Recently, I asked for some feedback on possible software for poets at the request of a poet friend of mine. Personally, I still write poems out with a pen on paper before copying them over into Composition Notebooks. It's super lo-tech, but it's a system that works for me.

Here's what other poets had to say on the subject of software:

"I have used verseperfect in the past. Find it here http://www.bryantmcgill.com/Free_Rhyming_Dictionary/."

--John Nixon

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"Are poets not writers? Assuming your reader was referring to WD's software article in the Jul/Aug issue, there were several programs mentioned of use to poets, including Word Menu and Bullfighter (probably best for performace poets!), plus any of the submission tracking programs. Poets could presumably even make creative use of the programs focused on plot and character development, and the voice recognition software might be helpful for the overly page-bound scribes out there.

"http://www.writersdigest.com/article/the-2008-wd-guide-to-software-for-writers/

"If they're looking for software that will actually help them write a good poem, though, there thankfully is no such beast. Imagine the books of celebrity poetry flooding the shelves if there were?"

--Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

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"In response, this here is a fun bit of web-related poetry writing software:

"http://www.gpeters.com/auto/autotype.php

"'tis a google poetry machine/robot/thing and can produce amusing, even occasionally helpful results."

--Nathan Hamilton

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"Well, there's RACTER - the poem-writing program Christian Bok describes in his essay 'The Piecemeal Bard Is Deconstructed,' which you can find here: http://www.ubu.com/papers/object/03_bok.pdf

"Don't know that it's commercially available, though, I must say."

--John Moore Williams

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Over on Facebook, I have a personal account with a bunch of poetry friends, as well as a Poetic Asides group with a lot of members. So yesterday I asked the published poets who are members to share a little bit of advice on writing those tricky little bio notes that poets are often asked to include with their poetry submissions to poetry journals and magazines.

The response was overwhelming. I'm just now digging out of all the great advice. Here's what some of them had to share:

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I generally strive for a 50- to 75-word bio, featuring only the most recent and relevant info about my writing life. I list the three publications of which I'm proudest first, then two or three accolades (awards, residencies, honors). If appropriate, I tailor the bio for the publication in which it will appear. For example, if it has a regional focus, I'm likely to mention my previous publications in that region. If there's room, I'll also reference my graduate degree in poetry and the poetry-related community service I do. As my career evolves, I revisit and update my bio regularly so that it represents the best of my writing life each time it appears.

Sage Cohen

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The length of a bio can walk a very fine line. As a reader of journals I'm not too interested in work where the bio is only "so and so lives in Atlanta". I want to know a little something about the poet but at the same time I don't want to be lulled to boredom by reading an overly verbose bio with dozens of credits listed. I use the same approach, mentioning my background very briefly (maybe a word about my novels) and mentioning a few journals where my work has appeared if I mention any at all.

David LaBounty

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Typically in my bio I give the title of my book and then list only three journals, or four at the most, where my poems have been published. When I read a bio that lists a whole string of journals, regardless of whether there are other credits included, it makes me suspect that the poet is feeling insecure--in the same way that a poet who writes past the ending of a poem doesn't trust the reader. I prefer a bio that is selective. This is the time to put your best out there, not every little indication that someone likes your work.

Susan Meyers

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I do exactly what the editor asks. If he asks for three sentences, I send three sentences. I do not send six and suggest that the editor edit as he likes. Chances are he won't like that at all! If the request for a bio is vague, I check the journal for examples. I never send an exceedingly long bio as I'm turned off by them, especially when they're very braggy. I include usually no more than three journals where my work has appeared. I never use numbers. I find it a complete turn-off when I read a bio that says something like, "So and so has published 502 poems in 138 journals." Bean counting is unattractive and amateurish. I never include information about pets, one, because I don't have any, and two, because I never am interested in pet information in other people's bios. I include my book titles, some journals, what I do for work, maybe where I live, any significant prizes. And those are the things I'm interested in when I read other poets' bios.

Diane Lockward

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The formula: [academic accomplishments (MFA/PhD, Grants/Awards)] + [3 or less previous publishing credits (if this bothers you, tack "and elsewhere" on the end)] + [books published or to be published and/or writerly positions, such as "Nonfiction Editor"] = satisfactory bio.

Todd Dillard

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Sometimes the obvious must be stated: follow the press or publication's guidelines if they are available, and select information that may be of particular interest to the publisher, such as work in journals with compatible styles or thematic interest. Beyond that, select the information that is most likely to make the reader stop and give your manuscript a close look rather than skim through. A small number of relevant items suggests the tip of the iceberg, while including too much sounds desperate. If you do feel it necessary to include a large number of items, invite the editor to select those that are most relevant for contributors' notes rather than expect everything to be included.

J.D. Smith

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Remember that bios are not written in first person, and create a few single sentence and a short paragraph bios to keep on file, making sure to match the tone of the bio with the publication.  If your collection of poems about death makes it into a serious anthology, don't use phrases like "loves the feeling of mud squishing between his toes" or "spends her free time singing karaoke on free beer night".  

If it's a lighter-hearted publication, have a little fun with your bio without losing focus of what a bio is for - to let the reader know a little bit about who you are, what you do, and why you are significant enough to need a bio.

Lisa Abeyta

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Less is more. A bio note is not a resume.

Aaron Fagan

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If the editor of the magazine does not provide guidelines, I usually keep it to three sentences, including one that illustrates whether I have been published previously and where.  I usually begin the bio with my name, where I am from, and a bit about my educational background.  The second sentence is usually something quirky about myself, and the final sentence is where I have been published.

Serena M. Agusto-Cox

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First of all, it's important see what guidelines the journal may set on length and/or type of content and follow those precisely. I always mix my bio with some (and the operative word is 'some') of my publishing credits as well as personal comments. It's important to show that you've published, if you have, and yet let the editor know a little of your human side, as well. It should go without saying that you should check your bio for spelling and punctuation before sending it.

Pris Campbell

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Keep it short and definitely within any word or character limit (for example, keep it much shorter than this paragraph). Mention only the publications in which your work has appeared most recently (unless you've previously published in the publication for which you're submitting the bio; then, it's nice to acknowledge that). If you've published books or worked on projects that are important to you, put those near the beginning. Keep personal details to a minimum.

Okay, now here are the caveats: Some people write extremely clever and very personal off-the-wall bios. They are entertaining if written well. Try to see what other bios people have written for that publication to determine whether that's a good direction. And if you don't think you can write that kind of a bio well (I don't think I can), consider sticking with the more plain Jane variety.

Joannie Stangeland

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In my experience, you have to know your audience. For example, for some journals, I use the opening "Brian Spears is not related to the singer, but he does have a teenaged daughter named Brittany. He hopes she will forgive him one day." storySouth used that bit, but I didn't include it when I was published in The Southern Review. I sent it to Measure, and the editors cut it, but I sent it to them because I knew them from grad school, and I figured I could get away with it.

My basic structure includes this information: recent publications, awards, and what I'm doing now. I expand it depending on the journal I'm sending to, and how adventurous I perceive them to be. Hope that helps.

Brian Spears

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There has to be something interesting; a hook in that bio that grabs them as much as what you have written would. Think of your bio as yet more branding for what you are trying to sell. It has to be interesting.

Natalie Williams

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Do not under any circumstances tally up your publications and give a total. I have read bio notes stating that the poet has published over 200 poems in over 50 magazines, or over 1000 poems, or whatever. I once read a bio note stating that the poet had only 360 poems to go before hitting 5000 poems published. Seriously. Don't do that.

Jessy Randall

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My advice is mostly from working as copy editor for Alaska Quarterly Review for three years. I was sometimes assigned the task of cutting author bios down to the size and content we were looking for; I think it does depend from journal to journal. We did not publish information about where a person worked, as a rule. We did publish awards and previous publications. It usually read like this, "So and so's collection X is forthcoming from such and such press, and her poems have appeared in X', Y, and Z. Her poem Y' won the Pushcart Prize in 1998." If there were more than a few sentences' worth of publications, we might trim it down, choosing the highest-profile accomplishments, so yes, short and sweet is good. If you've been published in 50 journals, best to say, "So and so has been published in more than 49 literary journals, including X, Y, and Z." If someone hadn't been published before, we wrote, "This is so and so's first appearance in a national literary journal."

Erin Wilcox

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Always best to look at a recent back issue of the journal to see what sort of tone the editors like (cutesy or serious). As an editor, I really don't like overlong bios (and why give me extra work to do? Edit yer own bio!) -- fifty words is fine. Think of the bio as an opportunity for other people to connect to you: places where they can find you or your work. Never lie.

That said, I like adding an element of subtle perversity, like only listing journals that have a number in their title, or are one word or syllable long.

Hugh Behm-Steinberg

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I have a standard bio that includes a couple major publishing credits, my editing work, and what I do to earn a living. I then add information relevant to the specific poems: if I'm sending poems about Japan, for instance, I will mention the time I spent living in Japan.

Elizabeth Kate Switaj

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Pick only the most important two or three accomplishments and mention those. Also, try to tailor your bio to fit the audience of the journal or mag in which your work appears. Try to write it in such a way that you highlight what you have in common with that audience or that you establish yourself as unique among the voices there.

Allen Taylor

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There's nothing I hate more than a bio that looks like all the other bios. The way some of them read, I imagine there's no person behind it -- only a walking mound of awards and journals, held together by the stickiness of critical acclaim.

The bio itself can be poetry. Be creative. Use a metaphor, or at very least a bit of symbolism.

Jason Mashak

Was talking to another editor yesterday about Novel & Short Story Writer's Market--which is my current top priority project at work--when she, a fiction writer, mentioned that she had received two rejections in the past week. Suddenly, I felt envious--she was, at least, receiving rejections. She, at least, was submitting her work. I have not been submitting at all.

There's no excuse. I can say I've been busy with work; I can say I've been busy writing; I can say I've been blah-blah-blah; but the simple fact is that I've just not been submitting. I haven't been taking care of that part of my creative side. And it's an important part.

After all, there are more benefits to submitting your work than just receiving an acceptance, publication, and--rarely, though I hear it does happen--payment for your poetry. In fact, I've found acceptance is sometimes disappointing, because as my girlfriend likes to say, "I've lost that poem and can't submit it anywhere else."

Here are the benefits of submitting:

* Acceptance. This is always the goal of submitting: to be accepted and for people to read your work.

* Feedback. A few times, I've had poems rejected, but received a little feedback on the poem and/or some words of encouragement, such as, "This one nearly made the cut," or, "We really liked this one, but it didn't fit." While this is not an acceptance, it can definitely fire you up to get that poem (or poems) back in the mail (or email) to another publication.

* Rejection. It sounds silly to think that receiving a form rejection could be a benefit. After all, not only are you being told you didn't make the cut, but there are no indications that you were even in the running. Total. Complete. Bummer. Right? Not exactly. If you approach rejection from the correct angle, it's validation that someone read your work. It's also a testament to your hard work ethic and effort in trying to get published. It's also a challenge to look over your poem(s) again--should it have been rejected? Are there ways to improve? If yes, then do it. And re-submit. If no, then re-submit and show that you're the tough (and professional) kind of poet who will persevere through rejection.

The worst is when you receive nothing--especially when the reason you receive nothing is that you haven't been submitting. That's akin to saying, "I don't care." Which is fine if you just write for yourself, but if you want to reach out to others and give them one more voice to consider, if you want to touch at least one other person and let them know--hey, I've been there, too--then please do yourself a favor and submit your work. There's really no excuse not to.

And now, I'll get off my soapbox and start practicing what I preach. After all, how am I going to add to my credit list if I don't have any submissions out making the rounds? Geez!

Many new poets have become readers of Poetic Asides since when it began more than 10 months ago. And with close to 300 total posts, it's not a good idea for me to expect you to dig around looking for helpful publishing information. So, I'm going to give a real quick Poetry Publishing 101. (If you find it helpful, I suggest bookmarking this post.)

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Before you attempt any publishing, you need to read a lot of poetry and write a lot of poetry. I put reading a lot poetry first--and by reading poetry I mean reading poetry by contemporary poets--because this is truly the best way to learn how to write effective poems. Successful poets pay attention to what they like in poems and spin it around in a new direction. Of course, you should also write--daily, or at the very least, weekly. If you frequently go longer than a week without writing, you might want to try setting up a writing routine or even reading more poetry (because reading poetry often sparks new poetry).

Avoid rushing into publishing before you've worked on your craft for a while. For instance, I worked on my poetry for more than 12 years and wrote thousands of poems before I felt comfortable enough to try getting published. Even after that lengthy apprenticeship, I've still had more than my share of rejection slips. The competition is fierce, so to spare your ego (of rejection) and your bank account (of postage expenses), I recommend you exercise a little bit of patience in your pursuit of becoming a world famous poet.

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When you think you're ready to get published, start off by submitting to magazines and journals that accept poetry. Too many poets come to me asking how they can get their whole collection of poetry published when they haven't even published a single poem. (Of course, it should be noted that this is a natural way to think if you don't know the business of poetry publishing--so don't feel bad if I'm describing you.)

If you're not sure where to find magazines or journals that accept poetry, then I suggest checking out the most recent copy of Poet's Market. (Full Disclosure: I work on Writer's Market and recently have been going over pages of Poet's Market--and I edit the resurrected Poet's Market newsletter. So, yes, I'm a little biased to which reference I direct you.) You can pick up a copy at your local library or bookstore--or you can order online at http://www.fwbookstore.com/product/1538/23.

In this guide, you'll get more than 1,600 listings for magazines and journals, presses, contests, workshops, etc. But even more important for the poet new to publishing, it is loaded with practical articles and interviews that show you how to properly submit your poems.

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If you've already been published in several journals and think you have enough poems to put together a collection, the best way to get that collection published nowadays is through poetry book and chapbook competitions. Chapbook competitions tend to be for collections of less than 48 pages (usually 24-40 pages is the norm), while full book length collections trend over this 48-page threshold. Neither type of competition is easier or harder to win--so don't enter the chapbook competitions thinking it'll be a cakewalk because the size of the manuscripts are smaller.

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Of course, more and more poets are bypassing the traditional means of publication and doing it themselves. This tradition dates back as far as any poet can remember. Even America's great poet, Walt Whitman, was a self-publisher. But if you decide to go this route, make sure you can look yourself in the mirror and say that you're self-publishing for the right reasons. Don't do it just because it's the easy (or lazy) way of getting published if you actually want to build a readership over time. While saying you've got a book published can feel fulfilling, it loses its luster if the only people who own a copy of your poems are you, your mom, and your garage.

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Finally, I'm not gonna get into the whole can of beans with those FREE poetry contests you can find in the backs of magazines and online. Not in this post. Instead, here's my account of my first publishing experience before I decided to get patient (that's right I was full of ambition at 16--and learned a valuable lesson as a result): http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/Im+Coming+Out+Of+The+Closet.aspx.

While I'm not sure how much this stimulus/rebate thing-a-ma-bob is actually going to help the economy (just as I was skeptical of the earlier stimulus check that apparently didn't help out), I'm more than happy to have received a bounce in my checking account this morning. Yay!

I know not everyone who reads this blog is from the United States. So I'm sorry you don't get the crazy cash influx, but for those poets who are expecting (or have already received) a rebate check, let me give you an idea of how you might invest some of this money.

1. Subscribe to a literary journal or three. Not only is it good reading, but you'll be learning what poems each journal wants. Plus, you'll be supporting the poetry community, which helps everyone from the poets to the publishers.
2. Buy some Forever stamps. Check with your local post office to verify, but these stamps can apparently be used forever--despite any increases in First-Class stamp rates. So, you could stock up now on the stamps you can use to mail your poetry submissions forever.
3. Purchase poetry supplies. Go ahead and buy surplus amounts of your favorite pens, pencils, pads of paper, erasers, etc. Heck, get a huge dry erase board that you can turn into a brainstorming or draft board for your poems (or a great place to doodle while you're thinking of a poem).
4. Attend a writing conference or workshop. Why slowly save for a conference or workshop experience when the government is sending you enough money to cover the expenses of most events now? This could be your once in a lifetime chance to really connect with other writers.
5. Build a Web site. Personally, I've thought about using some of my rebate check to finally create my own site to highlight my achievements (or lack of achievements). Web sites are great, because it allows you to give people a destination to find out more about you, your publishing efforts, and more.

Of course, another option is to use the rebate to pay for the skyrocketing prices of gas and food. Yesterday morning, I was dumbstruck by the price of regular unleaded: $3.79 per gallon. Say what?!?

During the PAD Challenge, I noticed quite a few poets including either the word Copyright or the copyright symbol--a C inside a circle. While I understand the fear of someone stealing your work and may have even done that with my own fiction and poetry earlier on as a writer, I want you to know you don't need to include those markings, especially when you're submitting your poetry to journals and magazines to be published.