I am surprised there seems to be no comments about this issue. I was just looking at the Aesthetica poetry competition rules. It costs £10 to enter two poems but they also add on VAT so its twelve pounds really. Looking at the website- ok they ask you to buy the magazine, so they don't display any poems there, although they show a lot of visual art. I get the impression they see poetry as a little bit of word stuff to set off the pictures.
Poetry competitions are in some cases well known, and your work will be respected if it is selected, but in many cases it is a possibly a way of raising some funds for the magazine, and you have no idea who, if anyone, will ever see it. How can we tell the difference?
Do WOL members enter these competitions? I know Winston has had successes and rightly so as I respect Winstons work as being worth reading. What about the rest of you? Are you feverishly sending stuff off in all directions. Is it usual to charge VAT on entries?
And while we are on this topic, how many WOL members regularly send stuff to magazines? Are there any magazines left these days? How can you know what sort of circulation a magazine has?
Clues, please, to 'How to be a published Poet' I guess.

Generally I think you find that the bigger the cash prize, the higher the entry fee. I see the Myslexia first prize was £2,000, at the top end of the market. The entry fee was £17 for the Manchester poetry prize (deadline just gone) but then the first prize is £10,000. Someone once said to me he was quite happy to enter the odd competition, as he regarded the entry fee a bit like placing a bet. Others might regard the odds as too long. I prefer to submit poems to magazines on the whole, because I think the chances of acceptance and publication are relatively higher than being placed in a competition. Some might argue that you very rarely receive anything in return, apart from a complimentary copy of the magazine. But that is a tangible thing that you can place in your bookcase. Those looking for a list of free-to-enter competitions and submissions should consult Cathy Bryant's Comps and Calls, on Write Out Loud Community's Facebook page. Cathy has today posted her September list https://www.facebook.com/pages/Write-Out-Loud-Community/260122457345775?ref=hl