Making a Book of Your Poems

Some poems come into being in a flash, written down in one go on whatever paper comes to hand, or held whole in the mind of the poet until they can be recorded. Other poems are written deliberately, to order or to fulfill an assignment, or to fulfill the poet’s determination to produce a poem of a certain kind or on a certain subject. And some poems are born only after a long and patient struggle, the poet coaxing them out of the seed of an idea, teasing out reluctant threads. However they arrive, good poems tend to begin as entities unto themselves, unruly and independent, and corralling them into a book is a whole other kind of work from writing them.

If you’ve got a sheaf of poems and you want to make them into a book, consult our step-by-step suggestions for how to put a manuscript together. Other poets and editors may tell you what kind of organizing principles you should use to tie your manuscript together—read these essays if you’re looking for prescriptions or suggested angles:

• “On Making the Poetry Manuscript” by Jeffrey Levine, founder and editor of Tupelo Press
• “Falling Into Place” by Paola Corso, from Writers Digest in 2008
• “Dynamic Design: The Structure of Books of Poems” by Natasha Sajé, from The Iowa Review in 2005
• “Putting Your Poetry in Order: The Mix-Tape Strategy” by Katrina Vandenberg, from Poets & Writers in 2008

Our guide leaves the decisions about choosing and ordering your poems entirely in your hands—it simply offers some practical steps you can take to get into and through the process. Then you will be ready to make use of our updated seasonal lists of poetry publication contests—most recently, our fall/winter 2011 roundup of upcoming deadlines. Good luck!