Should you submit the poem or post it?

Should I submit this poem to a literary magazine, post it on social media, or share it in my newsletter or Substack?

I get some version of this question often enough that it seems like a good question to bring to the community. I would love to hear your answers and how you think about deciding where your poems live.

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Here are some questions to ask yourself as you consider your own work.

What do you want this poem to do?

Do you want it to reach people today? Begin a conversation? Help someone feel less alone? Do you want feedback? Do you want the poem to become part of your publication history, appear in a respected journal, or eventually belong to a manuscript?

These are all great goals, but they will lead you toward different choices.

If the poem responds to something timely, or if you want to connect directly with your existing readers, or if the pleasure comes from sharing it now, social media or Substack may be the right home.

If you want the poem to enter the larger literary conversation, reach editors and readers outside your current audience, or become part of your publishing résumé, you may want to submit it to literary magazines.

And if what you primarily want is thoughtful feedback, I would probably begin with a workshop, writing group, trusted reader, or private community. Public engagement can tell you whether something resonates, but likes and comments rarely offer the kind of careful craft feedback that helps revise a poem.

Where are you in your writing journey?

Are you just beginning? Have you been writing poetry for under two years? Have you studied poetry seriously for many years, whether formally or on your own? Are you beginning to assemble a manuscript?

For newer writers, sharing work online can be enormously useful. It allows you to practice being read, discover what subjects and forms hold your attention, and become less precious about every individual poem. Social media and newsletters can also help you begin finding the people who are interested in your voice.

I would still suggest being somewhat strategic. Share some poems, fragments, experiments, and pieces you feel ready to release. You do not need to post everything you write.

Social media, including Instagram, Notes, and TikTok, tends to work well for shorter poems, excerpts, visual poetry, and pieces that can be understood fairly quickly. But be aware that your nervous system is being rewarded for brevity and relatablility over depth and craft in those spaces.

Substack gives a poem more room. You can share something longer, record yourself reading it, add context about how it was written, or place it beside photographs, research, journal entries, or another poem. You can also invite your readers into a more substantial conversation.

I generally wouldn’t place most of your poetry behind a paywall when you are still introducing people to your work. Give readers enough time to recognize your voice and understand why they want a deeper relationship with it. A paid subscription can eventually support the larger body of work: your process, teaching, recordings, essays, community, and ongoing creative world, but asking people to pay for your online poetry is unlikely to be successful.

As you become more established, or begin thinking seriously about a book, it makes sense to protect your strongest and most fully realized poems. Keep them in a safe folder and resist the immediate urge to post them.

Has the poem been published already?

This is the practical question that surprises many new writers.

Most literary magazines consider a poem previously published if it has appeared publicly online, including on a personal blog, social media account, or newsletter. Some make exceptions, but many do not. Poetry magazine and Palette Poetry, for example, explicitly state that poems posted on social media or elsewhere online are ineligible for their regular submissions. Always read the specific guidelines before submitting.

A paywall does not automatically solve this problem. A poem shared with paying newsletter subscribers may still be considered published by an editor, though I do think that’s less likely to be an issue.

If you think you might want to submit a poem, the safest choice is to keep the full poem offline until you have finished sending it out.

Another thing to note: you can always put previously published poems (either online or in Lit Mags) in a collection without any issues. I had one teacher tell me he doesn’t consider a manuscript ready for publication until at least half the individual poems within it have been published in a journal of some kind. (high bar, but kind of an interesting idea!)

Below the paywall we’ll look more closely at how to decide whether a particular poem is ready to submit, plus there’s a downloadable submission tracker that can be used with any spreadsheet program!

How finished is the poem?

There is a peculiar thing that can happen when we post a poem: it begins to feel finished because other people have seen it.

Sometimes that is exactly what we need. Sharing helps us release the poem and move on. Other times, the poem needs another few months of distance, revision, reading, dismantling, and rebuilding. Public praise can make it harder to return to the work with clear eyes.

Before you post or submit, ask: Do I believe this poem is finished, or am I hoping an audience will tell me that it is? It may be more helpful to allow a trusted group or mentor to read it before deciding where it belongs.

Want to try out my writing circle? You can join this workshop on July 25th! Be sure to register at the link at the end of this post ⬇️

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