The Poetry Bookshop Online website is run by the Poetry Book Society (www.poetrybooks.co.uk), an organisation which promotes contemporary poetry by selling the best new books, rather than by publishing poetry or commenting on work submitted to us. Please don't send us your work - we won't be able to do anything with it. However, we do hope the following guidelines may prove useful.

Magazines and Competitions
If your poetry has not previously been published professionally, we suggest you begin by sending your work to a wide selection of poetry magazines and entering poetry competitions. Aspiring poets have normally amassed a reasonable body of material before feeling ready to approach book publishers. The Poetry Library in London produces lists of reputable magazines and competitions - www.poetrylibrary.org.uk

Writing Groups and Courses
Joining a Writing Group is an excellent way of both improving your skills and meeting other poetry writers; they are usually advertised in libraries or in writing magazines (try Mslexia at www.mslexia.co.uk or Writers' News at www.writersnews.co.uk) and are often tutored by published poets. The Arvon Foundation runs very good residential courses in its centres in Yorkshire, Devon and Inverness-shire. Visit www.arvonfoundation.org for course details.

Poetry Organisations

The Poetry Society - runs an advisory service through which a number of poems may be sent in for comment.

 The Poetry Society
 22 Betterton Street
 London
 WC2H 9BU

 Tel: 020 7420 9880
 www.poetrysociety.org.uk

The Poetry Library - holds large collections of 20th century poetry and all English-language poetry magazines which are extremely useful for researching potential markets for your work.

 The Poetry Library
 Royal Festival Hall
 South Bank
 London
 SE1 8XX

 Tel: 020 7921 0943
 www.poetrylibrary.org.uk

Survivors' Poetry - promotes poetry by survivors of mental distress, through workshops, performances, readings and publications. Network of 30 poetry groups around UK.

 Survivors' Poetry
 Diorama Arts Centre
 34 Osnaburgh Street
 London
 NW1 3ND

 Tel: 020 7916 5317

The Poetry Book Society - provides advice, guidance and discounts on the best newly published poetry. Poets who regularly read a wide range of work which is currently being published are in a better position to judge the style and quality of their own poems, and many published poets are members of the PBS.

 Poetry Book Society
 Fourth Floor
 2 Tavistock Place
 London
 WC1H 9RA

 Telephone: +44 (0) 207 833 9247
 Fax: +44 (0) 207 833 5990
 www.poetrybooks.co.uk

Useful Books
 The Writers and Artists Yearbook 2004
 A & C Black
 £13.99
 ISBN 0713669365

 Writing Poems
 Peter Sansom
 Bloodaxe Books
 £7.95
 ISBN 1852242043

 Writing Poetry
 John Whitworth
 A & Black
 £6.99
 ISBN 0713658223

 How to Publish Your Poetry
 Peter Finch
 Allison & Busby
 £8.99
 ISBN 074900391X

 Teach Yourself Writing Poetry
 Matthew Sweeney and John Hartley Williams
 Hodder Arnold
 £8.99
 ISBN 0340867647

Self Publication
Publication is very hard to achieve and we suggest that you take a long look at your work even before taking the competition / magazine route. Most people write for their own pleasure and will never see their work in print - unless they do it themselves. This is possible with the help of a personal computer and a reasonable printer, but do think carefully about distribution and marketing.

Other Forms of Publication
A number of organisations offer publication in an anthology for a fee or on the assumption that the poet will buy an expensively produced book. Advertisements for such schemes appear occasionally in the press. While this kind of publication operates within the law, these ventures are primarily profit-driven and do not tend to benefit poets, financially or otherwise.

Other 'Getting Published' Links
 http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/info/faq.htm#get%20published  http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/enquiry/aspirset.html
 http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/subs.asp