How to Publish Your Poetry

By the time I published my poetry collection Uprooted: A Season of Grief in 2025, I had been developing my voice and craft for years. Written during a grief sabbatical in the wake of my father’s death, the collection became both a creative refuge and a milestone in my journey as a poet.

In addition to publishing, my poetry has also been recognized internationally: my poem “The Hope of Reemergence” was shortlisted for the World Erbacce Poetry Contest in the UK. Based on this, my success might seem like it’s arrived all at once — but it’s really something I’ve built gradually, starting from the moment I wrote my first poem.

In this post, I’ll share what I learned from publishing my own poetry, and how to write and publish a collection of your own.

1. Build a consistent writing and sharing routine

Every poetry book begins with a promising body of work, and that starts with a consistent writing practice. Before even thinking about publishing, I focused simply on writing regularly and finishing poems.

My process typically begins with a feeling. I sit with it, pull words and phrases from my journal, and listen to what the poem seems to be saying. I prefer drafting by hand because it slows me down and keeps me close to the language, but there’s no single right way to write. What matters most is showing up consistently and giving yourself the space to develop your voice.

Share your work on social media platforms

As your body of work grows, the next step is putting it out there. Social media was one of the first ways I began sharing my work and connecting with readers and other poets. Platforms like Instagram, X, or a personal blog are a great way to publish your work instantly and start building visibility — often paying dividends in the long run (think Rupi Kaur). 

When I began posting, I wrote with a specific reader in mind, which helped me create more intentional connections. I also learned that a wide reach isn’t always meaningful. When one of my posts briefly went viral, most of the new followers it brought didn’t even engage with my work!

The lesson here is that a small group of readers who truly connect with your work is far more valuable than a large but passive audience. I personally try to think about the numbers as little as possible, and even hide follower and subscriber counts where I can.

Create a dedicated home base

At the same time, it’s important to create a more permanent online home for yourself. Social media helps people discover you initially, but you need a dedicated space — like an author website, blog, or newsletter — where they can reliably find your bio and your work. 

While I do maintain a personal website, my Substack actually became that home for me. It allowed me to share poems and reflections while also building a community that was sincerely interested in my work.

Over time, as you prepare to publish a collection, this kind of space gives you a pre-established audience to share it with. I have since used my Substack to find readers and writers willing to contribute blurbs for my book, which worked wonderfully (I’ll talk more about this below).

2. Submit poems to literary journals and contests

Once you’ve begun sharing work in your own spaces, the next step is to submit individual poems to literary journals and contests. These publications may not pay much, but they expose your work to a wider audience and lend it prestige — which is especially important if you hope to secure a book deal with a traditional publisher in the future.

A good place to start is poetry contests. Although competitive, they offer opportunities for publication, recognition, and even confidence-building. My own poem, “The Hope of Reemergence,” was shortlisted in an international contest, affirming that my work could resonate beyond my immediate circle.

🚨 Watch out for dodgy contests and companies trying to scam writers. 

Another valuable avenue is submitting to literary journals. While there’s nothing wrong with aiming high, starting with smaller or emerging magazines can be a smart way to build credits before targeting highly competitive publications like, say, The New Yorker.

Follow their guidelines to the letter

Most now use online submission systems and may charge a small reading fee. Make sure to always follow their submission guidelines carefully — editors may disqualify work that doesn’t meet their requirements.

Reading past issues also helped me understand each publication’s aesthetic and discern whether my work would be a good fit. Remember that doing your research matters just as much as the quality of your submission. 

Check out our literary magazine directory to discover reputable journals that are actively accepting submissions.

Over time, submitting individual “test” poems will help you understand which pieces click the most with readers and editors. That insight becomes crucial when you’re ready to curate and publish your own poetry collection.

3. Curate a cohesive collection

After publishing individual poems, the next step is to assemble them into a collection — a more curated reading experience. You can choose between a chapbook, a zine, or a full-length book: whatever best suits your work.

Many poets begin with a chapbook to introduce their voice. This is a short booklet, 20-40 pages long, and typically has a central theme (like grief, love, loss, identity and so on). It can be self-published, or released through indie presses or chapbook contests.

A poetry zine is even more independent and allows plenty of room to experiment with your craft; they’re also fairly low-cost. A full-length book, on the other hand, offers a larger canvas and usually emerges from years of writing that have emotional or thematic throughlines. If you have a lot to say on a certain theme, it’s probably going to become a book.

Don’t impose structure — let it emerge

After my father’s death, I wrote poetry through the lived experience of grief without thinking about structure or publishing. Only later, when I stepped back, did I see the pattern: the poems moved through grief the way seasons move through a year. Fall felt like descent and dying; the cold of winter, like hibernation; spring brought thaw and new breath, and summer held a quieter integration of the full cycle.

In other words, the structure of the collection emerged organically, without me having to force it. When you review your own body of work, simply look for a shared rhythm, subject, or emotional thread. Notice which poems seem to speak to one another. You could even jot down keywords beside each piece to trace the connections.

Know that some poems won’t belong, but that’s part of the process. You can always set them aside for future projects or individual submissions.

4. Edit your poetry collection

Once your manuscript has taken shape, you need to edit your work for clarity and concision. This is when it goes from a promising draft to a publishable collection.

For me, revision is physical, requiring patience and stamina. Once I have a draft, I tape it to the wall and let it sit before returning with fresh eyes. Then, I read every poem aloud — sometimes recording myself — to catch excess words, uneven rhythm, or places where the breath breaks. The goal is to have a poem that can stand on its own without wobbling.

This precision extends beyond the lines themselves. Titles are the reader’s first point of entry, so it’s up to you (and your editor) to arrive at one that faithfully signals the poem’s language or emotional core.

Work with a professional editor

It takes serious courage to share your poetry with an editor, but getting that kind of professional perspective has been invaluable to me.

After a lot of research, I picked Aaron Lelito because I felt he would protect and nurture my voice. He helped me steer clear of over-explaining emotion, guided me toward precision, and showed me how sometimes, removing a line makes the poem stronger.

Needless to say, working with an experienced editor can strengthen your manuscript significantly, whether you’re going to pursue traditional publishing or self-publishing.

Pitch literary agents to score a book deal

If you want to publish your work through a traditional press, you can pitch your polished collection to literary agents. While poetry doesn’t always require one, you’re often better off with an agent on your side.

Prepare your query letter and find someone who will champion your work.  If they manage to get you a book deal, you’ll then collaborate with an in-house editor to refine your poems further, while the publisher handles cover design, production, and distribution.

Poetry presses tend to prioritize the strength of the work over platform alone — but with the steep competition and modest advances, getting a book deal can be challenging. Here, in addition to working with an agent, having poems in reputable magazines can give you a leg up.

Should you self-publish or publish traditionally?

Like literary fiction, poetry is closely tied to legacy bookselling. A traditional press can offer prestige, hardback editions, and even editorial reviews in established outlets. However, it’s a slower route, and acceptance is never quite guaranteed. 

If you don’t want to wait (or simply prefer full creative control) you can choose to self-publish your poetry — which is what the rest of this post will cover. The next step is designing the interior of your book. That means turning your manuscript into a beautifully designed book, beginning with the layout and presentation.

5. Lay out your poems with intention

When you map the collection out on page, you should have a certain reading experience in mind. Even if not every reader moves sequentially, the sequence you choose does inevitably create an emotional arc. Adele famously removed the shuffle option from her albums so listeners would experience them from start to finish, as she intended.

Think about pacing from the first page to the last. What does the reader feel when they move from one specific poem to the next? The sequence should guide the emotional journey you want the reader to take.When assembling Uprooted, the structure that had emerged mirrored the seasons of grief I had experienced. The order of the poems, then, already had inherent thematic meaning, as I touched on above.

Besides order, you also attract the right readers with great presentation, and I wanted the book to feel gorgeous and intentional from cover to cover. After all, poetry is visual and verbal: the harmony between line breaks, margins, and white space is so important. All these elements change how a reader receives a poem.

I realized quickly that typesetting is an art form that required skills beyond my own. I decided to work with a superb professional designer, Jasmine Hromjak, who helped me make sure that each poem had room to breathe. As you can see from the sample layout above, she perfectly understood my vision and did a great job.

6. Design an evocative cover

Naturally, we cannot overlook the cover. As the first point of contact, it signals tone, genre, and intention before one has read even a single line. Poetry, as a genre, allows a lot of creative freedom here — but that can also make it tricky to pinpoint the perfect cover for your collection.

If you’re designing the cover yourself, tools like Canva can be a practical starting point, especially on a tight budget. Study current poetry cover trends for visual cues, but make sure the design still reflects your work’s core themes.

💡 Looking for inspiration? Visit our poetry cover gallery.

As far as attention to detail and a good feel for genre conventions go, working with an experienced cover designer is often the safest bet — especially if you’re self-publishing. I also collaborated with Jasmine on the full print cover for Uprooted, and it came out beautifully:

7. Publish and market your poetry

For me, the work always comes first and marketability comes after. Still, it’s important to eventually think about marketing, especially if you are publishing your own collection.

Self-publishing means taking responsibility for the editing, design, and production of your book. Whether you manage it yourself or bring in professionals, you’ll want to ensure a few key elements are firmly in place.

Decide how to position and distribute your book

For distribution, most poets use Amazon for its reach, but you can also publish in eBook and print through platforms like IngramSpark to expand availability beyond a single platform.

For positioning your book, make sure to have: 

• A compelling, genre-specific cover.

• A strong book description.

• Targeted keywords and categories on Amazon or other platforms.

• An author platform (website, blog, etc.) to promote the book.

• A solid understanding of paid advertising options

Promote your book before the launch if possible

When I released Uprooted, the strongest support actually came from the community I had already built through Substack.

Because readers had followed the journey, they felt invested in the book’s launch. I shared the manuscript with a few trusted early readers; as mentioned above, some even provided blurbs for it. This kind of support grows over time from engaging with your intended readers.

From there, you can widen your reach through newsletters, preorders, early reviews, and even test digital advertising on platforms like Amazon, Meta, or BookBub. I also secured reviews to build early visibility for Uprooted. When readers encounter your book alongside thoughtful reviews, I find that it naturally builds more interest and visibility.

You can also continue leading readers to your work through readings, open mics, newsletters, personal essays, or digital publications that point readers back to your book. Even small events, especially those with signed copies, can strengthen word of mouth. The more engaged you remain, the easier it becomes for new readers to discover your work long after launch.

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I have found that in poetry, the rewards may be more creatively than commercially fulfilling. I personally do not write on command or on a timeline, so the next collection will arrive when it arrives.

That doesn’t mean commercial success is out of the question; far from it. If you are serious about your poetry career, your charge now is to keep guiding people toward your work and honing your voice. Stay patient and remain true to the work itself, and the right readers will find you in time.