The Everything Writing Poetry Book (43 page)

Third, always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return correspondence. A major pet peeve among editors is not to have a way to send notifications or to return manuscripts. It is also not the editor's job to pay for your postage. Put the proper postage on the return envelope, and put your mailing address in both the return and the addressee spaces.

Fourth, don't send your entire body of work in one submission. Send only three poems per submission, and make sure they are your best samples. An editor will not take the time to read through forty of your poems to find the ones he likes. So, even though it may be hard to choose, only select a few poems to send at a time.

Don't Pay to Publish!

You may get a mailer telling you that you have been selected to feature your poetry in a beautiful hardbound book. The wording of the letter may even make it sound as if you have won some sort of contest. You may feel flattered at having been contacted and eager to see your work in print. As a result, you may not even notice the $25, $50, or $75 you will be asked to spend on the purchase of this book.

When this happens to you, you need only follow one general rule: Do not spend your money. There are several reasons to follow this rule, ranging from mild to severe. First, and most mild, is that you will gain no prestige from going this route. Unlike literary magazines, these anthologies are not edited. No criteria are set for what is included and what isn't. Whoever is publishing this book will include poems from anyone willing to pay the money. You must understand that publishing itself is not what gives prestige to your work; it is being selected for publication by an editor who can judge literary merit that gives your work the standing it deserves.

Second, the money you pay to see your work in print may or may not be used for its intended purpose. In some cases you could go through this process, pay the fee, and never see the book or your money again. In other words, you don't have any way of defending yourself against scams.

Third, and most importantly, even if your money does get you a nice, big book with your poem in it, you may be giving away your rights to your work. Whenever you publish a poem in a magazine, a book, a newspaper, an online Webzine, or any other venue, you have to give the publisher certain rights to see your work in print. A magazine, newspaper, or Webzine will generally ask you for
first serial rights
, meaning that they want the right to print it first in their publication. The rights to the work will revert to you upon that printing, and you will still own the poem.

Book publishers generally require more comprehensive rights. If, for example, you were to publish a collection of your poems with a legitimate publisher, that publisher would very likely control the rights to your poems. Anyone who wanted to publish one of your poems again would ask your publisher, not you, for permission. Ultimately, all money made is controlled by whoever owns those rights. Publishing your poem in one of these collections, therefore, may give someone else the rights to your work—and the right to make money off your work.

In the long run, your poems—and your writing career—will be better served if you stick to legitimate publishing outlets. The process of publication is frustrating and disheartening at times. However, the rewards are well worth the trouble in the end.

Contests

Many literary magazines offer contests throughout the year. These contests will allow you to compete for prize money that will not only earn you prestige but also pay for an evening out or a new purchase. Prizes can range from $10 to $10,000; however, just as with submissions, you want to be sure that there are no strings attached and that you will not lose the rights to your work by entering.

The Contest Process

You can find information about entering a contest in Appendix A of this book, but you can read a bit about the process here. The first thing you will have to do is pay close attention to the submission policies. Keep in mind what you read earlier about following submission guidelines. This rule stands (and is perhaps more important) when entering a contest.

The editorial staff, to ensure smooth processing of manuscripts and fair judgment of them, will ask you to follow many rules that may seem strange. For example, many contests will ask you to submit your work without your name appearing anywhere on the pages. Instead, you may be asked to include a cover page with your name and contact information. This rule is enforced so that the entrants go through a blind judging process that ensures a fair read.

You may also be limited in terms of how many poems you may send, and how long those poems may be. The usual limit is three to five poems per entry, each poem capped at twenty to forty lines. These limits are also imposed for the sake of fairness, and so that the staff can plan the layout of the magazine in which winning entries will appear.

You may also be limited in terms of the content or themes of your poems. The contest may be for poems about aging, poems about food, or poems about children. If a contest stipulates a theme, you must abide by it in order for your work to be considered. Another important item to keep track of is the deadline for submissions. If the rules say that no entries will be accepted if postmarked after June 1, make sure your envelope has a date no later than June 1 stamped on it. And if the rules say no simultaneous submissions, do not send the poems to another magazine or contest at the same time.

Finally you should expect to pay an entry fee for many of these contests. Anything from $5 to $25 may be required. Many magazines use the entry fees to pay for printing costs and to raise the prize money so if the journal itself is legitimate, the entry fee is not a scam.

Rejection: Accept It and Move On

Like all human endeavors, the act of writing for publication does have a negative side. For instance, what if a magazine doesn't accept your poems? What if you spend days, weeks, or even months preparing a submission and the publication rejects it at the drop of a hat? What's worse, you may begin to see any rejection of your writing as personal criticism, and this can wear on your self-esteem.

As discussed throughout the book, you are bound to feel a strong emotional bond with the words you have carefully crafted into poems. But experienced writers know that a rejection of their work is not a personal attack. The writing does not define the writer, and the two must be kept separate in your mind as you prepare to submit your work. Once you encounter rejection—and rejection will inevitably occur at some point in your writing career—you will be able to take that rejection for what it is worth.

If you get a rejection from a literary magazine for some of your poems, that doesn't mean you can't try again with another publication. Many factors go into the decision to choose poems, and they don't all have to do with quality. The timing could be wrong for your submission, for example. So, if you get rejected once, try again. And if you get rejected a second time, try once more. Try again and again until you get it.

Acceptance: Enjoy It and Move On

One day, you may come home from a long day at work, open your mailbox, and find a letter from an editor saying that your poems have been accepted. If this is your first acceptance among several rejections you may want to weep with joy. Go ahead—you earned it. Call friends and family to let them know about your success. This is very exciting, indeed. However, you will have a few more responsibilities before you see your poems in print.

First of all, the editor may need you to confirm that you want your work published. While it seems unnecessary, you should always confirm with the editor that you are still interested in having your work published. You may have to sign a form that says you will allow the magazine first American serial rights, or something similar. Again, granting these rights allows the magazine to print your work, and all other rights should revert to you once the poems appear in print.

At this stage, you may be asked to help with the layout in the magazine. The editor may ask you to send the latest version of the accepted poems as hard or electronic copy. You may also be given pages of the magazine galleys, with your poems included, to make sure they look right. Once you have confirmed that the poems appear as you wish them to, the editor will move forward with the printing process. Your poems may appear anywhere from two months to a year after the proofing stage, depending upon the publication's process.

If you work hard to improve your writing and get it published, success will eventually come to you. It may take more time than you'd like, but it will happen. So, don't give up until you get what you've been working for. However, don't become complacent after your first publication. Surely your goal is to build a career or hobby as a writer, not just to get published once. If this is the case, then don't ride on the coattails of your success for too long. Take some time to celebrate your achievement and then move on to the next challenge. There is more success to be had!