...... that have been best received. You might want to take them though even deeper critiques in more sophisticated poetry workshops, but bring them to the highest level you can. If they continue to receive good feedback you will almost certainly want to include them in your book ultimately, but you will now want to submit them to publications.
Submit to Publications.
Submit your work to reputable Literary and Poetry eZines and print publications. There are hundreds of eZines online that you can submit to. Do a little research. Look at what they are publishing and if you feel they might be receptive to your work submit to them. The same with print publications. When you receive notification that your poem(s) has been accepted this will be the first bona fide signal you get that publication of your first volume of poetry is a good idea.
Getting Published Whether you are writing an article for a magazine, trade journal, online publication, or a press release, there are certain conventions you must follow. If you follow them .....
Publishing!
If you are not trying to reach the mass publishing marketplace, but want mostly to have a printed collection of your poetry to offer to a more limited audience, consider having a small collection of your poetry printed in Chapbook form. Chapbooks are great to sell after poetry readings because you can usually price them very reasonably, and great as gifts, introductions to you as a poet in other literary circumstances, and just overall rewarding to your literary pursuits.
If you want to publish a book of poetry you should try to have a collection of 70 or more. For a book to find its way onto the bookstore shelf it will need to be perfect bound, have a thick enough spine that all of its title, author and publisher infomation is visible on it, and the back must have ISBN information and pricing. My first book of poetry, You Beckon, is 88 pages and meets all of that criteria.www.barnesandnobel.com
There is a wonderful free publication entitled Publishing Basics: A Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher by Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr. It is available from RJ Communications and can be requested online from http://www.BooksJustBooks.com. It will take you step-by-step through everything you'll need to know to get your book from your head to the shelf!
It can be done! I did it following the information outlined above. I chose to publish a book rather than a chapbook. My book, You Beckon, has received numerous honors including the Best Poetry Book for 2003 from Mahogany Book Club (Albany, New York)and spent over six months (in 2004) as the most requested result under Poetry Inspirational on Amazon.com. It has not been easy and truthfully, it has not been exceptionally profitable, but it has been personally rewarding. You can do it too. Start now!
I thought it might be interesting to give you some idea of what it is like publishing this magazine. My plan in life was to publish a book or two, but to make a .....
