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Step 1
Decide on a theme for your poetry anthology. Some common themes revolve around a literary movement, a specific time frame, a country, a specific author or a thematic concept.
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Step 2
Solicit poems by placing an ad in a writing magazine, a journal that features poems or a medium which is related to the theme of your anthology, such as a feminist website for a feminist poetry anthology. The ad needs to specify your requirements and your contact information. Ask poets to send a specific number of poems of a specific length, a self-addressed stamped envelope and a brief biography. Specify a deadline for submissions and copyright clearance. Copyright laws require specification as to whether the poems published in your anthology have permission to be published in previous publications.
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Step 3
Review the submissions carefully. Each entry needs to match the tone and theme of your poetry anthology. If it doesn't, don't include it. Send acceptance and rejection letters to the contributors. Include a personal note on each rejection letter if possible.
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Step 4
Create a master file containing accepted submissions complete with each author's biography. Back up this file so it is not lost when Murphy's Law takes over.
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Step 5
Research publishers and send query letters to appropriate publishers. A book proposal needs to accompany the query letters. In an ideal situation or in an academic environment, book proposals may be sent out before the anthology is compiled, especially if the anthology is to be funded by a research grant.
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Step 6
Secure permissions for previously published poems by contacting the publishers who originally published the poems.
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Step 7
Mail publisher contracts to poets and complete the anthology publication process according to your publisher's instructions.
