Publishing of Poetry.
 

I'm going to concentrate on getting some of my poetry looked at by publishers. I've been told by quite a few people that some of my stuff is good enough to be published, but past tries have proved useless. I'm going to give it another go though, but I need the help of people.

Firstly, I need to know which poems to submit.

http://www.postpoems.com/members/rairai/

That's the link to where I keep all, if not most, of my poetry. I'm none too fond of most of it which is where you guys can help. Read through a random few, or the whole lot if you have time, and select a few you'd think are suitable for publishing. If you reply to this thread with a list of poems, maybe a few ideas of why you chose the poems you did.

Secondly, I need help in the actual publishing side of things. I've only had one offer of publishing before, but there were too many catches. If anyone knows of the ways to go about getting published, helpful sites or can just give me hints, that would be great.

Well after reading some by random choice some of the ones I liked that I think you should submit are: A Perfect Dream, This I am, and Silence. Those are just of all the ones I've rea :) d so far. I'll read more later and let you know.

Edit: I thought Echo was a really cute one. I also liked I walk alone and My Storm.

I can't offer much help, but I wanted to say, don't get discouraged. I remember this woman doing an interview for her new book a while back that had weeks and weeks as the number 1 best selling book in the U.S. and they asked her how many times she sent out her book to different publishers, and she said 25 times. So that meant 24 other people didn't think her work was good enough, but I bet they're sorry now after she made that 25th publisher oodles of cash. Your poetry IS good enough and I wish you the best of luck.

I'd start by trying to get into a few anthologies if I were you. If I can get into an anthology, you sure as hell can.

Yeah I publish my stuff in anthologies all the time too. Other ppl contacted me after they read it and asked if they could publish some of them in other books also. So it's a good way to get noticed.

Any details on how to go about doing this? I need ALL the information on what it takes to get these ideas off of the ground.

It is. I think your poems (the ones I read) are really good. Any of those in the 5 minute poetry were good enough to be published in my opinion. And now I'l just quote Leef:

These are excellent! Don't give up until you've had these published.

The ones that I chose all had a certain... flow... to them. It made them more musical, easier to read, and more powerful.

My list of favourites (Although I didn't read them all):

Creep - very, well, creepy. And sad.

Dimension - a sad poem. I liked the imagery.

Drug of Words - while the flow wasn't as good as in the rest, I really liked this one. I'm not sure why - perhaps I liked the message.

Endless Grave - much the same as Dimension. This one has a slightly different feel, brought about by the denser packing of imagery.

Eye for Eye - a nice poem, lighter than the others and thus providing a good range.

Ghost of the Violin - A sweet, haunting (if you'll excuse the pun) story. I very much like it.

Hymn of the Storm - Really good. The pace was right, and I loved the imagery.

I am a machine - short, to the point, and mysterious (or am I just being dense?)

Poetic Injustice - A good poem about poetry. The imagery is rich, and the poem conveys the feeling well.

These are just taken from the few that I read. I sincerely hope that you succeed in getting published. Good luck.

Ok, so now I read some of them. I read, A part of me, A perfect dream, Beneath the skin, Creep, Dry, Echo, Friends we'll be, Grey, Meaningless poet, Silence and Tomorrow. All of them were good, but I especially liked A part of me, Creep, Dry, Echo, Friends we'll be, Grey, Meaningless poet and Silence. All those were publishing material.

I don't know how much it'd help you since you're in the UK, but see if you can pick up a book called "The Poet's Market" (There's The Writer's Market too, but you want the poetry one) They compile thousands of publishers, writing magizines, scholarships, and so forth into one very thick book. My old English teacher swears by it, and says it has helped her to get a lot of stuff published.

Makes sure to get this year's edition tho. I don't think it costs too much, like $20 or so, and you can always flip through it to make sure you'll think it's worth your time.

Poet's Market: Where and How to Publish Your Poetry
Published yearly by F&W Publications, Writer's Digest Books, 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. Telephone: (800) 448-0915 (orders) or (513) 531-2690 (regular calls)

I'm sure there are other publications that do this, but I don't know of them.

Also, stay the hell away from poetry.com.

I recommend that you go out and buy a bunch of poetry & writing journals, read them, then submit your work to anywhere that you think might take it. The majority of publications don't take the rights to your stuff (make sure they don't, be safe), and you'll make a bit of money while building up your reputation. Places will be a lot more eager to publish you if you can prove that you've been shown in reputible magazines.

You gotta start small, I reckon.