Where can you publish your poetry? Really, where?

If you have reached that moment in your writing journey when you feel ready to share your poetry with the world but are unsure about how the publishing process works for poems, this article is for you.

If you are looking to get paid for your poetry this article may not be for you. Some of the options may give you a monetary re-compensation for your work but it was not a characteristic I was looking for while researching for the article.

Like in fiction you can go about this in two routes: Traditional publishing, when there is a magazine, press that publishes your work, or Self-publishing, in which you take care of all the process.

Traditionally Publishing

• For individual poems it is best to submit your work in a literary magazine. Some magazines that specifically look for young contributors are: JUVEN, Ice Lolly Review, Inertia Teens, SeaGlass Literary, antinarrative zine, Ember: A Journal of Luminous things, among others.
  
  

Another way to get a poem out there to the world is through an anthology, though they are harder to find.

• If you have your fair share of poems you would want to look for a press. What they would ask may vary. Some presses ask for a proposal, others for 10 pages of your manuscript, be sure to read carefully what each publisher is asking for. A great place to look for publishing presses is the search engine Small Presses by Poets&Writers.

Self-Publishing

• Social media is a great way to start putting your work out there and establishing a reader base. Instagram is right now the most popular site in which to publish poetry (with insta poet Rupi Kaur having published No.1 New York Times Bestseller, Milk & Honey), followed closely by tumblr, then twitter. When publishing in social media remember to use hashtags like #poetry, #poetrygram in instagram or #booklr in tumblr.
  
  

• Poetry websites are another great way to make yourself known to the world of poetry. They put an emphasis in poetry but can feature other genres, for example: commaful.com, hellopoetry.com, allpoetry.com, poemhunter.com amongst others.
  
  

Medium and Wattpad could have also been part of the category however, non-fiction and fiction respectively are more successful there.

• For poetry collections you would go the same route as if you were self-publishing a novel. If you are new to the scene it is better to put your book on subscription-based programs such as Kindle Unlimited or Scribd.
  
  

You can both traditionally and self-publish but, if you decide to post a poem in your social media or any other place it would be harder for that piece to get traditionally published since most publications do not accept previously published works.

Lastly, watch out for red flags! If their website doesn’t show their team, if they are asking you to pay them to read your work (small fees and expeditions are fine), if there is negative information about them or aren’t clear with what rights you have as an author it is better to stay away from the press, literary magazine, etc.
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Whichever routes (because you can choose more than one, is even advised) you take to start putting your work out there, I am incredibly proud that you have decided to share your work with the world.

​​​​​​​​​​​Ari Ochoa Petzo

is a Mexican-Venezuelan bi genderfluid writer. They like dancing to old music and history. In their free time you can find xem trying to coerce their friends to participate in another of their crazy projects. ​
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