So much for that bright idea

In sending publishers query letters for my manuscript The Body Makes a Plot, I thought I'd go through my poetry collection, identify poets whose work seemed similar to mine in style or subject matter, and then send queries to the publishers of those poets.

However, W. W. Norton, Henry Holt & Co., and Wesleyan are either not considering submissions (or queries) or read by invitation only. Dear Editors, how can you invite me if you don't know about me?

(At this point, you might be asking "Joannie, why are you trying to query Norton, Henry Holt, and Wesleyan?" Good question! Because they've published Sandra M. Gilbert and Roberta Spear. And because, at 50, I feel like I don't have time to be shy and shrinking.)

I'm trying to contact a couple of other publishers, based on the poets they've published in the past. But most of the list is out either because the press in question is regional (Wyoming or Central Valley in California) or you have to be someone to know someone to ...

Okay, enough of that already. It was a targeted approach. Perhaps, tomorrow night, I'll dig into the database at Poets & Writers. More random, but maybe with more luck.

Thanks for listening.