How/where do I publish a poem online?

How do you publish or patent a poem?

• please can some one help me!!

• Answer:

  you do not patent poems. patents are for inventions, like new light bulb designs. Poetry (and novels) are copyrighted, and they have copyright protection once they are written. You do not need to register the copyright unless there is a need to do so (for novels, that is when getting published and the publisher does it for you and in your name). Mailing a copy to yourself (known as a poor man's copyright) is a myth - it does not register a copyright, it does not give you any legal protection, and it does not even prove you wrote the work. Poetry is generally published by magazines and anthologies that accept it. google Duotrope and search their database (you can choose poetry as the only parameter). Submission guidelines are available for each magazine listed. You will need to know what format work needs to be submitted in and whether or not they want a brief cover letter. You will need to know what rights they are buying and what that means (if they buy all rights you may not be able to ever publish the work again, even in an anthology of your won poems). Since you are obviously very new to publishing concerns, be aware that there are many publishing scams that target poets. Potery.com and the International Library of Poetry are just two of them. You can check the reputation of any publisher on scam busting websites like Writer Beware (and their blog), Preditors & Editors, and the beware & background check subforum at absolutewrite.com/forum (known as the water cooler - which also has a subforum dedicated to poetry that you should visit).