What Counts as Previously Published?

The editors at Verse Wisconsin take on the issue of “previously published” or not when a writer submits a poem that has been published on the writer’s personal blog or website. Some publications (most notably in my encounters – online journals) count personal blog/website postings as “previously published.” Others do not consider it “published” unless it has gone through an outside (of yourself) editorial process. Verse Wisconsin‘s position after much consideration and consultation: “We will accept poems that have appeared on the poet’s OWN blog or website (only), with an understanding that upon acceptance, the poet will remove the accepted poem from their own site for the duration of the VW issue, print or online, their poem appears in. After the issue is past, poets are free to publish the poem again on their blog, with a credit to VW listed and hopefully a link to the issue in our archives.” Solution? Well, it’s one approach.