The Poet's Guide to Publishing: How to Conceive, Arrange, Edit, Publish and Market a Book of Poetry

by Katerina Stoykova

This guide to publishing poetry is designed for the poet on a journey from producing a pile of poems to celebrating at a book launch. If you have been writing poetry for some time and have accumulated a volume of work, this guide is designed to meet you where you are in your book creation or publication process. It is organized into five sections to mimic the distinct phases of conceiving, arranging, editing, publishing, and promoting a poetry collection. Each section provides a mix of theoretical materials and practical assignments to demystify and ground the publication process.

189 pages, Paperback

Published August 12, 2024

About the author

Katerina Stoykova is the author of several poetry books, mostrecently Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House (University Press ofKentucky, 2024). Katerina is the founder the Senior Editor of AccentsPublishing, where she has selected, edited, and published close to 100 poetrycollections. Katerina acted in the lead roles for theindependent feature films Proud Citizen and Fort Maria, bothdirected by Thom Southerland. Her poems have beentranslated into German, Spanish, Ukrainian, Bangla, Farsi, and  The Eight Floor Balcony – a volumeof her selected poems translated into Arabic by acclaimed poet KhairiHamdan, was published by Dar Al Biruni press.

Reviews

[Dennis Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Frost said, “A poem is never a put-up job. It begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a loneliness.” What then shall we do with the lump in our throats? Katerina Stoykova’s latest book, The Poet’s Guide to Publishing: How to Conceive, Arrange, Edit, Publish and Market a Book of Poetry, is a comprehensive work designed for anyone who might have a collection of poems looking for a home. This book belongs on the bookshelf of both amateur and professional poets. Not only can this volume lay the foundation for one’s writing journey, but can serve as a reference tool to answer questions that surface from time to time. Thank you, Katerina for this triumphant work!

[Mary Popham · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have a dream! You’ve been writing poetry for a long time, or have switched from a different genre. You want to publish your poems. How in the world do you start, what steps do you take, who can give you correct information, and when should you begin.
Don’t be overwhelmed. Begin now! Read Katerina Stoykova’s new book, The Poet’s Guide to Publishing: How to Conceive, Arrange, Edit, Publish, and Market a Book of Poetry. The author explains in a direct and encouraging voice on every aspect from concept to promotion. As co-owner and operator of Accents Publishing—which has released over 100 books of poetry—to renowned poet in her own right and host of a podcast with literary personages, Ms. Stoykova knows the business inside and out. She guides you in creating your poetry manuscript with advice on choosing an engaging title, arranging the Table of Contents with what it says about the work, to the importance of the first poem as well as the last one. She advises critique from other poets but stresses, “Do I need to repeat that you should not take feedback personally? Very well, then: You should not take feedback personally!”
The last half of the book is filled with information on where to meet publishers, how to submit, the value of contests, what you can and cannot control, and much, much more.
Follow Katerina’s step by step instructions to the order of a poem’s placement in the manuscript, to deciding whether to submit to a traditional publisher, or to self-publish. She gives tips from some of her students in her class, “Poetry Book Boot Camp,” lessons from her own MFA mentors at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing, and her professional viewpoint on what to avoid when submitting to a publisher. This author’s prose writing about poetry is easy reading. Like listening to a beloved teacher, who is relatable and thorough, who explains with wisdom and kindness. For more information, visit the publisher’s website McFarlandBooks.com.

[Manuel J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this extraordinary craft book!

“The Poet’s Guide to Publishing: How to Conceive, Arrange, Edit, Publish and Market a Book of Poetry” breaks down into the stages of what Katerina Stoykova aptly terms bookmaking as a “project”: a focused, planned, temporary set of activities. There are tactics, tools, tips, and plenty of homespun humor.

The book functions to reduce stress, and she prescribes that poets exercise faith and focus, some sense of planning in their process. Determining a direction, or theme, must come before arranging the pages, and that comes before deciding if the poems need revision or more writing is needed, and then the poet selects their publisher. The crème de caramel is, finally, that there are ways to promote oneself effectively—that don’t cause undue exhaustion. This is a humdinger of a work! This is good!

[Jeremy Paden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katerina’s book does just what it says it will do. For the book-curious poet who is just beginning and dreaming of writing a book, read Part 1. This isn’t a book of prompts or an intro to writing poetry, but a a book that will lay out the discipline of sitting to write and accumulating over time a collection of poems. So, read part one and go to your writing groups and workshops and read your craft books. For the and I gotta passel of poems, read part two and part three; you’ll learn all about the discipline of arranging and revision. For the almost published a book poet, read part four and it will demythologize important steps. For the experienced poet, read it and remember what it takes and streamline your process.

[Glenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all us poets out there that write and write and dream and dream of one day publishing our work this book is for you. The author, poet, publisher and teacher Katerina Stoykova guides you from your stack of poems in a folder on a computer or in a drawer to an organized publishable manuscript. She covers everything you need to do before you submit your material to a publisher. This book is easy to follow and the tasks are easy to accomplish. She takes what seems like a difficult task and breaks it into manageable tasks you can accomplish on your own. I recommend this book to all the poets who want their poems published.

[Tabitha Dial · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a phenomenal, thoughtful, and thorough guide!

This book helps any poet who has a pile of poems work through the many steps needed to put together and market a collection of poetry.

Now I'm hooked on the author's strategies-- especially when it comes to arranging poetry and submitting poetry --

It also gave me extra courage to go to open mics after moving to a new state.

I'll probably never stop submitting poems, building new manuscripts, and going to open mics.

Grateful I already have a lot to work with.

Wish this came out ten or fifteen years ago!

You won't regret reading it!

[Jenna Goldsmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was SO helpful. I highly recommend it to poets at any stage of their publishing life.