How to Get Your Poetry + Short Stories Published
A guide for getting your shorter works out into the world.
Someone asked me this question on Quora and I thought I’d answer it with a post:
I have written poetry and short stories ever since I could remember, I would really like it if a publisher could have a look at it, do (you) have any recommendations for me ?
First, I’m going to be very honest and clear right up front. I don’t have any hacks or short cuts to offer. If you want someone to publish your work, you have to do what everyone else does — send it out to agents or publishers.
There are no guarantees in publishing. The fact is that most work is rejected. The only armor you have against that rejection is to keep trying. Perseverance and a commitment to learning to be a better writer are powerful tools that work together.
You can bypass agents and publishers by indie publishing. I’ll talk about that, too. But if you want to be traditionally published — if you are a regular, unconnected writer and you want a publisher to choose to publish your work —this is how you do it.
Publishing Single Poems or Stories
I recently attended the AWP Writer’s Conference in Portland and came home with so many…
