Shine Your Poetry Submissions: Avoid the Slush Pile

More highly regarded journals and paying publications can receive thousands of submissions in response to an open submission call. An editor has to conclude their selection process somewhere. If they’ve narrowed it down to ten best but need to choose two, things we think are "of little concern" as poets become magnified. 

We all want to believe our poems will be evaluated for literary merit alone, not summarily discarded from failure to follow guidelines. But when poems of close to or equal merit require a decision, a poet who clearly hasn’t taken the time for simple proofreading and guideline adherence may find their poems rejected, even if otherwise brilliant. That’s the reality.

Other than the careful attention to our writing, here are the main two things to consider before hitting the send button.

Follow the Publication’s Guidelines

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Journals and other publications have particular styles they follow, and the editor must assure the poems conform to the publication’s look. Even before that, rules determine how the editors will receive the poems. Many poets can find the requirements difficult to navigate, as every possible publication usually varies in some way.

Submission Procedures

Most publications no longer accept submissions by snail mail. The most common submission procedures are by email, established submission platforms (like Submittable, or Duotrope), or publication-designed submission processes usually involving Google Drive or other cloud-based interfaces. Some will accept a combination of those things. Read carefully and be sure to follow the submission policies; otherwise your effort of preparing your submission will have been a waste of time.

Also pay attention to whether or not they want all the poems in one document (usually one poem per page), or each poem in a separate document. I’ve spent considerable time putting together a multi-poem document, only to find they wanted them all in separate documents, which makes it easier to withdraw a single poem from a set if necessary.

This brings me to the question, do they allow "simultaneous submissions"? This means they allow you to submit the same poem or set of poems to other publications before hearing back from them? Most do nowadays. I generally avoid those that don’t, unless they promise a very quick turnaround time. Otherwise your poems are held up waiting for a response.

Take heart. Submit your best work. Remember that on average between 95% and 99% of poems come back rejected.

Formatting

A maximum number of lines usually includes the title and the spaces in between the stanzas. To avoid writers using smaller fonts, they will usually specify the type and size, so that it’s easiest to read. It will say something like , "12 pt. Times New Roman, or something similar." Some publications will also have a maximum number of characters per line. An 80-character line fits fine on an 8 ½ X 11 page, but will not fit in a standard 6 X 9  book format, or an online journal with limited width. Contrary to prose submissions, poetry submissions are almost always single-spaced. Assume single-space, unless it says otherwise.

You don’t have control over whether an editor or group of editors will like your poem, so why play games with what you do have control over? If you ignore formatting guidelines, an editor will catch it. The most awesome 2-page theme-focused poem will not get read if the maximum is 40-lines. Save it for a different opportunity.

Theme Requirements 

Specific themes can act as prompts that encourage the writing of poems expressly for a particular publication. But sometimes you’ll see a theme and realize it represents a common thread through a lot of your writing. Remember it’s best to avoid trying to mentally justify your poems’ adherence to a theme. You may see a connection but the editors will probably not. Some submission calls clearly state an interpretive openness in terms of their theme. If they don’t, it’s best to choose, or write poems, with a more direct theme-specificity. 

Number of Poems & Submission Frequency

Finally, almost all requests for submissions will specify the number of poems they will consider, as well as how often you can submit, either once a year, once per publication issue, or some other time frame. "Allows multiple submissions" usually only appears for a paying contest, where you can submit as many times as you want as long as you pay the submission fee for each one.

Check your Grammar & Spelling

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Some poems defy the rules of grammar on purpose. Or the poet has a regional, cultural, or colloquial command of the language that should not be ignored. I confess I discover grammar mistakes in poems I wrote years ago, often improper verb tenses referencing people and things. It’s an easy error to make. Make sure if you’re breaking the rules, it’s intentional.

These days computers seem to allow us to forego checking for spelling; and so we get a bit lazy. For instance, the computer will not catch homonyms for words that have different meanings from the one intended. It’s a common error to haphazardly substitute contractions like "they’re" for "their," or "you’re" for "your." Also words like "too," "two", and "to." "lose" and "loose."

"site," "cite," and "sight."

A very common one (I still have to sometimes look this one up) —

"affect," usually a verb, versus "effect," usually a noun, but not always.

"accept" or "except."

You get the point.

I recently wondered why an older poem I though was quite good had never been accepted anywhere, and I realized I’d made one of these mistakes, which a good editor will catch.

Conclusion

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Journals with very large followings will be looking for reasons to auto-reject a poet’s submission. I know that sounds harsh. But if your submission doesn’t follow the rules, it means to an editor one of several things — you don’t think the rules apply to you, you didn’t read the rules, or you simply mistakenly didn’t follow them. So check your work. And check it again. Check the guidelines before hitting send.

Take heart. Submit your best work. Remember that on average between 95% and 99% of poems come back rejected. That means that for every hundred or so poems submitted you can realistically expect only one acceptance. Don't get caught up in the other 99. Just gather them up, improve on them, and send them out again.

Finally, if sending more than one poem, be sure to include your "best" poem first.

Happy Writing!

I’d love to hear of your submission successes you've had and/or mistakes you’ve made or encountered on your writing journey. This can help us all learn and grow in our writing, and hopefully increase the number of acceptances we receive. Please leave them here in the comments.