Although I'm in the early stages of building my first poetry manuscript, it's exciting for me to look ahead at potential future publishers.  For the sake of poetry tradition, I've added a fourth tier to include the chapbook form as a publishing option.  My four tiers in descending order are as follows:  W.W. Norton & Company, Inc; BOA Editions; Autumn House Press, and the do-it-yourself (DIY) chapbook.

 

I'm interested in the New York City-based publishing house, W.W. Norton, because they publish some of my favorite poets: Dorianne Laux, Major Jackson, Kim Addonizio and Adrienne Rich.  Founded in 1923, W.W. Norton publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, college textbooks, cookbooks, art books, and professional books.  According to their website, W.W. Norton is the “oldest and largest publishing house owned wholly by its employees” and publishes 400 books annually, which appropriately fits the fourth tier, “big publishing” description.  In addition to their longevity and well-known reputation, their website is clean, easily navigable, and informational, which I take as a reflection of their organization.  They publish both individual poetry collections and poetry anthologies, most recently the Poets' Laureate Anthology, edited by Elizabeth Hun Schmidt and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins.  In perusing their catalog of books, I noticed that most of the poets published by W.W. Norton are mid-career or renowned (former U.S. Poet Laureates).  W.W. Norton also focuses on publishing classic poetry texts, such as Ovid's Metamorphoses.  Although I don't think I'd have a good chance publishing my first book with W.W. Norton, it was helpful for me to see which poets they publish and maybe, sometime in the future, they'd consider my later books.

 

My third tier publishing press is BOA Editions, Ltd., based in Rochester, New York.  In contrast to W.W. Norton, BOA Editions is a not-for-profit publisher (evident in their community outreach program) of primarily poetry.  Founded in 1976 by late poet and editor A. Poulin, Jr., they've published over 200 books of American poetry and poetry in translation.  Many of my favorite poets are published by BOA Editions: Barbara Jane Reyes, Lucille Clifton and Li-Young Lee.  Judging by their catalog of published books, BOA Editions seems to focus on the diversity of poetry, not just race, gender, and class, but also style and content in the work.  In addition to their website, BOA Editions maintains a blog and has a Twitter account to update other writers, publishers, and readers with news of their contests and authors, which is significant in marketing and publicity.  BOA Editions also appeals to me because they have an annual contest for first book poets called the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize.  The winner is awarded an honorarium of $1,500 and publication of their book in The A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series.  I'd definitely consider this contest as an option to publish my first poetry collection.

 

Founded in 1998, Autumn House Press is a non-profit publisher of mostly poetry and fiction based in Pennsylvania.  I've chosen Autumn House Press as my second tier publishing press because they're newer and much smaller than BOA Editions and W.W. Norton.  I particularly like their mission statement and history of the press, which is highlighted on their website: “Autumn House Press was launched...when prominent American publishers, driven by economic concerns, dramatically reduced their poetry lists and important contemporary poets were left struggling to find publishers...Small presses...are largely nurturing the great American poetic tradition.  We want to ensure that this tradition continues.”  I admire Autumn House Press and their dedication towards continuing the “poetic tradition” in the United States by their “pledge to edit this poetry with devotion and care, and to create beautiful books that are worthy of it.”  Autumn House Press publishes Chana Bloch, Ada Limon and Andrea Hollander Budy - excellent poets whose translations and anthologies are also published by the press.  Autumn House Press also has annual poetry and fiction contests, which offers publication of books, $1,000 advance and $1,500 travel expense to participate in the 2012 Autumn House Master Authors Series in Pittsburgh.  Autumn House Press is definitely another small press I'd consider for my first book of poetry.

 

My fourth tier of publishing is a do-it-yourself (DIY) chapbook.  The history of the chapbook, according to the Poetry Society of America: “Beginning in the 16th century, the chapbook has proved adaptable to a wide range of material, from political tracts to penny songs and poems. These inexpensive booklets were originally distributed to a diverse audience by "chapmen" who sold them at bars or on street corners with their other wares.”  If I couldn't find a home for my poetry manuscript and was itchy to produce something tangible for readers, I'd select a few poems to produce a print and online version of a small chapbook.  My potential chapbook process as follows: ask an artist friend to create the cover; run to Office Depot or Staples to purchase a long stapler and good quality paper; create the layout on Microsoft Word or Photoshop; spend a few hours at Kinko's and print a few proof (bad) copies; come to terms with my horrible design skills and print about 50 copies of my chapbook.  The online version would probably be uploaded onto my blog as a PDF for readers to download.  Once the chapbook is printed and ready, I'd probably sell it for five dollars or use it to trade with other poets.  I view the chapbook as an extremely informal way of publishing, though I know of some great quality chapbooks being produced by small presses like Finishing Line Press and the Poetry Society of America.