Submission Tips

My press, Terrapin Books, has been around for almost eight years. During that time, I’ve read a lot of poetry manuscripts. I’ve read lots of wonderful material. But I’ve also noticed some of the same errors being made again and again. Since most poets aspire to a full-length collection, I’ve compiled a list of tips and offer them here, hoping that they might be useful as you prepare your own manuscript submission for Terrapin or another press. Of course, these are my thoughts; another publisher may have very different thoughts.

Necessary Research

The time to research a press is before you submit, not after. Get your hands on at least one book by the press you plan to submit to. If you can’t afford to purchase a book or two, borrow them from your library or at least peruse several “Read Sample” features at Amazon to get an idea of what the press publishes and how they format a book. It makes no sense to submit to a press you know nothing about, yet I more than occasionally receive submissions from poets who clearly know nothing about my press.

Only submit to a press if you would be happy to be published by that press. If your heart is set on winning a contest, then only submit to contests. A few years ago, I accepted a manuscript. The poet stalled her response, then said she’d decided to withdraw as she really wanted to win a contest. She should never have submitted to my press in the first place. More recently, another poet whose manuscript submission was accepted also delayed his response, then said he’d decided his manuscript was not a good fit for my press. If he’d done his homework, he should have been able to figure that out before he submitted, not after.

Read the Guidelines and follow them. Also read any FAQs that the press provides. Terrapin provides FAQs which should answer most questions poets might have. Yet each submission period brings some chapbook submissions (we don’t do chapbooks) and a few New & Selecteds (we also don’t do these). Don’t waste your time and submission fee by submitting what the press doesn’t publish.

Cover Letter

The first thing your reader sees is your cover letter. Make it work for you. Keep it brief and focused on you as a poet. Get the name of the publisher and the press right. I never hold it against someone when they misspell my name or get the press name wrong, but it’s not a good look. Makes you look careless. List titles of books you’ve had published and be sure to include the press and year of publication for each title. If you haven’t had any previous books or chapbooks, list 3-4 journals which have published your work. And please, do not say that you have been “widely” published. Sounds braggy.

Omit sharing your age or other irrelevant information. And don’t list the big-name poets you’ve studied with. Do not be a name-dropper! Also do not include words of praise from other poets or teachers. They will not elevate the publisher’s impression of your work. Definitely do not include blurbs. Why would you already have blurbs, the potential publisher will wonder. Blurbs come after your manuscript has been accepted. But do include information about any close acceptances your manuscript has had.

If you are asked to provide a description of your manuscript’s content in your cover letter, keep that brief and sharply focused. If you find it impossible to describe your manuscript, it’s possible that you haven’t yet found its center. I see lots of descriptions that list a dozen themes covered in the manuscript: nature, climate change, love, death, religious conversion, pollution, birds, waterways, marriage, children, and so on. Look at your own list. Can you find some common themes? Might they suggest a way to tighten up your cover letter—and your manuscript? I also often find that after a list of several dark themes, the poet adds that the manuscript includes some humor or ends with hope. It’s not your job to cheer me up. If humor and hope are there, fine, but don’t force it. I like darkness and so do a lot of other readers.

Title

The next thing your reader sees is the title of your manuscript. Avoid titling your collection with a word no one knows. Why confuse the reader and put a fence around your collection?

Also regarding titles, there’s a trend towards long titles. Go easy here. Some of the ones I’ve seen have just struck me as a kind of strutting, showing off—look at how clever I am! Keep in mind too that very long titles are difficult to format on a cover and squeeze onto a spine. This won’t get you rejected, but why do it?

Acknowledgments Page

Terrapin’s Guidelines ask that 25%-50% (or more) of the poems in the manuscript have been previously published. Why then submit a manuscript that has no previously published poems? A few years ago someone who wanted to submit but who hadn't published any of his poems chewed me out about this request. It wasn’t his fault, he insisted, that none of his poems had been published; it was the fault of journal editors who had declined to accept his poems. My argument ended there.

In your Acknowledgments, do not include bibliographical information such as page numbers. Just journal titles and poem titles. And be sure to use alphabetical order. Check out a few books by the press you’re submitting to and follow the format used for the Acknowledgments in those books. It’s pretty standard. 

Notes

Include notes at the end of your manuscript only if they are absolutely essential. Often notes are merely pretentious and provide unnecessary information. An informational note in a poem’s epigraph position might provide the same information and not force the reader to consult the back of the book.

Epigraphs

Speaking of epigraphs, avoid name-dropping in that spot, e.g., “dedicated to famous poet / person,” or “after some famous poet.” 

But if your poem really is after another poet / poem, be sure to indicate that in the epigraph position. Without the proper attribution, you risk being accused of plagiarism.

Avoid excessive use of epigraphs. 

Tidbits

In your poems, be parsimonious with “how” clauses. I too often see lists of these. This has become an overused strategy. Likewise, avoid overusing “the way” to begin items in a series.

Be very sparing with poems about poems. I can take maybe one per manuscript. You won’t get rejected if you have more, but if your manuscript is accepted, I will almost certainly ask you to revise some of those poems. I find this kind of poem particularly vexing when the poem is making its way along beautifully on a particular topic and then suddenly starts referring to itself as “this poem.” That knocks me right out of the poem. My heart sinks with disappointment.

Avoid great blue herons in your poems. I add this here for a light touch, but seriously, that bird is so overused in poetry! Surely there are other magnificent birds. And does it have to be a bird?

There’s a bit of a trend now with plentiful use of ampersands. I find them a visual distraction, especially if there are a lot of them in a poem. Avoid them or be very sparing.

I find way too many hyphen errors. Be sure to check your hyphenated words. I use the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.

One space after a period, not two. I shouldn’t have to say this as two spaces died at least 30 years ago. You date yourself when you stubbornly cling to an outdated practice.

Poems in columns rarely serve any useful purpose. Go cautiously!

Do not ever use the copyright symbol. It’s insulting, as if you fear the publisher might steal your work. And your work is automatically copyrighted. The symbol is unnecessary.

When to Submit

Poets wonder if there’s any benefit to submitting early or late. Really, no. But lots of poets wait until the last two days of a submission period to submit. That might make your reader cranky. Not me, of course, but maybe some other reader. 

Don’t be that person who waits until the very last minute of the very last day to submit! That’s when your power is going to go off. And when you write me a begging note the next day, I’m going to have to say, Sorry.

Patience and Persistence

Poetry is a slow art. I have several times received two or even three submissions from the same poet during the same submission period. How is it possible to have that many solid manuscripts in circulation? Consider pulling out the very best poems from the manuscripts and making one new manuscript.

But I’ve also accepted a number of manuscripts on a second and even a third try. If you’ve received some positive feedback from me or another publisher, follow the suggestions, spruce up your manuscript, and try again.

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About The Author

Diane Lockward is the editor of The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft and three earlier craft books: The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics; The Crafty Poet II: A Portable Workshop; and The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop. She is also the author of four poetry books, most recently The Uneaten Carrots of Atonement (Wind Publications, 2016). Her awards include the Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize, a poetry fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and a Woman of Achievement Award. Her poems have been included in such journals as the Harvard Review, Southern Poetry Review, and Prairie Schooner. Her work has also been featured on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, The Writer's Almanac, and Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry. She is the founder and publisher of Terrapin Books.