Being published means entering into a partnership with a publisher and commits you to the serious application of your time and talent to finding readers and marketing your work. If you are not primarily interested in helping to sell books, you do not need to approach a publisher, as they almost certainly won”t succeed in making sales on your behalf without your active participation.

That”s just one of the things that makes Chris Hamilton-Emery”s essay (really a chapter from his book 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell: The Salt Guide to Getting and Staying Published). The chapter is posted in its entirety here, and it”s well worth reading if only for the solid, practical advice on how to evaluate your own reasons for wanting to be a published poet. Emery has a lot to say about what poets must do to sell books, to create a market for their own works and to become known as poets.

The world of poetry is not a world of isolated individual practitioners. Hermits in their caves. If you currently find yourself in this position, you should try to get out more. The world of poetry is a very busy place, filled with a wide range of professionals most of whom are eager to tell you about their talents.

The world of poetry is not filled with gentle suffering creatures (to call upon Eliot). It is not fair, just, or particularly caring. It can be supportive, but it is not a self help group. It is not a world based upon power sharing. In fact, the world of poetry can be a bear pit, and like any industry it is competitive and has moments of confrontation and even dirty tricks. Be prepared to take some knocks along the way.

Emery”s short list for becoming a published poet includes:
1. Read poetry. Lots of it. He makes the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that there should be a law requiring poets to read 80 books of poetry for every one that they submit.

2. Be involved in the world of poetry – in coffee houses, book shops, open reading venues, on the internet. The more involved you are in that world, the more connections you”ll have within it. As a side note, you”ll also hear an awful lot of poetry – both excellent and horrible. It will affect you as a writer. It” can”t not.

3. Concentrate time on building a “pedigree” for your work – i.e., getting your poems published in magazines and on literary web sites.

4. Write reviews of other people”s poetry. He says, “Engaging with other work and actively revieing it is a great way to build your own experience of poetry… A side effect of such endeavors is that the poetry you believe matters will eventually be given air space.”

The chapter is even more worth reading for the practical ending to the chapter, Fifty dos and don”ts for submitting poetry. A couple of samples from the list:

5. # Make yourself a player. A mover and shaker. If you are out there participating in literature, publishers will notice you.

10. Find out the name of the person you are submitting to. Find out what they like. Find out where they live. Follow them to work. Alright, just kidding, but find out their name.

21. Beware of sending poems which contain wild metaphor, clever descriptions of everyday phenomena, and make novel use of dialect and idioms, all ending with a stunning epiphany. It”s a tired old template now. Descriptive writing can be very dull.

46. Don”t include your photograph – especially the moody one with the Fedora.

And just because I haven”t done it yet this week… three markets for books of poetry that are currently accepting submissions – do check their web pages for specific submission guidelines.

Shendoah: The Washington and Lee University Literary Review
Dream Horse Press
Cherry Grove Editions