| Author | Message | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 9712 Registered: 11-1998 |
Dearest Membership -- I was recently asked some questions regarding submissions etiquette and related topics by one of our members. It occurred to me that others of you might also have these same questions or need a review of this information. So, with his permission, I am sharing the questions and answers with you. Hope this will be of some benefit to you as you pursue publication opportunities. If any of you have further insights or more questions concerning this topic of publishing, don't hesitate to post them. We will appreciate what you've shared and/or find an answer as soon as we can. Love, M ------------------------------------------------- 1. If a specific publication does not specify a format for a page of submitted poetry, what is the safest to go with? Most request at least your name at the top of the page, while others want name, address, phone, email. Some don’t really say. You didn’t specify if you were asking about print publications or online ones. For print journals, if the publication does not specify, it’s normally standard practice to print out each poem on its own page and to put a header on the top right-hand margin that includes your name, poem title, and contact information (address, telephone #, etc.). This header is required on every page in case that page should get separated from the query letter or the rest in the batch. Do not staple or paper clip the pages together. Also at the bottom of each poem, place a marker (I use –END-) to signal to the editor that the poem is complete and does not continue on to another page. It’s also standard practice to include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with sufficient postage if you wish your submissions to be returned or to tell the editor the poems may be discarded if rejected. Why bother with a SASE? Well, once in a very blue moon, an editor will make comments directly on the rejected poem if he/she thinks the poet/poem has promise. While acceptance is great, getting one of these marked up, rejected copies in the mail is the next best thing. If the editor has taken the time to write all over your poem in red ink, be thrilled and grateful. And you can only get this help and advice if you include a SASE. A professional’s advice is definitely worth the cost of postage. Don’t expect it or ask for it, though. Most editors are way too busy. For online journals, place your contact information once at the bottom of your query letter and before the batch of submissions. Place the batch of submissions one after the other in the body of your e-mail at the end of your query letter. Most publications do not like or will not accept file attachments due to the risk of viruses. If your poem requires special formatting that would not show in an e-mail, write a query letter to the editor first and ask if you might send him/her a submission that includes a file attachment because of special formatting. Most appreciate the request and the warning and will tell you to submit with attachment. Again, at the bottom of each poem, place a marker to signal to the editor that the poem is complete. This is especially important in e-mail submissions where the poems are nested one after the other and not on separate pages. If the journal does not specify how many poems to submit, standard practice is to enclose between 3-5 poems per submission. One or two poems is not enough for an editor to get a feel for your style and content. More than five is asking for too much of an editor's time. 2. What is the appropriate format of the poem itself on the printed page. Center the longest line and justify everything with that? Please, please, please left justify your poems on the left margin about 1" to 1 1/2" from the paper's edge. Never center anything. That’s most often done by novices and sends out the wrong signals. There are special cases, however, where the form is such that special formatting applies. Of course, send those in whatever form you have used for that poem. I will warn you, though. Special forms (circles, crazy indenting, shapes like teardrops and such) are very rarely used well by most poets. They are most often attempted by novices who believe they are the first person clever enough to put a poem in the shape of a Christmas tree. For that reason, editors normally shy away from them automatically. There are exceptions, of course. Penelope just did an excellent one for last week’s Challenge. However, editors feel that this is a rarity and most have a knee-jerk reaction to odd forms. Then again, there are journals where these unique forms are not only accepted, but celebrated. It's always best to read a few issues of the journals first to see if they are open to these types of poems. 3. Are print journals considered more “legit” than those online? I suspect there are better and worse in both arenas. This is a hotly debated topic. Of course, print journals and those connected with them will tell you they are superior. And in the past, that might have been true. Print journals have been around much longer and because it takes money to organize and operate a press, most don’t survive if they aren’t successful and of legitimate quality. Online journals were few before the late ‘90s. And then around that time, there was a big boom of them, mostly junk. Everybody and his brother with a computer and some HTML knowledge could design a “journal” and throw up a website. Mostly they printed themselves and their friends (who couldn’t write). There was little upfront or ongoing expense. This is what gave online journals a less than stellar reputation. However, there has been some shake-up and proper refinement among internet journals since 2000. The bad ones normally close rapidly, so one way to decide if an online journal is up to snuff is to check how long they have been in operation. If they’ve been in business for four or more years, they’re probably a safer bet. Online journals are also attracting some very legitimate poets who’ve only appeared in print up to now. So, if you see “big names” among those featured, you’ve probably stumbled onto an online journal that meets or exceeds the print journals’ quality. Of course, in addition to reading the current edition, check back through the archives. Any legit pub should have an archive. See who’s been submitting and how good the poetry is. This applies to print or online journals. And if an online journal also has a print presence, they are probably a safer bet as well. If they have money invested in the publication, that’s a good sign. But how does one decide where to submit? Besides your own instincts and careful study of the journals available, both online and in print, I highly recommend buying a copy of the Poet’s Market (2007). It is published annually and includes 1800 markets, both print and online, for beginning and experienced poets. The information includes editor(s)’ names, contact information, submission guidelines, an overview of the publication’s goals, samples of work they’ve published, etc., etc., etc. It’s an invaluable resource. We have it available in the WPF BookShop. In addition, if you find a journal you like online or one that’s accepted your work, check their links. They will often point you in the direction of other likeminded and quality journals. When you click on those links and find you like those journals they admire, check their links. The first journal will point you to more journals who will point you to more journals and so on and so on. Pretty soon, you’ll have a wealth of good places to submit your work. Another good source for places to submit is right in the author bios. If you find an author you like in a journal you like, study their bios which will often list other places they’ve been published. Chances are pretty good that these journals will be good ones too. Just follow the yellow brick road. It also occurred to me upon re-reading your question that you might have been asking if it is better to submit to print or online journals, i.e., which might be better for your reputation as a poet. If you’d asked this question a few years ago, I would have said print. However, times they are a’changin’. Many legitimate (and prize-winning) poets are now appearing in online journals. With them, they have brought a bit of cache to the online journals that they did not formerly have. I’ve seen a lot of HUGE names in online journals. Online journals (and the cache of being published in them) is growing by leaps and bounds. In addition, there are just as many stinkers in print as there are online. There are hundreds of little print presses who publish substandard work. Don’t let print people bully you into thinking they are the only legitimate and respectable resource. Just because it’s in print, that doesn’t make it great. The Pushcart people (one of the most prestigious awards in poetry) now accept submissions for their prize from online journals. If they are willing to accept this online work, then it must be growing in respectability and quality. Spread your work around. Online definitely brings you greater exposure. Print just can’t reach all the nooks and crannies that online can. They often don’t have the money to send their journals to places far and wide. Most are just local affairs. That’s not an issue with online journals. They can be seen by anyone with a computer and the interest. And they are usually free. Print journals cost the public money and so less people buy them. 4. Most specify they want unpublished poems, ones that have neither appeared in print journals or online. Does “online” include forum workshops? By unpublished, these editors mean that they do not accept poems that have appeared previously in print journals or in online journals. A writing workshop is not a publication venue. Just because your work is displayed there, that does not make it published nor you a published author. The reason? Workshop forums like Wild are open to everyone. And you post your own work. There is no editorial board deciding which work is good enough to be displayed and which is inferior and will be rejected. Most editors realize that poets are posting their poems in workshop forums for crit and refinement. They do not consider these finished pieces nor do they count them as published work. In order to be published, a poem would have to be submitted to an editorial board and make it through a submissions process that includes both rejection and acceptance possibilities. An editorial board who selects the work that will be displayed is what separates publications from mere workshops and is what makes a poem “published.” 5. What are First North American Serial Rights? According to Therese Eiben of Poets & Writers, “when an author grants a journal or magazine First North American Serial Rights (FNASR) to a story or poem, the periodical acquires the right to be the first publisher of the work in North America and for some time after the work appears in print -- typically 60 to 90 days, or the length of time the issue with the author's work in it is "current" -- no other journal is allowed to publish that same work. Afterward, an author, as holder of the copyright, is free to submit the work elsewhere. Please note that some journals only acquire First North American Serial Rights, so that if your story is accepted by another North American publication, you will have to let the editor know that you are conferring Second Serial Rights. If the circulation of the first journal that published your story (the one to which you granted FNASR) was tiny, some editors won't be concerned that they are only acquiring Second Serial Rights. If you have a contract with the journal that published your story, the rights you granted should be spelled out there. If no written agreement was drawn up, it's likely the rights you granted to the journal were FNASR, which are non-exclusive (the right to publish that one time only), which would make you free to grant other non-exclusive publication rights. However, it is always best to write to the journal that published your work and verify that its rights to your work are as you understand them to be.” In almost all cases, authors retain copyright for their work. Serial rights are granted and then expire. . | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Senior Member Username: garyb Post Number: 11046 Registered: 07-2001 |
Well done, Miss M. Should be published (with a limerick of course). Smiles. Gary A River Transformed The Dawg House January 2007 and last FireWeed | ||
| Fred Longworth
Advanced Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 1096 Registered: 05-2006 |
Write your poems in longhand, on most anything -- a Starbucks napkin will do. Stuff them in an envelope with insufficient postage and no return address, so that the recipient will have "postage due." Enclose a cover note and a hundred dollar bill. In the note, write "more to follow" in green ink. Mail. Wait for acceptance. This works every time. Well almost. Paris Review sent me a return note in green ink that said "need much more." Fred | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 9727 Registered: 11-1998 |
"and no return address" I really like them Paris Review people. It always he'ps when editors have psychic abilities. Which just goes to prove, you can run, but ya' can't hide. *LMAO* M | ||
| Fred Longworth
Advanced Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 1098 Registered: 05-2006 |
The "no return address" guarantees that the unsuffiently-postaged letter will be delivered to the recipient rather than returned to sender. The return address may of course be inside on the cover note. I actually prefer to stamp it on the $100 dollar bill, since I know the editor WILL be staring at the money in disbelief. Sometimes as well, it's fun to put about a quarter cup of talcum powder in the letter, and then somewhere in the cover memo use the word ANTHRAX. They always find the joke entertaining, and this further increases chances of acceptance. One editor wrote back and said they were doing a special article just about me. Wow. Fred |
