Poetry Line Edit Service
Rates & Information
Individual Poem Line Edit
1 - 3 pgs. of poetry: $35
5 - 10 pgs. of poetry (long poem or folio): $80
Poetry Collections
Chapbook (15 - 35 pgs.): $400
Poetry collection (45-100 pgs.): $700
If you’d like a personal 1-hour Zoom conference, please add $50 to the total.
If you have a collection that falls somewhere between the two categories, please submit it to the category you feel fits best. You’ll be given feedback on how to condense or expand your collection to fit better with submission expectations.
*Please start each poem on a new page*
Timeframe
We'll have the critique in your inbox in one month or less. You will also, at that time, be able to schedule a video or phone consultation (if applicable).
Please note that in the instance of an overflow of manuscripts, submissions may be capped to ensure each manuscript gets the proper care and attention. Submissions will reopen as able, so keep checking back; feel free to email us if they've been closed for a while.
Description
For the individual poem line edits, you will receive extensive marginalia on each poem, with a strong focus on form, line breaks, and voice. This critique also includes an overview in the form of a cover letter. Line edits may address things such as grammar and spelling, but these will certainly not be the only focus; you can expect notes on punctuation, enjambment, rhyme, meter, and other micro aspects. You will also receive ideas on additional readings (usually craft essays, poetry collections, and applicable poets) and markets currently open for submissions.
For chapbook and full-length edits, in addition to similar line-level comments in the marginalia of the collection, you’ll receive a more extensive cover letter which addresses the overall structure, themes, and cohesion of the book, with multiple options you might explore for revision. The editor may suggest poems to cut, or potential ways to fill out a theme or strengthen your collection in a generative way. This option also includes potential additional readings and suggested presses for submission.
If your book is accepted for publication, Sara Moore Wagner will, if desired, supply a blurb.
Please note that going through this process does not place you in consideration for publication at Driftwood Press. As Sara Moore Wagner is the current managing editor, we ask that you do not submit the work to Driftwood. As part of your consultation, she will supply you with a list of presses which may fit your work, but publication by those presses is also not guaranteed.
About the Editor
Sara Moore Wagner is the author of three prize-winning full-length books of poetry, Lady Wing Shot, winner of the 2023 Blue Lynx Prize (Lynx House Press, 2024), Swan Wife (Cider Press Review Editors Prize, 2022), and Hillbilly Madonna (Driftwood Press Manuscript Prize, 2022), and the author of two chapbooks, Tumbling After (Red Bird, 2022) and Hooked Through (2017). She is also a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award recipient, a 2021 National Poetry Series Finalist, and the recipient of a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in many journals, podcasts, and anthologies including The Slowdown, The Journal, North American Review, Gulf Coast, Smartish Pace, Waxwing, Beloit Poetry Journal, and The Cincinnati Review, among others. In 2023, she became the Managing Poetry Editor of Driftwood Press.
She teaches Creative Writing part time at Northern Kentucky University, where she received their Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity award.
She lives in West Chester, OH with her filmmaker husband Jon D. Wagner and their children, Daisy, Vivienne, and Cohen.
From the Editor
Hi, I’m Sara Moore Wagner! In addition to being managing poetry editor at Driftwood, I also have three prize-winning full-length poetry collections, literary journal publications and awards in the hundreds, and two chapbooks. I’ve been teaching writing for over a decade, and I sincerely enjoy helping people hone their craft and unlock their obsessions. Numerous writers I’ve mentored have gone on to win major prizes for their work. I love poetry that experiments or pushes the boundaries of language, and work that engages in ekphrasis or utilizes research (especially historical research!). I look forward to working with you!