Poetry Forum

I was born in Romford Essex in 1963, but grew up in Swansea South Wales. I read History and Biblical Studies at Swansea and Sheffield respectively, and I've worked in the Prison Service, DVLA and Royal Mail. I've lived in Chesterfield for the last nine years, and have been married to Sue since August 1997.

I had a manuscript published last year, (which I had to pay for), but which sadly has since been compared (in terms of ability to sink without trace) to a luxury-liner and an iceberg circa 1912.

BEST REGARDS
SEAN KINSELLA

Hi Sean,

Thanks for being honest about your publication. We've had a number of people on the forum saying that their work has been published (usually after their poems have received a major slagging off). Obviously, the important thing in these cases is not whether someone has been published but who has published it. Unfortunately vanity-published poerty says nothing about the quality of the work; it just means someone has shelled out some money to see themselves in print.

As I've mentioned before the market for contemporary poetry is very small. Even a new collection by a Faber and Faber/Bloodaxe etc poet - with the full weight of a prestigious publisher behind it - may only sell a few hundred copies. Flogging your own self-published stuff is virtually impossible - unless, of course, you also perform it live and happen to be very funny aswell.

The best bet for most poets is to try and get their work published in a reputable magazine. You may even be paid a small fee for this but don't give up the day job. ( I used to get £15 for poems in Poetry Review and £40 for one in the F&F Book of Blue Verse.)

Avoid anything dodgy though - especially anyone who asks for money. One common scam is to accept your poem for publication but then to ask you to buy a copy of the anthology in order to see it. If there are 100+ contributors and the booklet costs say £10 this could be a nice little earner for some unscrupulous git.

Cheers
Cam

CAM

Many thanks for what you said and the advice you gave. I am in the position you described at the close of your post - ie publisher charging me over £15 per poem every time I'm accepted in one of their anthologies. It's got to the point where I'm just unable to afford it anymore.

Interesting... I phoned them up one day, and asked who reviewed their publications in the press, and they flustered and blustered "We're not aware of any criticism", before (ahem) 'replacing the receiver' (so to speak).

They're the same ones who did my manuscript, so perhaps I should have known.

BEST REGARDS
SEAN KINSELLA