You’ve received your tenth rejection, a form letter with no indication of why they didn’t want your work. Your spouse and friends love your writing, and your poetry group is endlessly encouraging. You know you’re presenting your work professionally and following submission guidelines. So what gives?

What You Get

I’ll send you at least a full page of recommendations on how to improve your poetry. Longer manuscripts will receive a longer manuscript evaluation. Some of the areas I may comment on are: appropriate markets for your work, steps to take to improve the work, character, flow, form, format, honesty, humour, imagery, marketability, plot, presentation, reading recommendations, rhythm, structure, tone, voice… and the like.

What You Don’t

I can’t promise that my feedback will get your manuscript published. Most periodicals receive more mail than, say, Liechtenstein; fierce competition for limited space can make it hard to get published, especially while you’re still developing a reputation. My feedback does not absolve you from researching the marketplace to ensure that you’re submitting to the appropriate publications, nor from the hard work of writing well and honestly.

My Credentials

My poetry has been published by Alba, The Antigonish Review, Asimov’s, Canadian Literature, Contemporary Verse 2, The Fiddlehead, Grain, Room of One’s Own, Stand Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Vallum Contemporary Poetry amongst many others, and my poetry collection, The Glaze from Breaking, was published by Stride Publications in 2005. A complete list of my publications is here.

In addition, I was Executive Assistant at the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia from February 1997 until September 2001; much of my time there consisted of advising people on how to go about getting published.

My Rates

In US funds, $50 for up to 10 pages, or $125 for up to 48 pages, or $200 for up to 80 pages. Please use standard manuscript format. Please pay via PayPal to joannemerriam@gmail.com, and then email your manuscript as an rtf or pdf to the same address, or send both your manuscript and a cheque to Joanne Merriam, P.O. Box 41232, Nashville TN 37204 USA.