she is working fast and hard to get some of the unpublished work
accepted in a variety of print and online magazines.
While Steiny has been sending out poems for years and has a
long list of publications that she has a) aspired to be published in or b) has
already been published in, this doesn’t mean she knows what these publishers want
and are requiring today.
STEP 1: Start with top tier publishers, especially the ones
that pay money (as opposed to a print copy of the book) for your work. Scope out ten of these.
STEP 2: Read the websites of these publishers to determine:
·
When they are receiving submissions—park or eliminate
those that are not currently open for submissions.
·
What their requirements are and whether you meet
these requirements.
·
What is published. Read one or two current issues
of this publication to see what the editors favor. If the publication is print
edition and you have a nearby university with a Master of Fine Arts program,
these magazines might have a library collection of such publications that you
can examine onsite. Buying every magazine you want to send to is not something
most writers can afford, but certainly buy subscriptions to the magazines you
admire the most and can afford.
·
Who this publisher is publishing and how you fit
in with that community of writers.
·
When the publisher will make a decision.
STEP 3: Send out your best work and be sure it is carefully
edited.
·
Follow the publisher’s guidelines carefully.
·
Use standard fonts that are easy to read, such
as Times New Roman in usually 12-point size.
·
Do not send images.
·
If the publisher prefers submissions to come
through its online submission system (Submittable or an in-house submission
manager), use that. If you don’t know how to use online applications, get
someone to teach you how. Most publishers do not want paper, even if they are
making concessions.
·
Keep careful records on where you send each poem
and be able to access that information by publisher and by poem.
STEP 4: Send to publishers that allow multiple submissions.
·
Send out to three different publishers at a
time.
·
Consider where you are sending your poems and
whether publication by any of the three publishers would satisfy you.
STEP 5: Determine when to vet the next tier of publishers.
·
Decide your timeline for when to start sending
to those publishers who do not pay and who may be newer to the field of
publishing. Response times from publishers can vary wildly from a few days to
years. Getting a certain percentage of individual poems published can be required
from book publishers, should you decide to create a book-length manuscript. So
waiting without setting a deadline on when a single poem might get published is
not a good idea.
·
Stay the course with the top tier publishers if
you get one or two acceptances in rapid succession. Let’s say, in a time frame
under three months.
·
Positive feedback may also influence how long you
send exclusively to the top tier.
·
Perhaps you have poems that you believe are good
but do not fit in with your top tier publishers. If so, determine what you
standards are for this tier of publications (e.g. how long has it been
publishing? Does it follow its own criteria? How large is its audience? Does it
give you a copy of the issue you are published in, if it is print or pdf
formats?)
·
Repeat steps 1 through 4 for these publishers.
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