How I got 10 poems published in ONLY POEMS

A behind-the-scenes look into the submission process, the edits, and the interview

Last month, I was honoured, giddy as hell, and beyond thrilled that ONLY POEMS published ten of my poems in their Poet of the Week series. (You can find them here.)

Founders and editors

Karan Kapoor

and

Shannan Mann

were incredible to work with, and I actually believe they might be are angels in disguise.

ONLY POEMS

is a lit mag committed to publishing fresh voices, emerging and established poets. If you’re in the online poetry world, you’ve likely run into them on their rapidly growing Instagram, or you might even subscribe to their popular newsletter.

They also have a pretty low acceptance rate—it’s damn competitive.

Here is the tea, the goss, the secrets (jk…but kinda), of how I got ten poems published in this wonderful journal.

The submission process: third times the charm?

This particular package of poems was not the first time I submitted to ONLY POEMS. In fact, it wasn’t the second either!

The first time I submitted to ONLY POEMS, according to my Submittable, was on January 8, 2024. I submitted five poems to their Poet of the Week series.

I received a very kind special rejection from Karan only TWO days later (see below). It was just the right amount of encouragement for me to submit again.

I wasted no time with the next submission. On February 12th, I responded to their themed call for Love & Sex poems. I submitted my poem “Human sex” and….

I received a form rejection. Wah, wah, wah.

To be fair, I don’t often submit to themed calls because it forces my brain into a weird place of trying to make the poem fit the theme instead of just writing a good poem. (There’s a reason that poem never saw the light of day, LOL.) I swallowed the rejection, realizing the poem wasn’t submission-ready.

Fast forward six months. I was ready to try again. This time, instead of submitting five poems, I sent in seven. ONLY POEMS lets you submit up to ten, and if I could do it over, I’d absolutely send the full ten.

I originally submitted seven poems on August 1st, 2024. Karan asked to see more work (see below) on September 9th. I gladly sent over more work that very same day.

Thankfully, I spend my summers writing ferociously. (Gather takes a break in the summer, so I had plenty of poems lined up.)

And then I waited. In the meantime, “Because I don’t have Spotify Premium” was accepted by The Turning Leaf Journal and “Old Lovers” was accepted by The Wild Umbrella. I withdrew both poems.

Then, on the magical day of October 9th, 2024, I posted a Close Friends story of my poem “How about” and Karan saw the story and messaged me asking to withdraw it from other magazines. This was the green light—they were publishing my work.

(I’ve never had work solicited from an IG story before. The power of the interwebs!)

The Editing

ONLY POEMS’ acceptance rate is extremely low, so I knew my poems had to be tight, polished, and submission-ready before I even hit send.

One of my favourite poems I’ve ever written, “How about,” was chosen for publication in this series. Below, I will show you my craft choices for this poem.

Karan made a few minor editorial suggestions for two of the other poems, which I gladly accepted. Working with an editor to fine-tune my poems is something I always look forward to. It’s not every day you get to collaborate with someone who pushes your work to be its best.

The Interview

One of the best things about ONLY POEMS is their commitment to uplifting poets’ voices. Every single poet they publish gets interviewed—and let me tell you, the questions are gold.

Karan sent me the interview questions, and I sat with them for almost a week. They were that good.

Some of my answers were funny. Some goofy. Some sad.

After I submitted my responses, Karan mentioned how much they appreciated my honesty and frankness. A good lit mag doesn’t try to box you in or force some profound academic response—they just want to know you.

The Lessons?

In a poem, I often urge writers to leave the lesson unsaid. But for publishing in a dream mag? Hell, I’ll share every lesson I can with you.

1. Make connections with your favourite lit mags. Take their workshops. Address your submissions to the editors by name. Follow the journal on social media. None of this guarantees publication, but it does open communication channels. It never hurts to be on an “I know you, sorta” basis with an editor.

2. Be patient. Everything in publishing moves slowly. If you’ve sent an email and haven’t heard back in a week, don’t panic. Gather recently launched its lit mag, and I now understand firsthand why editors take so long to respond. They’re drowning in emails. They don’t hate you. They haven’t forgotten you. They’re just busy. (That said, a kind reminder email never hurts.)

3. Be open-minded to editorial feedback—but stay true to your artistic vision. If an editor suggests a change, listen with an open mind. Consider the edit. If you truly don’t love it, you don’t have to accept it—but give it a chance. It’s an opportunity to collaborate, and they’re investing in your work.

4. Don’t stop submitting to your dream lit mags just because you’ve been rejected before. Keep at it. Most poets submit to the same journal multiple times before they get an acceptance.

5. Oh, and maybe add your favorite editors to your Close Friends story. Lol. You never know—they might just solicit a poem.

With love,

Maria

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👀 The Good News?

My popular writing table Gather is opening to new members in two weeks! We have over 700 poets on the waitlist and room for just 25 new members. If you’re a poet eager to explore the edges of your craft, write with talented poets every week, and meet your poetry besties, join the waitlist below.

(An exclusive discount will be sent to all waitlist members as well!)

The invite email will be sent to the waitlist on April 1st at 9am ET. Please please set a reminder—spots filled in hours last time.

P.S. This will be the last time we open up spots until the fall. If you’ve been antsy to join, now is your opportunity!