literary-journal

by

Poetry and Online Journals

Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

There are many reasons to submit poetry to literary journals, and online journals are the fastest growing segment. .Some carry prestige because they are well regarded in the literary world.Some have themed issues that may be just what you’re interested in writing about. Some publications pay. 

Duotrope classifies journals into paying and nonpaying publications.There are a wealth of both online and print literary journals and some that do both. If you want to submit a poetry manuscript for publication as a book, publishers will look for acknowledgements of publications in literary journals to see that your book will thrive in the literary marketplace. Some poetry book publishers have literary journals where you can have your poem noticed by a book editor.

Here are just some of the journals published online:

Rising Phoenix Review https://therisingphoenixreview.com/ loves poetry that is “visceral” with “stunning, concrete imagery.” Their tastes lean toward the contemporary, sponsoring poetry that uplifts diverse voices and imagines a better world. This is an example of a journal that is sponsored by a poetry chapbook publisher, Rising Phoenix Press. If you want to publish a book with this press, starting with a publication in their journal is a good way to get to know the publisher.

Rattle ttps://www.rattle.com puts out several popular contests and publication opportunities, including a monthly ekphrastic challenge (a poem in response to a piece of art) , a weekly news-writing challenge, and an annual best poem prize. They are another journal that pays its poem winners, although the payout varies.

Palette Poetry https://www.palettepoetry.com/ publishes new and experienced poets. For experienced poets, they have a previously published poem contest. They are one of the journals that pay for poem winners, and pay well.

Freezeray http://www.freezeraypoetry.com/ specializes in pop culture .publishing. It publishes pieces about social media and is unique in the marketplace.

If you want more suggestions, subscribe to Poets & Writers and use pw.org. They have a listing of most literary journals. Good, publishable poems receive rejections all the time, often because a journal has a finite amount of space to publish each month.

I will be blogging on Thursdays. Follow me here.


by

How to Publish Poetry

Photo by Mathias Reding on Pexels.com

There is a large poetry market for individual poems and whole manuscripts.

Literary journals publish many poems and some publishers publish poetry books. Poetry remains a niche market for bookstores.  A good bookstore carries poetry books (and you should buy some.)  They carry classic poets, academic anthologies, and well-known poets. Most poets don’t reach this level.  If you have a relationship with your local bookstore owner (and you should get to know him/her,) this individual is likely to carry a few copies of your new book.  I left three copies of my latest book with a local bookstore, and it sold all three copies, but it took about a year.

The best way for a new poet to publish is in a poetry journal or magazine.  Split This Rock offers an online list of literary journals https://www.splitthisrock.org/resources/literary-arts-journals.

You need to do some homework to figure out with which journals your poetry will resonate and want whatever poetry you have to offer.

You may not want to start with well-established journals like The Kenyon Review or The American Poetry Journal, but there are many to choose from.  Starry Starry Kite https://www.lindacastronovo.com/theonlinejournal, a new online journal, is open to submissions of poetry.

Publication in literary journals is also important to book publishers.  I’ve heard that some publishers look for a 25 percent ratio of published poems to 75 percent nonpublished when looking at a book manuscript.  This percentage will vary publisher to publisher, but the publisher wants to know the poems in the manuscript were considered publishable by the literary journals.

In nearly all cases, these book publishers will only publish a new poet if they have a track record with the literary journals.

Each journal has its own submission procedures, but as a rule, they don’t want more than five or six poems per submission.  Rejections are more common than not, so be prepared for this.  You should get an idea of what the journal is publishing by looking online at poetry from that journal going to your local library and looking at old issues, or just buying a sample issue.  A good sponsor for a good journal is a university, so check the journal’s affiliations. If you like the poetry the journal offers, it’s a good sign that the journal might like your poetry. Read the journal’s submission guidelines carefully.

I published in about 25 literary journals, including Nebo, The California Quarterly, Taproot Literary Quarterly and Crosswinds Literary Journal, before I published my first book of poetry. 

I chose to submit to small, independent publishers who were known to publish new poets.

I have a new manuscript, Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth, out for consideration with a few small independent publishers.  This is my first collaborative manuscript with the Norwegian artist, Irene Christensen.  She did a series of paintings about women at the heart of the environmental movement for which I wrote poem responses.  This is specialized publishing as the publisher needs to be experienced with four-color visuals as well as poetry. I don’t know if this will get published, but we never know for sure as poets.

Follow me here on Thursdays where I will blog about writing, the writing process, editing, revising and publishing.