Writing at a desk. Revising. Submitting.
They’re all lonesome activities.
Community comes into play at public readings or at workshops. But the rest of the process tends to happen alone—we hunch over our notebook or our computer to write. We take guesses when we edit, trying stuff out, liking it, disliking it, not knowing what to try next.
To figure out where to submit our work, we scroll through listicles and articles and publishers’ pages, or stand in a bookshop thumbing through pricey poetry journals. The submission process itself also tends to take place all alone, and it can be scary and disheartening.
Here are some fabulous resources—provided not by organizations or companies, but by fabulous, generous members of the poetry community.
Gleaning techniques
In the past I wrote a three-part series here called “Life After Birth - How to Mentor a New Poem.” I went through the steps I usually take when I revise a poem:
Identifying the thesis of a poem
Determining where the writing ends and the poem begins
Applying the two tools of “showing” and “telling”
Ensuring a consistent “world” across the poem
Examining the power held by the poem’s title
Examining all other intentions
But these are just my own quirky methods. There are soooo many approaches and processes and procedures and engagements and attacks and—you get the idea. There’s a wealth of revision experience and ideas out there to be gleaned.
Cue the magnificent online journal underbelly.
The editors publish poems in a before-and-after state of being, with a draft and a final version, plus an interview with the writer about the process they went through to get from A to B. It’s an epically wonderful peek inside other amazing writers’ revision processes.
Here’s what the editors Maya Marshall and Marty McConnell say about underbelly’s purpose:
“At underbelly, our goal is to bring to the surface what we often strive to make invisible: the joyful, arduous, miraculous, by turns tender and brutal process of shepherding a poem from its primal state to its final state.
[…] Our clear hope here is to lift the veil, to undo the notion that poems always or even usually arrive perfect and whole from the genius mind of the writer. To reassure ourselves and others who seek to improve their craft or understanding that the magic of writing and revision is a practical magic -- one that can be taught, practiced, and hopefully maybe possibly even someday mastered.”
When I read underbelly I feel encouraged, inspired, and less alone. Maybe you will too.
Submitting Manuscripts
Emily Stoddard’s newsletter Poetry Bulletin is a total gem, filled with extremely helpful information which she offers for free (though she accepts paid subscriptions if you’re able to financially support her work).
For example, this fantastic spreadsheet of where to submit book manuscripts in 2024 that includes info on fees, deadlines, prizes, etc. She makes one each year. I’ll be using the heck out of it this year as I’m about ready to submit a manuscript.
Fee payment assistance
Emily Stoddard also carefully examines inequitable practices. For instance, she recently pointed out the inherent absurdity of presses that receive NEA grant funding still requiring hefty submission fees. Reading her newsletter makes the practical barriers of a poetry career feel so much less daunting.
And she has gone out of her way to help, by organizing a fund that offers financial assistance with those aforementioned pesky manuscript submission fees. Thanks to donations (and you should donate if you have extra funds!), over $8000 has been given to more than 150 poets since 2021.
Submission Parties
I call them “Submission Domination!” parties! Yep, a kinda edgy name but a very sweet type of gathering. Basically you invite other people who also need to submit things—poetry, short stories, manuscripts, contest entries, applications, grants, proposals, etc. Everyone brings their submission device of choice (envelopes and stamps? laptop? shared access to a computer?) and potluck snacks and drinks.
You all buoy each other with the knowledge that you’re not alone in this brave, brave, brave, scary endeavour. Each time a partygoer hits that “submit” or “send” button, or seals up an envelope, they can share their achievement and everyone can cheer them on.
Submitting poems in this supportive, celebratory atmosphere helps you focus on the joy of getting your work out there circulating, rather than focusing on stuff that’s not in your control (such as whether or not your work is accepted).
Your free resources?
If you know of free resources that would be of value to poets, or if you have ideas for ways to ease the solo burden of a poetry/writing career, leave a comment! I’d love to hear.
P.S. In April I’ll post my responses to the challenges that you all sent me from the mutual poetry challenge earlier this month. Thank you to everyone who responded to my challenge, your poems were fabulous! (and if you haven’t read readers’ responses, they’re in that post’s comments section and they’re wonderful, so check them out!) :)