Prospective poets who want to submit their work should take note of the following.
I'm an Associate Editor of a literary magazine. I have accepted a variety of work. And poems that use weird spacing? You know, an indent here, twenty spaces there, often random? Hate 'em. Especially since this age of computers causes many a poet to go nuts with the space bar and tab keys.
We publish poems on a WordPress based site. that means if a poem has 10 to twenty spaces we can't just cut and paste that. And every space has to be accounted for.
And when the spacing is completely random? Oh, that makes my work so much more...memorable.
I still publish these type of poems, but I have to sit on them until I have at least an hour to format the piece. Which is what I did this morning.
While I think that "centering" your stanzas is the ultimate in lack of effort, spacing your poem sporadically is the ultimate form of torture for your prospective publisher.
So the next time you wonder why it takes so long for your poem in the shape of bird wings to get accepted, consider the left margin in your document. It's your best friend. Keep your poem close to it.
I'm an Associate Editor of a literary magazine. I have accepted a variety of work. And poems that use weird spacing? You know, an indent here, twenty spaces there, often random? Hate 'em. Especially since this age of computers causes many a poet to go nuts with the space bar and tab keys.
We publish poems on a WordPress based site. that means if a poem has 10 to twenty spaces we can't just cut and paste that. And every space has to be accounted for.
And when the spacing is completely random? Oh, that makes my work so much more...memorable.
I still publish these type of poems, but I have to sit on them until I have at least an hour to format the piece. Which is what I did this morning.
While I think that "centering" your stanzas is the ultimate in lack of effort, spacing your poem sporadically is the ultimate form of torture for your prospective publisher.
So the next time you wonder why it takes so long for your poem in the shape of bird wings to get accepted, consider the left margin in your document. It's your best friend. Keep your poem close to it.
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