
Ok, I promised y'all a breakdown of my publishing process. So, buckle up, it's story time!
My publishing journey started in August of last year, when I happened across a call for manuscripts from my publishing company on Submittable. Yes, it was really that simple! For many other publishers, you have to do your research and know when they're open for submissions.
A helpful link for those of you looking to submit full-length poetry manuscripts is this handy blog: https://thelinebreak.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/presses-with-open-readings-for-full-length-poetry-manuscripts/ There is a lot of information to sift through, so I recommend following other poets with similar styles to yours on social media to find the "right fit."
For me, and other Spanish-language poets, the process is a lot more limited. There simply aren't very many presses in the U.S. that accept Spanish-language poetry manuscripts. Simply put, I got lucky. I searched for "spanish poetry" on Submittable and the ONLY result was the call for manuscripts from my publisher.
Now, this particular poetry collection has been collecting dust on my shelf for over 15 years. I started writing it back in college (I double majored in Education and Spanish Literature for my undergrad). When I saw that this press was looking for full-length poetry manuscripts, it felt like a long shot. Luckily, I didn't have much time to second-guess myself- the reading period was closing in a week. So, I brushed the dust off the collection, did a few haphazard revisions, and sent it off.
I was SHOCKED when I got a response almost immediately from none other than the internationally famous poet, Fernando Valverde. I had no idea at the time that Fernando was the acquisitions person for Valparaíso. Here's a little blurb about Fernando, so you can see how big a deal this actually was:

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