With so many journals out there it is often hard to find the right place to submit your work. It is easy to become paralyzed by the options. My method for choosing journals is in no way perfect, but perhaps it will give you some ideas.

I often find journals to submit to on Duotrope. Sometimes I use their search engine to find journals that are interested in a certain genre, length or style of poetry. Often I find journals through their weekly poetry email digest which I subscribe to. It lists all new journals, all journals that are opening there reading periods that week and all journals that have closed there reading periods. They also list all the calls for themed submissions from journals. I also find journals by looking at Duotropes listing of the Good, Bad, and the Ugly.

Another good source for Journals is looking inside your favorite books of poetry and seeing which journals published a given poem in the book. Also look at what journals a published poet lists in their bio for a book, a reading, or in journal.

However you can’t just submit to any journal listed on Duotrope. You have to find ones that you feel are a good fit for your work. However that is often harder then it looks. When trying to decide on a journal I always look at their website. If it is an E-journal and the website is aesthetically unappealing to me, I most likely won’t submit. I also examine their acceptance rate, if it is to high, I do not submit. There is no such thing as too low. I read the poems on the site and also sometimes the fiction. Even if my writing is very different I often submit if I like the work, or feel that maybe one of my poems will suit them.

What are some of your journal finding strategies? Any specific journal recommendations?