What gets published by the great, the good, and the well-known journals and literary magazines?
First, editors tend to select work that is original, engaging, strong, complete, and which shows an understanding and appreciation of what aesthetic is currently in the publication! Editors also gravitate toward work that feels contemporary, confident, genuine, and fully realized in whatever aesthetic they prefer. Some editors gravitate toward work that feels really new, i.e. ground-breaking or avant-garde. Some editors are looking for a very specific type of poetry, i.e. they will reject everything that does not fit their special niche in (or angle on) poetics. Admittedly, some (bad) editors will publish their friends, rich patrons, and formerly great famous poets and writers! (This is true even of some very high profile journals, which shall not be named. Every poet in Po’ Biz has known some of these editors.) If you can write a successful love poem or unrequited love poem (or any other very familiar theme) in a way that is original and feels authentic, immediate, compelling, and ful
