The poem is finished. You have read it aloud, cut two lines, put one back, and changed the title twice. Now comes the part many poets like least: getting it in front of an editor who might publish it.
Most rejections have little to do with whether a poem is any good. They come from mismatches — the wrong reading window, one poem over the limit, four separate attachments when the guidelines asked for a single document. None of that is glamorous, but all of it sits within your control. What follows is a working method.
Read the guidelines as though they were written for you
Guidelines are not legal small print. They are the editor telling you exactly how to make their life easier, which is a surprisingly good way to get read generously. Find the submissions page on the magazine's website, and read it twice: once to understand it, once with a notebook open.
Things worth writing down before you go any further:
- Reading windows, and whether the magazine closes between them
- How many poems they want — and the line limit per poem
- Whether simultaneous submissions are welcome, discouraged or forbidden
- What counts as previously published, including blogs and social media posts
- Any reading fee, and what it pays for
- Formatting: file type, one document or several, anonymous or named
- The stated response time, and whether they reply to everyone
If a magazine says "up to six poems", six carefully chosen pieces will always beat twelve. If it says no simultaneous submissions, take that seriously — it is a small community, and editors talk to each other.
Prepare the poems, not just the submission
Editors read a great many submissions in short bursts, often late at night. Make yours easy to read. Unless told otherwise, use one document, a plain readable font at a sensible size, one poem per page, each poem titled, and your name and contact details where the guidelines ask for them. If the magazine reads blind, strip your name from the file and the document itself, not just the email.
Watch the small things that sink otherwise strong work. When a form swallows your formatting, indents vanish and stanza breaks collapse — paste the poem into a plain-text draft first, then check the preview carefully. Name files clearly, for example Surname – Poem Title, if you are sending individual documents.
Then take one more look at the selection itself. Open with the poem you would bet money on. Close with the one that lingers. If two poems overlap heavily in subject or tone, cut one and keep it for next time. And check the publication rule: many editors count a poem posted publicly on social media as published, so hold those pieces back for magazines that allow reprints.
Write a cover letter that does its job
Three to five sentences is plenty. Editors are not looking for an essay; they are looking for the titles, a polite greeting and any information that helps them place you. If you have no publication credits yet, that is completely fine — just leave that line out rather than apologising for it.
Dear Editors,
I would like to submit three poems for consideration: "Kitchen Table", "The Long Walk Home" and "February". I live in Leeds, and my work has appeared in [titles]. These poems are simultaneously submitted, and I will let you know straight away if they are accepted elsewhere. Thank you for reading.
What to leave out: explanations of what your poems mean, long biographies, apologies for taking up their time, and claims that your work is unlike anything they have published. Do not tell an editor how to read you. Let the poems do that.
Simultaneous submissions, done properly
Most UK magazines accept simultaneous submissions, which is a relief: waiting three or four months on a single poem is a slow way to build a body of published work. But the arrangement depends on courtesy in both directions.
Send the same batch of poems to several magazines at once if the guidelines allow it. Do not send the same poems to the same magazine twice, and do not keep a batch circulating to a magazine that has asked for exclusivity. If the guidelines say to mention simultaneous submissions in your cover letter, mention them. If they ask only to be informed on acceptance, stay quiet until then.
Withdrawing well
When a poem is accepted, withdraw it from every other magazine that same day. Keep the email short: thank the editor, list the titles you are withdrawing, and say you hope to send new work soon. If only one poem from a batch of three has been taken, say so clearly — the other two are still available, and an editor may well want them.
Track everything, or you will lose the plot
A simple spreadsheet is the difference between a submission process and a fog. One row per submission, with columns for the magazine, date sent, poem titles, expected response time, reading window, fee paid, status and notes. Keep a folder of the exact versions you sent, because poems change between submissions and you will want to know which draft an editor is reading.
Set a follow-up reminder a month beyond the stated response time. If the magazine operates a "no response means no" policy, respect it and move on without chasing. Note when you are allowed to submit again — many magazines ask for a gap after a rejection, or ask you to wait until the next reading window opens. And if a poem comes back rejected, do not send it to the same magazine again unless it has changed substantially.
Keep the pipeline moving
Rejections arrive in emails; your poems should not live in your inbox. Read the response once, note anything useful, and put the work back out within the week. A "please send more" note, even without an acceptance, is worth recording — that editor has asked to see your work again, and you should take them at their word.
Aim to have a small number of submissions out at any one time, always. Five or six active batches is manageable for most poets. While you wait, write. The waiting is not a pause in your writing life; it is part of it.
A checklist you can copy
- Find the submissions page. Read the guidelines twice, and note the reading window.
- Record the limits, formatting rules, fees and simultaneous submission policy in your spreadsheet.
- Prepare the document exactly as asked, and check the preview for lost line breaks.
- Write a four-sentence cover letter with the poem titles and nothing padded.
- Send, log the date, and set a reminder for a month past the stated response time.
- On acceptance, withdraw elsewhere the same day. On rejection, resubmit that week.
- Repeat until the acceptances arrive.
The poets who publish consistently are rarely the most gifted people in the room. They are the ones with a tidy spreadsheet, a short cover letter and a batch of poems always somewhere in the post. Start with three submissions this month, and let the practice do the rest.
Photo: Nur Yilmaz / Pexels