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Poetry publishing
world |
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Poetry
doesn't pay, and even professional poets earn more from
teaching, reviewing, adjudicating, running workshops and
doing the odd radio interview than from royalties of published
work. Few of the mainstream publishers handle poetry, and
literary agents for poets are almost unheard of. In this
order, most poetry is published in 1. anthologies of writing
circles, 2. small
magazines, 3.
literary ezines, 4. internet sites individually
created by poets, 5. collections brought out by publishers
of all
types,
6. collections by prestigious publishers like Bloodaxe
and Faber
and Faber.
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Traditional routes to publication |
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Poetry publishing follows a time-honoured route. Your
poems appear in the better magazines; a slim collection
is brought out by a minor publisher; notice grows in the
poetry and literary press; a definitive collection is put
together by one of the major publishing houses. A career
in poetry requires time, effort and talent – to develop
the skills, find markets, make contacts, become known. Keep
building a strategy. Consider workshops
and professional advice.
Develop friendships with editors and fellow poets. Study
the market and keep abreast of poetry collections, reviews,
new movements, and publishing trends — in short, use
the right hand panels.
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Self publishing |
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Most poets don't make it to professional status. The
seam of talent runs out, or time spent writing without profit
or acknowledgement is overtaken by other commitments. Self-publishing
is a common and respected route, not to be confused with vanity
publishing. Poems are typed into a DTP / word-processing
package, laser-printed, and then brought out in small runs
by the friendly local printer. Or are hand-bound
by their author. Peter Finch's advice
will be particularly useful to UK poets, and Thomas William's
book Poet
Power is packed with advice. Further references are listed
on TextEtc,
and more ambitious productions will benefit from professional
services.
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Electronic publishing |
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Traditional (paper) books or magazines need runs of
several hundred to be worth undertaking, and leave stacks
unsold in warehouses or attics. Hence electronic poetry publishing,
where the text is either stored electronically for print on
demand, or kept wholly in electronic form (right hand panel). Study the terms and conditions
after research with happily
published and/or writers write. Useful surveys and practical advice on e-publishing are
found at Journal
of Electronic Publishing, Ecommerce
Digest, and the Electronic
Publishing Research Group and the . |
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