what is considered publishing?

[matthew murphy]

All,

I have a few general questions regarding submitting work and I'm not sure what the 'best practices' are in the haiku world. I see several places where I would like to share some of my haiku, either for critique or to participate in a community. I also keep a blog of sorts where I discuss my experiences learning to write haiku. Is posting to these places considered publishing my work? In other words, does it prevent me from submitting my work to a curated journal or publication?

Also, what about contests? If I submit a poem and it does not win, does my submission prevent me from submitting it elsewere?

If these topics are discussed elsewhere, feel free to point me to those discussions.

Cheers,

Matthew

[Alan Summers]

Hi Matthew,

Whether print or online magazines, take a while not only reading their submission guidelines, but the haiku etc... they tend to publish.

Here's one of many online haiku directories:http://haikudirectorylechaiku.blogspot.com/

You mention you would like to share some of your haiku for critique or to participate.  May I suggest NaHaiWriMo?

NaHaiWriMo: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NaHaiWriMo/108107262587697

More about NaHaiWriMo: http://sites.google.com/site/nahaiwrimo/

There's always regular discussions about what is a publication.  Google for magazines and read everything carefully re submission requests, and what type of haiku they publish, this is very important.

Editors have different criteria over what determines a haiku as published.

If you send work to a competition and don't get placed, and the haiku isn't posted/published then you are free to enter other competitions, but ALWAYS read carefullly the entry criteria of every competition and magazine.  I can't stress this enough.

Some magazine editors, and many competition judges do not like to see haiku on the internet as it's not considered a first seen haiku anymore.  So don't post every haiku on a public site.

Looking forward to other replying.

Alan

All,

I have a few general questions regarding submitting work and I'm not sure what the 'best practices' are in the haiku world. I see several places where I would like to share some of my haiku, either for critique or to participate in a community. I also keep a blog of sorts where I discuss my experiences learning to write haiku. Is posting to these places considered publishing my work? In other words, does it prevent me from submitting my work to a curated journal or publication?

Also, what about contests? If I submit a poem and it does not win, does my submission prevent me from submitting it elsewere?

If these topics are discussed elsewhere, feel free to point me to those discussions.

Cheers,

Matthew

[matthew murphy]

Alan,

Thanks for the helpful links! NaHaiWriMo was one of those places I was curious about. I don't have a lot of interest in submitting anything for print publication now, but don't want to do anything which rules out the possibility, either. It sounds like anything submitted to NaHaiWriMo would, to most, be considered a published work, correct? Seems like there's a conundrum around seeking peer review for a poem and getting the final version accepted for publication. I'm sure I'll get a feel for it eventually. Thanks again for the links!

Cheers,

Matthew

[Alan Summers]

Matthew,

If you are only considering (print) publication in the future, then the beauty of Facebook is that it soon gets lost when new haiku are added over the days. :-)

Frogpond; and Haijinx are happy to accept haiku posted on Facebook.  In fact it was Mark Brooks, Editor-in-chief of Haijinx who convinced Frogpond to accept Facebook posted haiku. :-)

So if you are not in any hurry to submit work to magazines, then take your time studying every single quality haiku publishing magazine, reading everything carefully. 

Alan

Alan,

Thanks for the helpful links! NaHaiWriMo was one of those places I was curious about. I don't have a lot of interest in submitting anything for print publication now, but don't want to do anything which rules out the possibility, either. It sounds like anything submitted to NaHaiWriMo would, to most, be considered a published work, correct? Seems like there's a conundrum around seeking peer review for a poem and getting the final version accepted for publication. I'm sure I'll get a feel for it eventually. Thanks again for the links!

Cheers,

Matthew

[John McManus]

Hi Matt, as far as I understand it. Work which is posted on blogs is considered to be published by most journals since the work is available to the public through a simple search on the net. Poems posted in workshops on forums such as THF is considered not to be published since you can't view those poems without becoming a member of that particular forum. I know it's a fine line, but as Alan has wisely stated read all the guidelines that the journal has when it comes to submitting your work and check out what kind of haiku they want.

Editors are like anybody else, they have their own leanings and tastes. Trying to figure out what those leanings and tastes are is all part of the fun

Personally I don't think poems posted on blogs, twitter or facebook are published poems, but I'm only one guy and I really don't think a consensus can or will be reached on this particular issue. 

warmest,
John

[matthew murphy]

John/Alan,

Thank you both for the links and the clarification.

Cheers,

Matthew

[sandra]

Hello Matthew,

A list of reputable haiku journals, both online and print, is kept here:
http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/haikunews/haikupublications

While this link will take you to a list of competitions, kept current for this month and 2 ahead:
http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/haikunews/competitions

The competitions list is refreshed at least once a month, while the journals listing is updated (both adding and subtracting journals, changing details) as needed.

Alan's advice to read submission guidelines carefully is the best advice you can get - most editors are woefully overworked so submissions that don't conform are a pain.

The vast majority of competitions revert the rights of your work back to you once the results are announced and winners published, whether you have won or not. The exception seems to be competitions in Japan where it pays to read all the fine print carefully. Several contests say something like "copyright of all the submitted poems remains with the orgainsers" ... forever! Don't know whether it's something that gets lost in translation but, personally, haven't felt like testing it.

Good luck with your submissions,
Sandra
Haiku NewZ editor

[Lorin Ford]

It can be a grey area, but apart from the excellent advice to read submission guidelines carefully I feel the need to add the obvious: 'published' means published, whether somebody else publishes your work (eg journals, print or online) or you publish it yourself (in print or online). 'Published' means being made available to the public, it's as simple as that.

If you share your work with half a dozen friends in a coffee shop or 30 peers in a college classroom or post it for c & c on a private (membership only) website, such as THF forums which require you to be a member, Yahoo groups etc, that's not publishing it. If you share your work with all your facebook friends or post it on your blog which can be accessed by the public via an internet search engine, then you have published it.

Various journals have different requirements. If , after reading the submission guidelines thoroughly, you are still unsure in relation to any particular journal, include details of where you have first published your work or had it published and leave it up to that particular editor's discretion.

The same applies to competitions.

- Lorin

[Julie B. K.]

Sandra, I did not know that about poetry contests - I just assumed that a contest would want first rights or one-time rights.  I can see where these nuances can pose a challenge in translation!  Does anyone know about Kusamakura?  I can't find anything in the English-language section that says they own all rights to submitted poems, but it would be good to know.  Thanks in advance -

Julie K.