The 6 Most Popular Posts

Six reader favorites from the first six months of Poet to Poet

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

First, a very warm hello to new subscribers. Welcome! Wherever you are in the poetry-and-book-making journey, this newsletter is for you. 

I started this newsletter six months ago with my students in mind. It would be a place to talk about the process of making poems and then making those poems into books. The scope grew quickly to include interviews with authors and advice on the writing life alongside practical tips on process and publishing.

The Six Most Popular Posts So Far

With the archive growing every month, I thought it would be fun to look back on the most popular newsletter topics so far. Here they are.

#1 The Power of Threes

The literary journal submissions strategy that doubled my acceptance rate

A couple of years ago, I realized that I had my submission priorities backwards: I was overthinking quality and under-prioritizing quantity. Publishing is mostly a numbers game, so I developed a new strategy. First, I adopted writer Kim Liao’s approach in “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year.” Next, I developed a system that I call The Power of Threes.

Read The Power of Threes

#2 Poem as Process, Not Product

The excellence found in alignment—an expansive approach to poem making

How I was taught to workshop poems twenty years ago isn’t how I teach now. In the old workshop model, the instructor’s opinion mattered above all else. Students were expected to shape poems to fit a certain aesthetic, maybe one championed by the instructor or else found in literary journals. Poems were products. But you and I know: Poetry is not a product. It is a process. 

Read Poem as Process, Not Product

#3 Against Humility

It isn’t a sin to be your own champion

What writer hasn’t fantasized about someone famous discovering her work? Championing us so that our writing finds a wide, welcoming audience? It’s a nice fairy tale, but do you know any writers “discovered” that way? I don’t. The uncomfortable truth is that to publish, to get any small public recognition whatsoever, we need to cozy up to self promotion. It’s just part of the work. 

Read Against Humility

#4 On the Line

Some thoughts on how we move from silence into silence

Lineation isn’t logical—sure, you might be aware that you’re using enjambment to create a particular effect, but our contemporary approach to lineation doesn’t start in the intellect, it starts somewhere in the body. An organic approach to lineation begins with how we feel our way intuitively from experience into to language—an embodiment in words of life’s energetic qualities.

Read On the Line

#5 The Griefs We Hold: Poetry in an Era of Gun Violence

Poet Cyrus Cassells discusses his new collection The World That the Shooter Left Us

“It's not enough to have the facts of a tragedy, what happened this week. We have to be able to dig our way to deeper, more empathetic levels. One way of doing that is through language—putting ourselves in the place of somebody, giving people access through language.” –Cyrus Cassells

Read or Watch The Griefs We Hold

#6 A Tool to Track Multiple Submissions

Simultaneous submissions are a pain to track—this spreadsheet makes it so much easier

In my professional life as a writer, editor, and communications consultant, I’ve developed a deep love of spreadsheets. Here’s how I’ve finessed Professional-me’s learning into a system that keeps Poet-me out of simultaneous submission cluster-f*s.

Read A Tool to Track Multiple Submissions

Poet to Poet is a conversation. When you leave a comment or even simply like a post, you’ve just reassured other writers (and yourself) that we are not writing alone. You’ve illuminated the path a little bit more. I hope that the Poet to Poet interviews do the same. Thank you for being here.

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Coming Soon! The Poet to Poet Community

I’m delighted to announce that in Fall 2022 I’ll be launching the Poet to Poet Community and opportunity to gather with like-minded writers. Just like this newsletter, it is for poets working on books (or who are book-curious).

• Free classes on charting your path to publication.

• Live virtual discussions on poetry book development and publishing. 

• Live virtual Q&As with book authors and publishers.

• Plus other resources and opportunities for support along the book journey.

Curious? Sign up for community updates! Be first in line for free classes, book giveaways, and other perks, no strings attached.