Submitting a Poetry Manuscript?
A sane—dare I say strategic—approach to poetry book contests and other manuscript submission opportunities.
Hi poets! Before I get into today’s topic, I want to invite you to join me at the LitFest Writing Conference in Denver June 7-14. I’ll be teaching classes on poetry manuscript development and honing your voice. Scroll to “Events” here to learn more.
A Sane Approach to Poetry Manuscript Submissions
As a teacher and poetry manuscript coach, I get a lot of questions about how to sort through the scads of contests and book submission opportunities out there. How do I know if a contest is worth the $$? How many simultaneous submissions are too many?
Or … if I really want to get my book published, should I submit to as many as possible? As I shared in this week’s How to Publish Poetry Lunch & Learn, oftentimes the opposite question needs asking: Am I submitting to too few opportunities?
I get it. Submitting a manuscript is a slog.
It’s time consuming.
There’s little transparency about what publishers are looking for.
It takes eons to get a response (4-6 months is common).
The fees adds up.
It doesn’t make sense to submit to every opportunity out there. And yet, you want to give your book every chance of getting published.
Polish Isn’t Enough: You Need a Publishing Strategy
The thing is, mostly we’re asking the wrong questions, because strategy isn’t about the numbers … until it is.
When I coach poets, we create a strategic approach to getting published that is specific to their work. We find publishers aligned with key aspects of their manuscript and vet opportunities using criteria specific to each poet’s work.
Side note: I know some of you are thinking, “It’s about the quality of the work!” YES. True. Strategy is no substitute for shaping and polishing the work itself. But, to get published, polish is one half of the equation. Publishing strategy is the other half. If you’re going to succeed, you really need both.
First, Don’t Think About Numbers
There are at least three ways to submit your work to a traditional publisher (by traditional, I mean not hybrid and not independent/self publishing): 1. contests, 2. open reading periods, 3. by query letter.
For all of my coaching clients and for all of you, I recommend you DO NOT choose one of these opportunity types over the other. In a nutshell: Choose the publisher, not the contest.
So, how do you choose publishers?
The first step isn’t to look at publishers, it’s to identify your work’s “zone of unique genius”—the manuscript’s primary obsessions (aka themes), plus stylistic and tonal qualities that show up in the work with some regularity.
Why? You need to have a clear picture of where your work fits in the wide landscape of contemporary poetry. It’s helpful to have at least one mentor who can help you identify qualities and see how your work belongs.
This is the lens you will use to vet publishers, regardless of the publishing opportunity type.
Next, Think About Numbers
Seek to collect a robust list of publishers (30-50 minimum) that are moderately to very-well aligned with your work. With your work’s zone of unique genius in mind, review potential publishers:
WHO and WHAT are they publishing?
Does my voice belong in this mix? Can I imagine my work in this context?
Aesthetics—covers, book design, etc.
Contest prize name and money, other prestige factors
Are they good to work with? What are they doing to promote their authors?
And so forth. I encourage to add your own criteria.
Once you have a list of 30-50, break that list into 3 tiers.
High priority — those that are matched to your zone of unique genius, plus dream presses (prestige presses that are a stretch)
Medium — well matched to your zone but some factors may be slightly less so
Low — moderately matched, some factors may be unknowns
Finally, Plan for Rolling Submissions
Now you’re ready to start submitting, but you don’t want to submit to low priority presses and high priority presses during the same time period. Submit only to high priority opportunities first.
Why? Imagine this: You get a “yes” from a publisher lower down on your list, but you’re still waiting to hear back from your high priority presses. That would put you in a very uncomfortable position.
As you move through high priority opportunities, you will begin to submit to medium priority presses, and so on. Add opportunities on a rolling basis.
Remember, this is a long-term strategy. You’ll need patience, but the strategy should make it easy for you to know exactly what to do next, at any time.
While you’re working through all of these submissions, I recommend moving on to the next thing in your creative growth. Explore new ways of writing. Take a generative class. Dive into new areas of inspiration.
Give yourself the gift of feeling inspired about the next body of work. It will help you keep submitting—and keeping going is 90% of the challenge.
What You Can Control
There’s a lot you can’t control in poetry publishing, but having a strategy, over time, increases your chances of getting “yeses.” Truly. I learned the hard way with my first book, changed my approach, and got published. With that refined approach, my second book got picked up within a year.
I’ve seen this approach work for my coaching clients, too.
If you’re serious about publishing but feeling lost or overwhelmed, I encourage you to check out the Poet to Poet Members Group (The Poets Circle) and sign up for a poetry publishing consult.
Poetry book publishing can seem like playing the lottery (many book contests get 1,000+ for a single book prize). We especially need a strategic approach, given these numbers.
In any case, let’s please stop telling ourselves “It’s a crapshoot.” It isn’t. It doesn’t have to be.
Upcoming Events / Poet to Poet Community
How to Publish Poetry — Monthly Lunch & Learn
Get clear about what matters to publishing your poetry. The next session is June 5th. Get a free guest pass.
