Themes & Trends

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The first annual report on themes and trends I wrote was for 2022. That was prior to the Poetry Bulletin being on Substack, so I’ve copied that text here for reference:

Themes and Trends in 2022

I've been keeping a spreadsheet of publishing opportunities for full-length poetry manuscripts since 2018. It grew alongside my journey with my first poetry manuscript. Once I had a format that felt workable, I decided to share this resource with fellow poets.

Over time, some averages, themes, and wonderings have emerged. In 2022, I’ve taken the data further, with the addition of prize information. What started as a spreadsheet for tracking submissions has also become a way of telling a story, with numbers, about the poetry ecosystem. As I’ve detailed in this post, it can help answer questions like:

• What’s the average submissions fee for a poetry book contest?

• Who doesn’t charge for submissions? Who charges a lot? Who charges a little?

• If I submitted everywhere, how much would it cost?

• What kind of prize money is at stake for poetry books each year? What’s the typical prize amount I can expect if my poetry book is a winner?

• What other forms of compensation are given? Which publishers include author copies, for instance?

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The spreadsheet and its data are living resources—created with love by a human and possibly imperfect along the way.

I do an annual update at the start of the new year. I visit every opportunity, check that links work, verify the contest is still running, update deadlines, and so on.

After the initial, intensive refresh, I update the spreadsheet as I learn of new opportunities or deadline changes. After January, the updates typically happen on a seasonal basis.

In 2021, a lot changed. A handful of publishers put submissions on hold. I also noticed lots of deadline extensions and major changes in timing (e.g., moving the reading period to a different season). This started happening as soon as the summer of 2020, and things continued to shift in 2021. With the 2022 update, more publishers have resorted to a message of “We’re finding our way through these times, and we’re not sure when we’ll re-open to read your work.” I’ll update as I learn more. Subscribing to the poery bulletin is the best way to get the latest updates.

The information that follows is based on an update of the spreadsheet as of January 13, 2022. When I originally shared this post on January 11, there were 157 listings. By January 13, I had learned of more opportunities, and the spreadsheet grew to 163 listings. I was also alerted to a change to the Michael Waters Prize ($10 decrease in fee and a $2,000 increase in the prize amount). Given the significance of those changes, I decided to update the data here to reflect the new info.

This will be my last major update for now. Things may change in 2022 (hopefully for the better), so think of this as a snapshot in time—a picture of where we’re at with the start of the new year.

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Intentions: Why This Project + Data Exist

1. I share this data to try and make the poetry book journey more accessible for more poets—especially poets who don’t have access, time, energy, or other resources to find and prioritize opportunities. I want your energy to be poured into making your best book. We need it. Please write it.

2. I don’t share this information to dishearten you, infuriate you, or to tell you where to submit or not. Each of us has different reasons and means that shape our submissions journey. I hope this helps you find your way, in some small way.

3. I do share this data to make it easier for publishers to reflect on trends and benchmarks (e.g., average fee rates). I especially invite publishers to notice if their commitments (e.g., Black Lives Matter, equity and inclusion, supporting emerging and marginalized voices) line up with their practices. Two reflection points in particular for 2022:

   • Does your website state the compensation provided—especially if you charge a submission fee?

   • If your fee is higher than the average ($24), how does that reflect commitments you made toward a fair and equitable submissions process?

Submission Fees: How many listings charge?

• Charging a Fee (82.2%)

• No Fee (12.9%)

• Unknown/TBA (4.9%)

As of January 13, there are 163 listings of contests and open reading periods on the spreadsheet. The vast majority require a fee to submit.

• 134 listings—82.2%—charge a submission fee.

• 21 listings—12.9%—do not charge a submission fee.

• 8 listings—4.9%—have an unknown fee or a fee that’s yet to be announced. As I’m able, I’ll be reaching out to these publishers to ask for more details.

Note: I use the word “listings,” because a single publisher can have multiple listings (e.g., an open reading period and a contest) on this spreadsheet. The numbers above do not reflect individual publishers themselves, but the actual numbers of listings/opportunities to publish your poetry book.

How much are submission fees?

$24
average fee

Of the 134 listings that charge a fee, the average fee is $24. The good news is this hasn’t increased from 2021. In April 2021 (with the data I had collected at that point), there was a $2 increase in the average submission fee from 2020.

In fact, a couple publishers have decreased their fees. Kudos to Autumn House for lowering their fee from $10 to $3 for their open reading period, and to Switchback Books for lowering its fee for the Gatewood Prize.

The lowest fee is Autumn House’s $3 reading period. The highest fee is $35, which is charged by the Academy of American Poets First Book Award and Copper Canyon. Copper Canyon describes their fee as a reading exchange—submitters choose two books from their catalogue in exchange for the fee. And the Academy invites requests for waivers if their fee is a barrier.

$3,152

If you submitted to every listing on this spreadsheet, you’d pay $3,152 for your part in the poetry ecosystem. That’s the equivalent of buying 210 books at $15 each.

2.5 hours per (average, fee-based) submission

Let’s say you’re a poet who happens to live in Michigan like I do, a state where the minimum wage is $9.87 per hour. You’d have to work 2.5 hours (but that’s before taxes) to cover the average cost of one submission.

New for 2022: Prize Information

I’ve wanted to include prize and compensation data on this spreadsheet for a long time. I was able to make it happen for 2022—with enough coffee and curiosity, any amount of data entry is possible.

How many listings offer a cash prize?

• Offering cash prize (50.9%)

• Unknown/TBA (19.6%)

• No cash prize and no other comp mentioned (19.6%)

• Royalties, etc. but no cash prize (9.8%)

Of the 163 listings (as of January 13), just over half offer a cash prize. In the spreadsheet, I have noted cash prizes separately from other forms of compensation, such as royalties or copies of the book.

• 83 listings—50.9%—offer a cash award. In some cases, other forms of compensation are also mentioned, such as royalties and author copies. Some publishers are clear about whether the cash award is an advance against future earnings, while others are less clear about whether the award is a “one and done” payment (i.e., your payment is a one-time honorarium, with no future royalties).

• 16 listings—9.8%—do not offer a cash award but make their compensation clear otherwise. They may offer royalties, author copies, or other forms of compensation.

• 32 listings—19.6%—do not offer a cash award and no other compensation information is mentioned, at least in the research I did. As I’m able, I’ll reach out to these publishers to ask for more details.

• 32 listings—19.6%—have an unknown award or a prize that’s yet to be announced. As I’m able, I’ll reach out to these publishers to ask for more details.

To be honest, I’m surprised at how high the percentage of unknowns is here—it points to an easy, very quick win for publishers who are committed to transparency and accessibility. I was struck at how difficult it is to find award or compensation information on some publishers’ websites. In some cases, the submission fee was listed multiple times, but there was zero information about contracts, royalties, or even a glimmer of what to expect from the process.

And poets—especially if you’re new to this process—please remember that it’s OK to ask about these things. Ask about royalties, author copies, and promotional support. Ask about timelines and what you can expect. You can use the spreadsheet to get informed on the going rate for these things. If a publisher cares about you and your book, they’ll be willing to have an open conversation about compensation and their publishing process. If they encourage you to ask questions, even better.

$167,500

The total amount of prize money available on this spreadsheet (adding together the 80 listings that offer a cash award) is $161,500.

$2,018
average prize amount

Of the 80 listings that offer a cash award, the average prize amount is $2,018, with a handful of big prizes bringing that average up. Here’s a breakdown:

• The median prize amount is $1,000.

• 74 of the prize-offering listings—89.2%—award $3,000 or less. Among these, the average prize amount is $1,378. This number is closer to what I think of as a “true average” for prize amounts.

• Nine of the prize-offering listings—10.8%—award $5,000 or more. And four of these award $10,000 each. The most generous award on the list appears to be The Bergman Prize at Changes Press, which offers $10,000, 50 author copies, a residency in Italy, and more.

Worth Noting

• Consider that you'll likely pay taxes on any award. This will be different for every writer. Let's say a U.S. writer whose household doesn't make a living wage wins, and their tax rate is 12% (just in federal). They now have $880 left of their $1,000 prize. At the average submission fee of $24, you've essentially "pre-spent" your winnings once you make 36 submissions.

• Yes, some submission expenses may be tax-deductible along the way. I'm not sharing this to get into tax advice. It's only to help create some transparency on the (sobering) financial aspects of this process. In just one contest I entered, there were over 800 entries. The fee was $28, meaning there were over $22,000 in submission fees. Two prizes of $1,000 each were given.

And yes, publishers also have expenses. The fees are by no means pure profit. Poetry is a labor of love for so many of us, writers and publishers alike. I'm interested in how this data can give us an honest awareness of the poetry prize economy. It's not a small economy, although it's hard to know how many submissions each publisher receives (which would help us know how much total submission revenue is generated).

Adding It Up: The Poetry Ecosystem

Using the average fee, if each opportunity received 250 submissions, that would be over $780,000 put into the poetry community by writers—in just one year of submitting.

Remember that the total cash prize pool is $167,500.

Yes, there are also royalties (in some cases). Yes, author copies are a cost to the publisher and a benefit to the writer (but not all publishers include them). But the immediate, committed pool of feed-and-house-yourself, hard cash returned to poets is $167,500. That’s 21% of the revenue generated (over $780,000, as noted above) if each opportunity receives 250 submissions.

In a perfectly transparent world, publishers would share how many submissions they receive. It would be wonderful to better understand this ecosystem that we’re all supporting. I have no way of knowing if my “250 submissions scenario” is anywhere close to reality, but I wanted to explore that number as a starting point. Now that we have the data, we can imagine these types of scenarios and possibilities.

Where to from here?

To access the spreadsheet of opportunities, click here.

If you need support to cover manuscript submission fees, find details here.

If you’re a publisher who wants to share an update, please say hello.

If you’d like to get monthly updates on deadlines, join the poetry bulletin.