How to Publish a Poem
Quick answer: How to publish a poem: polish it, find literary magazines that fit your style, follow the guidelines, and submit in batches. The full process explained.
To publish a poem, you polish it until it is genuinely finished, find literary magazines or contests whose taste matches your work, follow their submission guidelines to the letter, and send it out, usually three to five poems at a time. Most acceptances come after multiple rejections, so publishing is less a single event than a routine you maintain.
That is the whole machine; the difficulty is in the details. Thousands of journals exist, from famous print quarterlies to small online magazines that respond within a fortnight, and choosing the right tier for your current work matters more than most beginners realise. There is no fee to submit to the majority of journals, and no legitimate magazine charges you to be published.
Step one: make sure the poem is done
Editors reject promising poems every day because they arrived one draft early. Before submitting, let a poem rest for at least two weeks, read it aloud, and cut anything you are keeping out of fondness rather than function. If you have a trusted reader or workshop, use them. A poem is close to ready when you can no longer say what you would change, only what you fear changing.
Step two: find the right homes
Read journals before submitting to them; nothing wastes more time than sending pastoral lyric to a magazine that publishes experimental prose poetry. Free databases such as Chill Subs and the classifieds in Poets & Writers list thousands of markets with response times and acceptance styles. Build a list of ten to fifteen journals in three tiers: a few ambitious targets, a solid middle, and newer magazines actively hungry for work.
Contests are a parallel route with different economics: many charge entry fees but offer prizes, feedback, or visibility a journal cannot. Writory's monthly contest, for instance, runs entries from the 1st to the 25th with results on the 30th, and every entrant receives a scored breakdown, which is rare; most journals send a form rejection with no explanation at all.
Step three: submit properly
Guidelines are not suggestions. If a journal asks for three to five poems in a single document, twelve point serif font, no name on the manuscript, do exactly that; sloppiness gets filtered before anyone reads a line. Most journals accept simultaneous submissions (sending the same poems elsewhere at the same time) as long as you withdraw a poem immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
Write a brief cover letter, three or four sentences, and keep a spreadsheet of what went where and when. Typical response times run from two weeks to six months.
Step four: absorb rejection and keep going
Acceptance rates at well-known journals sit below two percent, so rejection is the weather, not a verdict. A useful rule: the day a rejection arrives, send that batch somewhere new. Poets who publish regularly tend to keep fifteen to thirty poems in circulation at once. Watch for tiered rejections too; a note saying 'we would like to see more' is an invitation, and you should take it within a few months.
What poets can take from this
- Let every poem rest two weeks before you judge it ready.
- Read at least one issue of a journal before submitting to it.
- Keep three tiers of target magazines and submit up and down the ladder.
- Log every submission with dates; memory will fail you by month three.
- Resubmit rejected poems elsewhere within a week to keep momentum.
- Treat any personal note on a rejection as a door left open.
Try it yourself
Choose your strongest finished poem and write the three-sentence cover letter you would send with it: one sentence on the poems, one on you, one of thanks. No adjectives about your own work allowed.
Questions
Does it cost money to publish a poem?
Submitting to most literary magazines is free, and reputable journals never charge for publication itself. Contests often have entry fees in exchange for prizes; that is a different, legitimate model. Anyone charging you simply to print your poem is running a vanity scheme.
How long does it take to get a poem published?
From first submission to first acceptance, many poets take six months to two years. Individual journals respond in anything from two weeks to six months, which is why simultaneous submissions are standard practice.
Can I publish a poem I posted on social media?
Many journals count public posts as prior publication, so check each magazine's definition. If you want to submit a poem widely, keep it off public feeds until it has found a home.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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