You've examined the market carefully and decided on your first potential publisher. The next step is to stop being a poet for a little while. We write for ourselves, for our heart and soul, and damned with the rest of the mundane world. That's fine when you're writing poetry, even expected, but now it's time to change hats. Now, it's time to be a little more prosaic.
Writing is an art, but publishing is very much a business.
So stop being a writer for a few minutes, and put on your business hat. Below, you'll find some common conventions of the publishing industry. All of these are important and, as a business person, you'll do well to recognize their validity. When you get ready to go on a date, there's a few things most of us do first. We take a shower or bath, brush our teeth, and put on fresh clothes.