Do you want to publish your poetry manuscript?

I know it was almost a  decade of hard work from the time I first committed myself to poetry to the publication of my first book, The Cartographer's Tongue / Poems of the World. There was so much about book publishing that I didn't know and no one I could ask.

How times have changed --- and for the better on this one. Now there are books, websites, conferences, consultants, and even blogs that provide first rate information.

This morning I discovered this blog post from one of the editors of CavanKerry. Not only does Florenz Eisman offer good information, she does so with bucket loads of kindness and grace. How I wish I had read her twelve years ago.



Here are the first two paragraphs:


I was asked by a CavanKerry colleague a while ago to blog about submissions. My reaction? Give me a break. Is there anything less necessary to write about?  After all, CKP’s website has a submissions page with guidelines. Won’t newbies find everything they need on the screen?


My colleague reminded me that when she sat on a panel for soon-to-graduate MFAs, several asked her how to submit a manuscript. They didn’t have a clue how to go about it. Nada. Nothing. That gave me pause.  MFA students who don’t know how to maneuver through the submission process? 


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