Getting Your Poems Published

I recently received an email from a fellow poet looking for help on ways to publish the many poems that she has written. Before publishing two books, I had pages of poetry I had written. Some were featured on poetry.com and was happy with the brief recognition. Two people I happen to meet inspired me to pursue my dream. The first person was a co-worker, a fellow poet like me who was getting his manuscript together to send to a publisher. The second, a gentleman I dated had a poem published and was paid a good amount of money for it. My dream has always been to get my poetry published, but didn't think it was possible because it was poetry. As with anything I am curious about, I went on this quest to find out how to make it happen. Some may find these ideas and information useful in your poetry publishing endeavors.

Go to a poetry workshop

Last year I took some poetry workshops about self publishing and how to get your poems published at The Loft, a literary center in Minneapolis, MN (www.loft.org). I was able to do some networking and learn from those who have already published dos and don't when it comes to publishing. I am not sure if this literary center is in your state, but I am sure you can find literary centers that offer similar workshops. Craig list (www.craiglist.org) has a community section with different links like artists, classes, volunteer, groups and events that offer writer workshops.

Network with fellow poets!

I spend a lot of my time networking with other artists and writers. Many I meet just by chance standing in line at a store and a conversation emerges. Others I meet from a friend of a friend or go to places I enjoy and where artist and writers go. There is so much information out there. You just have to get out there and get noticed! Join local writing groups, participate in on-line discussion forums on Yahoo!, MSN and of course Associated Content and/or starting a blog may also help too. Some web sites I recommend post poetry are:

poetrypoem.com

www.myspace.com

www.helium.com

Finding a publisher

If you are ready to publish your poetry in a book submit your manuscript to publishers, but beware of publishers like vanity presses like asking you to pay a lot to publish your work. I sent my manuscript to two publishers and both of them accepted my manuscript for publication....I was asked up to $8,000 to publish it. It does not cost a lot to publish poetry or at least it shouldn't. You could design a chapbook and have it printed at Kinkos for less than $20 and sell them from trunk of your car. Many big publishers have print on demand (POD) that will publish your work for the fraction of the cost and may offer package deals that can fit your publishing needs. Here are some you can check out:

http://www.infinitypublishing.com

http://www.publishamerica.com

http://www.Lulu.com

http://www.rosedog.com/pod-services.asp

As always, before signing and jumping into anything, be sure to do you research. if there is something you don't understand, don't be afraid ask questions!