Book Publishing Contracts

Finding Poetry Book Publishers

Finding publishing companies that publish poetry is certainly a harder task than finding conventional publishers. This largely depends on the market; publishers are only going to publish what sells. One way to look for poetry book publishers is to go to the poetry book section of a book store and look for the publishers of the most recent offerings. Pay especially close attention to the publisher of poets whose work is closest to your own. You then need to return home and visit that company's site to see what information is available for poetry authors.

Another way is to talk with published poets whom you know and see if they are willing to share information with you about their poetry book publishers. Note that not all will be so willing to discuss this information!

Some poets publish their own books, often under a publisher name that hides this. If you take this route, be sure that your poetry does not reside in boxes in your house for the next 10 years. This is no more effective than if you had not published at all, or it sat on the poetry book publisher's shelf.

You can also publish your book on the web if you are not interested in making any money off of it. The odds that you will much if any money off your poetry, is sadly low. This is why poetry book publishers are not on every street corner. Posting your poetry online in fact is a more economical way of having your voice heard, than self publishing or paying for your work to be published. If it proves sufficiently popular you could use this is a means to get a publishing contract later on.

How much poetry do you, yourself buy? Chances are you own a total of five poetry books yourself, and most of those may have long dead authors. If even poets will not buy each other's work, the odds of any poet finding monetary success is low. Poetry book publishers cannot pull product demand out of a magic hat. You may need to even engage in marketing for your work if you are determined to be published and make money off your work. If you wish to pursue this route, then offering samples of your work online, in addition with links to where to buy your work may be one avenue. Be sure to attend poetry readings as well.