In my previous article, I discussed how to find literary publications that would make a great fit for your style of poetry. Now we are going to delve deeper into the whole submission process. 

Deadlines

The most important part of the submission process is the deadline date for each submission. If you miss the deadline date, it means you will have to wait until that magazine opens back up to submissions, and you do not want that to happen. When you are submitting your work to multiple publications, it is so easy to lose track of each deadline date. That is why it is vital to keep a calendar, noting down each date and the publication title, so you never miss out on any opportunity. Another thing to note is whether your chosen publication will consider more than one submission. This is called a Simultaneous Submission and it means that the magazine will consider a submission from you even if you have sent it to another publication. Many magazines do not accept simultaneous submissions as they require their content to be original and obviously would not want to publish a piece of work that has already been accepted by another magazine. So, before you submit any work, read the rules and guidelines carefully. 

Payment

In my opinion, I believe every writer should be paid for their work. However, when you are first starting out, your main priority is probably going to be getting as much exposure as you can. The choice to submit your work to a publication for no monetary gain is entirely up to you. However, in the long term, your goal should be getting paid for your work. So, please prioritize your submissions to those publications that will pay you. On the subject of money, I want to point out that some publications will charge a reading fee. Please be careful here and carry out your own research to ensure the fee is legitimate and warranted. 

A great place to find submission opportunities is on social media. Twitter especially has a huge writing community. If you follow the right organizations or people and research the right hashtags, then you will find a huge range of writing opportunities. The list is endless but here are a few you can start with: 

#callforsubmissions
#poetrysubmissions
#poetrycommunity
#poetryjournal

Facebook also has a really supportive and vast writing community. If you have not done so already, then join writing groups on the platform. You will find a great community spirit in the groups and advice, support and help are always available. There are also submission opportunities listed on literary publication pages, so be sure to like the pages that fit your writing style. 

Finally, I would like to suggest that before you submit your work to any publication, make sure you have several polished pieces of work ready. As I mentioned earlier, many publications do not accept simultaneous submissions. You do not want to waste your precious time waiting for the deadline date to expire before you can send your work to another publication. If you have a collection of work then you can submit to many publications simultaneously, and that way you keep the momentum going. This is an exciting stage of your writing journey, so enjoy every moment of it.