I have decided that I like to write poetry. I want to get published. Am I good enough?
Alice meets the Rabbit(06.01.05)
Keep smiling says the rabbit to alice as he descends his small hole We may not be much but we all have a role, to play in this wonderful dream, Dreamed up by smart people, or so they would think. Life has it's quirks, its jits and its jerks, and what ever else works. But remember the end is always close by. As close to you as the nearest knife. So if by the end of this marvelous day, You just dont think things should quite turn out this way. Slice sweetly your milky white skin, And bleed out your worries, never had here again. We all will miss your beautiful smile, But we all understand, you gave life a chance for a while. You found it too dull, or just incomplete. Maybe life put you in the wrong seat. Your hair was too short, Your waist just to chubby, Your personality may have been just too bubbly. Maybe you thought, that no one did care, Though thats not true, we all took that dare. So here given at last, my very best advice, Never give up, and always look thrice.
Paxterous.... interesting imagery in your poem. Might I suggest breaking it up into stanzas. Writing poetry can be very subjective. It can simply come down to what the reader likes. My only advise is just to keep writing. (Some advise I should take to heart.)
Incidentally, having your poetry on the web can be considered first rights publishing. (Here's an article about it: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/electronic.html . Run a search on Google for more info.)
Griffin... I am not sure if you know this, but many people consider poetry.com not much more than a novelty/vanity press. Their contests are debatable and are considered to be a scam. I once submitted a very simple poem to them when I first came on-line and every year since, I have received some kind of solicitation from them via email or snail mail claiming my entry has been chosing as a "grand prize winner" despite the fact I have not submitted a poem since that one time.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
If you're truly interested in getting published, try The Poetry Free-For-All. If you're serious, follow the posting rules, and willing to spend time critiquing others, you will get great advice. If you're willing to really listen to that advice without ego getting in the way and to take your time with revisions, you will get better.
If you join, start out in C&C or More C&C. Once you get comfortable, you might want to try Charon's Leaky Schooner, although I'd wait until you have well more than the 40 post minimum.
Warning: This is not a board to post poetry for others to read. It's a poetry workshop - by posting, you are asking for critiques. They won't spare your feelings. But the experts there will give you specific advice about what works and what doesn't work.
Avoid poetry.com. It's a scam.
Of course, the best advice for determining if ones poetry is of publishable quality is to read poetry. Lots of poetry. Lots and lots and lots of poetry. Good poetry, certainly, but also bad poetry. You'll learn as much, if not more, doing critiques than you will having your own work critiqued.
Dagonee
Posted by genius00345 (Member # 8206) on :
I tried poetry.com and my really simple poem was selected for the March prize entry---then they wanted me to buy a book---and another book---and now they want me to become a distinguished member for ony $569 for conference registration not to mention travel costs...
It's a scam.
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
Also check out StrongVerse, an online poetry magazine published by OSC. There are some good critique forums and if you want to start off publishing online, you can do it here.
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