A Poets View

There are two major reasons you should be tracking your poetry submissions.  First, it is imperative that you keep track of where you are submitting so that you do not submit twice.  Second, if you simultaneous submit you need to keep track so that you can notify other magazines that your poem has already been accepted. It’s important also so that you can followup with the magazine.  If for example a magazine states that their normal response time is a month and you haven’t heard from them, wait one more month then send a quick, friendly email or note asking for the status of your submission.  If another month passes and you’ve heard nothing, send a note withdrawing your submission.  Many larger magazines have long response times due to the sheer volume of submissions.  So, the protocol is to give them an extra month to respond and if nothing is heard after the extra month it’s time for you to move on with another magazine. You can track your poetry either online, by using a notebook or index cards.  Whatever feels right for you is fine.  Normally you would note the magazine publication, the editor or contact person, the titles of poems you’ve submitted, the date – very important – that the poems were submitted and keep a blank line where you can notate either a rejection or acceptance.  Hopefully you’ll have many notes in the acceptance column. This is just one tip of many that I will be outlining in future posts.  This can also apply to any genre.  Whether it be short stories or article or essays the same applies.  Keeping track just makes the submission process much easier and organized.