Christian poet Mary Harwell Sayler invites you into poetry
Showing posts with label poetry editor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry editor. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
How to become your own best poetry editor and get ready to edit poems by other poets too
Recently someone asked what kind of training and skill he would need to become a poetry editor. If he had wanted an editorial job with a publishing company, he would most likely need a high degree of English or literature, but no, he wanted to freelance. Since he had a poetry book in print, he thought that gave him enough experience to be an “expert,” even though he had self-published his book with no input from anyone!
He would not be the first poet or writer who thought the same before billing his services as a writing consultant. To be good at what he does, however, might require a little more effort.
As I started to make a list of the job skills or experience needed, I realized that the same suggestions apply to poets who want the best for their own poems. So, whether you want to upgrade your skills as you revise your poetry or have the information and insights needed to edit poems by other poets, these suggestions should help:
Read – all types, forms, and styles of poetry.
Focus – on the beauty of the classics and the freshness in the works of prize-winning contemporary poets.
Write – lots of poetry.
Study – poetic techniques and terminology.
Market – your poems to literary journals and e-zines you like.
Get a grip – on English grammar and punctuation, but also the concerns, worries, and needs that most people have.
Listen – to the individual voice that can be heard in your own poems and someone else’s.
Subscribe – to poetry journals and e-zines you like and also periodicals such as Poets & Writers magazine (ad in the right column.)
Read – your poems and poems by other poets – aloud, noticing the sound echoes and musicality.
Experiment – by playing with different forms, different approaches often possible for each poem, and different ways of breaking lines in free verse.
Play – with words. Play with ideas. Ask “what if?”
Learn – to trust your own judgment, to correct errors with care, to respect the voice and opinions of other poets, and to keep original copies of every poem in case the edits or revisions go too far.
Have fun – reading, writing, and playing with poetry.
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler
~~
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Interview with best-selling anthologist June Cotner
Welcome to this interview with June Cotner, a well-known anthologist, speaker, and author whose 27 books include the best-selling anthologies Graces, Bedside Prayers, and Dog Blessings.
The Poetry Editor: June, you have compiled an amazing number of successful anthologies. How did you get started with this type of project?
June: When my children were young, instead of using standard graces, I wanted to find inspiring ways to express gratitude around the dinner table. My agent saw my binder for Graces and thought it would make a perfect book but suggested I include pieces from lesser known poets and writers as well as famous authors.
Poetry Ed.: Great idea! But what if you receive a poem or devotional that fits your anthology topic yet needs improving? Do you turn down the piece, make suggestions, or edit with the writer’s permission?
June: If the poem or prayer is in need of small improvements, I’ll let the author know why the poem doesn’t quite work for the book I’m compiling and see if the person is willing to make a revision. Sometimes I offer a specific recommendation. Other times, I’ll say “Here’s the problem. What can you offer?”
Poetry Ed.: At what point do you seek a publisher for a new book idea - before or after manuscripts on the topic begin to arrive?
June: It happens both ways. Several books developed because I received lovely submissions on a topic but didn’t have a book in place. I kept putting submissions on the topic in a binder and when I had enough selections (25-30) for a book proposal, I wrote the proposal. Other times the publisher asked if I would be interested in compiling another interfaith book with the same tone as Graces.
Poetry Ed.: Some big publishers have published your anthologies! Do you place your book proposals with them yourself or through a literary representative?
June: I have a literary agent who sells my proposals. Most major publishers require representation.
Poetry Ed.: Since your publishers are usually well-established companies with marketing departments and advertising budgets, do they still ask you to contribute to book promotions?
June: It’s been estimated that 90% of a book’s success is due to author promotion. For each book, I complete a comprehensive Author Questionnaire, and I work in partnership with the publisher. I recognize that my book is only one on a publisher’s front list and I must do everything I can to make the book successful.
Since publishing has changed so drastically, author tours are rare, and publishers expect active author participation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites.
Poetry Ed.: Are you exploring other ideas because of the changes in publishing?
June: I have about 50 books “in the works.” Sadly, very few of them will see the light of day as a print book. I want to find a way to bring the lovely pieces filed in my 50 binders to the marketplace.
The best direction seems to be electronic publishing with books distributed across such book platforms as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. One problem in creating an e-book, however, is investing money upfront on top of providing a complete manuscript and a marketing plan.
Poetry Ed.: What suggestions can you give poets ready to submit their poems?
June: When submitting for an anthology, look at previous books by the anthologist so you understand the type of work the anthologist seeks. Writers should make sure the poems they submit are specific to the project needs.
Follow specific instructions. For example, odd as it may seem, I find it easier to process submissions sent via USPS with a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE.) Also, don’t get fancy with your fonts or colors. I prefer receiving submissions that are double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 font. Each submission should include all of your contact info too.
Do your best to match up your work with the anthologist’s needs. I love receiving submissions that are specifically targeted for one of my projects.
When reviewing submissions, I look for fresh language in easily understood, universal pieces. Anthologists do love discovering new writers!
Poetry Ed.: I’m sure poets and writers love being discovered too! Thanks, June, for helping them to do just that - in your anthologies and also in this interview.
~~
If you would like to contribute to one of June’s upcoming anthologies, visit her website for guidelines and more information about the topics needed.
~~
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler
~~
The Poetry Editor: June, you have compiled an amazing number of successful anthologies. How did you get started with this type of project?
June: When my children were young, instead of using standard graces, I wanted to find inspiring ways to express gratitude around the dinner table. My agent saw my binder for Graces and thought it would make a perfect book but suggested I include pieces from lesser known poets and writers as well as famous authors.
Poetry Ed.: Great idea! But what if you receive a poem or devotional that fits your anthology topic yet needs improving? Do you turn down the piece, make suggestions, or edit with the writer’s permission?
June: If the poem or prayer is in need of small improvements, I’ll let the author know why the poem doesn’t quite work for the book I’m compiling and see if the person is willing to make a revision. Sometimes I offer a specific recommendation. Other times, I’ll say “Here’s the problem. What can you offer?”
Poetry Ed.: At what point do you seek a publisher for a new book idea - before or after manuscripts on the topic begin to arrive?
June: It happens both ways. Several books developed because I received lovely submissions on a topic but didn’t have a book in place. I kept putting submissions on the topic in a binder and when I had enough selections (25-30) for a book proposal, I wrote the proposal. Other times the publisher asked if I would be interested in compiling another interfaith book with the same tone as Graces.
Poetry Ed.: Some big publishers have published your anthologies! Do you place your book proposals with them yourself or through a literary representative?
June: I have a literary agent who sells my proposals. Most major publishers require representation.
Poetry Ed.: Since your publishers are usually well-established companies with marketing departments and advertising budgets, do they still ask you to contribute to book promotions?
June: It’s been estimated that 90% of a book’s success is due to author promotion. For each book, I complete a comprehensive Author Questionnaire, and I work in partnership with the publisher. I recognize that my book is only one on a publisher’s front list and I must do everything I can to make the book successful.
Since publishing has changed so drastically, author tours are rare, and publishers expect active author participation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites.
Poetry Ed.: Are you exploring other ideas because of the changes in publishing?
June: I have about 50 books “in the works.” Sadly, very few of them will see the light of day as a print book. I want to find a way to bring the lovely pieces filed in my 50 binders to the marketplace.
The best direction seems to be electronic publishing with books distributed across such book platforms as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. One problem in creating an e-book, however, is investing money upfront on top of providing a complete manuscript and a marketing plan.
Poetry Ed.: What suggestions can you give poets ready to submit their poems?
June: When submitting for an anthology, look at previous books by the anthologist so you understand the type of work the anthologist seeks. Writers should make sure the poems they submit are specific to the project needs.
Follow specific instructions. For example, odd as it may seem, I find it easier to process submissions sent via USPS with a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE.) Also, don’t get fancy with your fonts or colors. I prefer receiving submissions that are double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 font. Each submission should include all of your contact info too.
Do your best to match up your work with the anthologist’s needs. I love receiving submissions that are specifically targeted for one of my projects.
When reviewing submissions, I look for fresh language in easily understood, universal pieces. Anthologists do love discovering new writers!
Poetry Ed.: I’m sure poets and writers love being discovered too! Thanks, June, for helping them to do just that - in your anthologies and also in this interview.
~~
If you would like to contribute to one of June’s upcoming anthologies, visit her website for guidelines and more information about the topics needed.
~~
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler
~~
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Poetry Insights from The Poetry Editor of vox poetica
The Poetry Editor blog began in hopes of helping poets to become their own best poetry editors, and with experience and practice that will indeed happen, but the New Year offers a timely time to take another tack and revise the initial intent. Therefore, in this article, and, hopefully, others to come, The Poetry Editor will bring you interviews with real-live poetry editors to give you a realistic view of the editorial work that goes into poetry-making and poetry publishing. If you’re a poetry editor who would like to participate, I’d be glad to hear from you. At present, I'll start with poetry editors I’ve worked with – ones who accepted my poems for publication (thank you very much!) and, preferably, ones who write their own poems in addition to editing ours.
This naturally brought to mind Annmarie Lockhart, whose words appear in fine journals, online and in print. She’s also the founding editor of vox poetica, an online literary salon dedicated to bringing poetry into the everyday, and the founder of unbound CONTENT, an independent press for a boundless age. A lifelong resident of Bergen County, NJ, Annmarie lives, works, and writes two miles east of the hospital where she was born, but her creativity and innovative work on behalf of poets and poetry is, well, unbound.
Annmarie, how did you get started with vox poetica?
I think the same way a lot of editors get started with journals: I was looking for something that didn't seem to exist. I wanted to read a journal that published daily poetry content and that spoke to a wide variety of readers. I was reading amazing work on personal blogs, so I knew there were tons of good writers looking to be read. I wanted to create a space where those writers and others like them could come to share their words. We are lucky to live in a technological age with few barriers to entry. Creating the website was simple, sending it out into the world was exciting, and watching it grow has been a creative life source beyond my expectations.
That’s wonderful to hear! Sometimes expectations limit us, for example, when poets expect or, perhaps, fear that revising and editing will ruin their poems. As a poetry editor, how would you help poets to see the value of good editing?
Editing can be the difference between a good poem and a great poem. At the very least, it can help ensure that the words are all spelled correctly and that any unconventionalities of grammar/ usage/ punctuation are intended for artistic merit and not mistakes. Sometimes editing reveals where a writer might have gone off point or, inadvertently, composed a second poem somewhere within the first. Or it can clear away the redundancies that many of us build into our poems because we're so focused on words and not meaning. It's hard to learn to cut mercilessly. Sometimes it's easier to let someone else do that, but whether it's oneself or another set of eyes, an edit stage is crucial to all poems.
A great example of this is a work-in-progress at unbound CONTENT where Alice Shapiro's manuscript Saltian became a living editing experiment. Alice wanted to explore the idea of there being many views of the same poem, so we assembled a board of editors and assigned them all individual poems from the manuscript to critique. We then posted those at unbound CONTENT's blog to open the poems and the critiques up to readers. After that Alice took the work back and revised each poem based on the collected feedback. As the author she reserved the right to make any, all, or no changes to her original poems, of course. But the result is a collection of work and a sampling of other ways to render that work. It really speaks to the creativity and wonder of the editing process. I would encourage writers to have fun with editing and definitely not to fear it.
Does a poetry edit or revision risk any loss of the poet's voice?
It shouldn't. If the voice fades in the editing process, the editor failed the work. It's very important for the editor to hear the voice of the narrator within a poem. That voice may or may not be the poet per se, but it is the teller of the story in that particular poem. If anything, voice should be stronger at the end of the editing process. For writers who edit their own work this can be difficult as sometimes a writer hears a different voice when editing than when writing. This is where the ear and the gut really matter in the process. Read the work. Listen to it. If it doesn't sound right, chances are it isn't.
What about the spontaneity of a poem? Do revising and editing mar the lyrical impulse or emotion initially captured?
That's a great question. Many poems come from a very in-the-moment inspiration and seem to write themselves. These poems are often quite complete in a first draft. I know several writers who use this technique exclusively. But again, editing shouldn't change the inherent energy of any poem. It's still important, though, to read for spelling, inconsistency of image and voice, word choice, and tone. Many writers who work this way find the editing phase useful for minor revisions, a word here, a line break there. Editing doesn't have to be extensive to be effective.
How important is style or form?
Style or form is as elemental to a poem as voice or selection is key. Certain poems lend themselves to formal construction, while others fight against rules. It's important for a writer to know the difference. Sometimes a phrase within the poem is the determinant. It calls for language that fits a sonnet format possibly, but it seems stilted and undirected in a free verse format. Sometimes a writer is using a form as a prompt or a creativity challenge. When that works it's great, but when it doesn't, the writer might try applying a different style or form to it to see if that alters the viability of the poem. I've seen great results when a writer steps back and alters the construction of a poem just to see what happens. Trying something new is good for creativity essentially all the time. The worst thing that could happen is if you don't like the results. So you scrap it and you keep the original structure as it is. You have nothing to lose in trying.
True! And experimenting eventually helps poets to improve the literary quality of their work. What else can poets do to take their poetry to the next level?
Improvements in writing can only come from two things: reading and writing. You want to write better? Read more and write more. Discipline yourself to do both of those things. Read with a critical eye, absorb what you're reading, write just for the sake of writing, apply techniques of craft to your work. Above all, mimic what you like and experiment.
Excellent advice! Before we close, is there anything else you would like to say to poets who want their poems to be published?
If you want your poems to be published, you have to submit them. Often. You will get rejection notices. Embrace them. Use them as an opportunity to take a fresh eye to the work. Sometimes the work really needs some revision. Research the outlets you're submitting to. Don't send Goth poetry to a romance poetry journal. It will not be accepted there. Read what a journal publishes. Does your work fit with what you read there? If not, try another journal. But be persistent. If the guidelines say send 3-5 poems, don't send one. Don't send ten. Send five. Give an editor a chance to see something she likes. Send your best polished work, not your first drafts. Keep track of where your work is being considered. Be respectful of your work and the editor's time. Apply yourself to the task of writing and the goal of publishing.
Thank you so much, Annmarie, for giving poets a better understanding of poetry, the work of a poet, and the vitality of the editorial process.
~~
~~
© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler
~~
This naturally brought to mind Annmarie Lockhart, whose words appear in fine journals, online and in print. She’s also the founding editor of vox poetica, an online literary salon dedicated to bringing poetry into the everyday, and the founder of unbound CONTENT, an independent press for a boundless age. A lifelong resident of Bergen County, NJ, Annmarie lives, works, and writes two miles east of the hospital where she was born, but her creativity and innovative work on behalf of poets and poetry is, well, unbound.
Annmarie, how did you get started with vox poetica?
I think the same way a lot of editors get started with journals: I was looking for something that didn't seem to exist. I wanted to read a journal that published daily poetry content and that spoke to a wide variety of readers. I was reading amazing work on personal blogs, so I knew there were tons of good writers looking to be read. I wanted to create a space where those writers and others like them could come to share their words. We are lucky to live in a technological age with few barriers to entry. Creating the website was simple, sending it out into the world was exciting, and watching it grow has been a creative life source beyond my expectations.
That’s wonderful to hear! Sometimes expectations limit us, for example, when poets expect or, perhaps, fear that revising and editing will ruin their poems. As a poetry editor, how would you help poets to see the value of good editing?
Editing can be the difference between a good poem and a great poem. At the very least, it can help ensure that the words are all spelled correctly and that any unconventionalities of grammar/ usage/ punctuation are intended for artistic merit and not mistakes. Sometimes editing reveals where a writer might have gone off point or, inadvertently, composed a second poem somewhere within the first. Or it can clear away the redundancies that many of us build into our poems because we're so focused on words and not meaning. It's hard to learn to cut mercilessly. Sometimes it's easier to let someone else do that, but whether it's oneself or another set of eyes, an edit stage is crucial to all poems.
A great example of this is a work-in-progress at unbound CONTENT where Alice Shapiro's manuscript Saltian became a living editing experiment. Alice wanted to explore the idea of there being many views of the same poem, so we assembled a board of editors and assigned them all individual poems from the manuscript to critique. We then posted those at unbound CONTENT's blog to open the poems and the critiques up to readers. After that Alice took the work back and revised each poem based on the collected feedback. As the author she reserved the right to make any, all, or no changes to her original poems, of course. But the result is a collection of work and a sampling of other ways to render that work. It really speaks to the creativity and wonder of the editing process. I would encourage writers to have fun with editing and definitely not to fear it.
Does a poetry edit or revision risk any loss of the poet's voice?
It shouldn't. If the voice fades in the editing process, the editor failed the work. It's very important for the editor to hear the voice of the narrator within a poem. That voice may or may not be the poet per se, but it is the teller of the story in that particular poem. If anything, voice should be stronger at the end of the editing process. For writers who edit their own work this can be difficult as sometimes a writer hears a different voice when editing than when writing. This is where the ear and the gut really matter in the process. Read the work. Listen to it. If it doesn't sound right, chances are it isn't.
What about the spontaneity of a poem? Do revising and editing mar the lyrical impulse or emotion initially captured?
That's a great question. Many poems come from a very in-the-moment inspiration and seem to write themselves. These poems are often quite complete in a first draft. I know several writers who use this technique exclusively. But again, editing shouldn't change the inherent energy of any poem. It's still important, though, to read for spelling, inconsistency of image and voice, word choice, and tone. Many writers who work this way find the editing phase useful for minor revisions, a word here, a line break there. Editing doesn't have to be extensive to be effective.
How important is style or form?
Style or form is as elemental to a poem as voice or selection is key. Certain poems lend themselves to formal construction, while others fight against rules. It's important for a writer to know the difference. Sometimes a phrase within the poem is the determinant. It calls for language that fits a sonnet format possibly, but it seems stilted and undirected in a free verse format. Sometimes a writer is using a form as a prompt or a creativity challenge. When that works it's great, but when it doesn't, the writer might try applying a different style or form to it to see if that alters the viability of the poem. I've seen great results when a writer steps back and alters the construction of a poem just to see what happens. Trying something new is good for creativity essentially all the time. The worst thing that could happen is if you don't like the results. So you scrap it and you keep the original structure as it is. You have nothing to lose in trying.
True! And experimenting eventually helps poets to improve the literary quality of their work. What else can poets do to take their poetry to the next level?
Improvements in writing can only come from two things: reading and writing. You want to write better? Read more and write more. Discipline yourself to do both of those things. Read with a critical eye, absorb what you're reading, write just for the sake of writing, apply techniques of craft to your work. Above all, mimic what you like and experiment.
Excellent advice! Before we close, is there anything else you would like to say to poets who want their poems to be published?
If you want your poems to be published, you have to submit them. Often. You will get rejection notices. Embrace them. Use them as an opportunity to take a fresh eye to the work. Sometimes the work really needs some revision. Research the outlets you're submitting to. Don't send Goth poetry to a romance poetry journal. It will not be accepted there. Read what a journal publishes. Does your work fit with what you read there? If not, try another journal. But be persistent. If the guidelines say send 3-5 poems, don't send one. Don't send ten. Send five. Give an editor a chance to see something she likes. Send your best polished work, not your first drafts. Keep track of where your work is being considered. Be respectful of your work and the editor's time. Apply yourself to the task of writing and the goal of publishing.
Thank you so much, Annmarie, for giving poets a better understanding of poetry, the work of a poet, and the vitality of the editorial process.
~~
~~
© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler
~~
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Punctuation and grammar provide poets and writers with language tools of the writing trade
Poets from countries outside the U.S. have recently been requesting critiques more often than American poets, which usually brings up correct usage of English grammar and punctuation. Both of these crucial aspects of language have been touched on in previous articles on The Poetry Editor blog such as “Revising your poetry can be a smooth move” and “That Punctual Punctuation (Anyway) How” but to recap a few important reasons:
• Punctuation guides readers through a poem.
• Punctuation and good grammar assist understanding.
• Punctuating a poem in a weird way punctuates imperfections and weirdness.
• Well-woven syntax (sentence structure) threads each line with artistry.
• Awkward or unnatural syntax confuses and loses a reader.
Almost every poet wants to stand out or be different, but breaking rules, peppering and assaulting poems with periods and commas, or twisting syntax into pretzels seldom has the desired effect. Most often, freshness comes in other ways as poets decide to:
• Be observant.
• Be clear.
• Be accurate.
• Be highly visual.
• Keep looking to find a fresh picture, perspective, insight, or comparison.
• Keep listening to the music by reading aloud each version of each poem.
Being consistent makes an effective choice too. For instance, some poets put a comma at the end of each line whether it’s needed or not, or they omit punctuation along each line then suddenly add a period at the end of a verse. Since a number of poets seem to be doing the same thing, this might be a trend (albeit ineffectual), or maybe the poet doesn't know normal punctuation works well, or maybe poets in general no longer learn about punctuation and grammar in grammar school.
Regardless of the reasons, poets and writers really need to fill or refill their toolbox of primary writing aids. If, for instance, you do not know how to apply punctuation or grind out grammar in appropriate times and places, you can improve your language skills by finding out what is correct and what is not. How?
Poets and writers with Microsoft Word software can:
Go to “File” then “Options” then “Proofing” and check the boxes needed.
Or call up a file you have saved in Word. Go to the “Review” tab on the menu bar, then click and activate “ABC – Spelling & Grammar.”
Your best options, however, include these suggestions:
Get a grammar textbook, preferably one written for grammar school kids! Why? Well, why not make learning as easy as possible?
Visit such sites as:
Chicago Manual of Style online
Guide to Grammar and Writing (college level)
Online Resources for Writers (from the University of Richmond)
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Studying proper use of grammar and punctuation might take some time, but then you will know the information and be able to use it in innumerable ways. Even more, though, as a poet or writer, your writing deserves whatever you can give – not tricks or weird maneuvers but skillful use of the tools of your trade.
~~
© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler
~~
• Punctuation guides readers through a poem.
• Punctuation and good grammar assist understanding.
• Punctuating a poem in a weird way punctuates imperfections and weirdness.
• Well-woven syntax (sentence structure) threads each line with artistry.
• Awkward or unnatural syntax confuses and loses a reader.
Almost every poet wants to stand out or be different, but breaking rules, peppering and assaulting poems with periods and commas, or twisting syntax into pretzels seldom has the desired effect. Most often, freshness comes in other ways as poets decide to:
• Be observant.
• Be clear.
• Be accurate.
• Be highly visual.
• Keep looking to find a fresh picture, perspective, insight, or comparison.
• Keep listening to the music by reading aloud each version of each poem.
Being consistent makes an effective choice too. For instance, some poets put a comma at the end of each line whether it’s needed or not, or they omit punctuation along each line then suddenly add a period at the end of a verse. Since a number of poets seem to be doing the same thing, this might be a trend (albeit ineffectual), or maybe the poet doesn't know normal punctuation works well, or maybe poets in general no longer learn about punctuation and grammar in grammar school.
Regardless of the reasons, poets and writers really need to fill or refill their toolbox of primary writing aids. If, for instance, you do not know how to apply punctuation or grind out grammar in appropriate times and places, you can improve your language skills by finding out what is correct and what is not. How?
Poets and writers with Microsoft Word software can:
Go to “File” then “Options” then “Proofing” and check the boxes needed.
Or call up a file you have saved in Word. Go to the “Review” tab on the menu bar, then click and activate “ABC – Spelling & Grammar.”
Your best options, however, include these suggestions:
Get a grammar textbook, preferably one written for grammar school kids! Why? Well, why not make learning as easy as possible?
Visit such sites as:
Chicago Manual of Style online
Guide to Grammar and Writing (college level)
Online Resources for Writers (from the University of Richmond)
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Studying proper use of grammar and punctuation might take some time, but then you will know the information and be able to use it in innumerable ways. Even more, though, as a poet or writer, your writing deserves whatever you can give – not tricks or weird maneuvers but skillful use of the tools of your trade.
~~
© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler
~~
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