Poets Take Heed! Submission Guidelines for Poetica 2
As mentioned yesterday, I'm putting together a new poetry anthology.
How To Submit
I accept submissions through Clarendon House Publications and its email address:
Please don't post me anything, as I work through email only.
I need poems sent to me as attached Word documents. Anything more exotic will be refused.
Please use Shunn format BUT PLEASE ALSO INCLUDE IN THE DOCUMENT A 100 WORD AUTHOR BIO (with links if you wish). This is to save time later, if your submission is accepted.
Clarendon House Publications is based in the UK, but I accept submissions from poets all over the world, as long as they are in the correct format outlined above.
No submission fee is required.
Please don’t submit more than one poem.
Please don’t submit the same poem to another publisher at the same time.
Reprints are acceptable as long as the rights are solely with the poet and not tangled up elsewhere.
Editing Submissions
It is a condition of submission that the poet must be open to me correcting punctuation, spelling, grammar or any other technical basics without always contacting him or her.
If I have suggestions on how to improve a poem's substance in order to get it published, I will write back to the poet and discuss things. As an editor, I am here to help poets make it, and all suggestions will be made with that in mind. If, after receiving feedback, the poet does not wish to proceed, that is fine and will not bar future consideration for publication.
It is obviously in the poet’s best interests to ensure that the submission is in the best possible shape prior to sending it to me. If the submission takes too much time to fix, it is likely to be rejected. It also follows from this that submissions must be the FINAL version as far as the poets are concerned — I will not be able to entertain any adjustments to documents (other than proofreading fixes as above) once they have been received.
What I’m Looking For In General
I’m looking for well-crafted poems. I’m looking for beauty. That means poems which have been designed to appeal to readers, not long, rambling free verse or shapeless, incomplete collections of words which don’t make internal sense. Using traditional forms is more likely to catch my eye. Permitting words to flow freely into the page does not alway produce effective or readable poetry. Craft is required.
There is no set single theme for this anthology, but nothing sexually or violently graphic or gratuitous will be accepted.
Deadline
The deadline for Poetica 2 has been extended to December 15th, 2020.
Rights
When I publish a poem, I only ask that it not be tangled up in any other prior agreement and be exclusive to Clarendon House for one year after the date of publication. I don't ask for other rights, or place any limits on what you can do with your poem after the exclusivity period.
Copyright
Copyright remains with the poet at all times.
Word Count
Maximum word count = 500 words. This is to ensure that there is room in the anthology for more poems.
Payment
Each accepted poet receives a free e-copy of the complete anthology upon publication. As you can imagine, in an anthology with 10 or more poets, monetary payments to each author are not feasible.
BUT…
Competition
Inner Circle Writers' Group anthologies each have a competition, in which the readers vote for the best story, or in this case, poem in each volume. The author of the best poem in this volume will be offered an opportunity to publish a collection of his or her work (not necessarily poetry) with Clarendon House Publications — upon which royalties will be paid. Accepted poets therefore have a path to becoming paid poets.
There have been several winners of such competitions so far, and many such paid collections have been published at this writing.
The onus is therefore on the poet to write the best quality poem that he or she can so that the door can be opened to commercial returns.
Marketing
I strongly recommend that each accepted poet purchase THREE copies of the paperback book once released — one for their own collection (it’s important to validate one’s own progress as a published poet); one for a family member, friend, or influencer; and one for their local library.
I also recommend that each poet purchase a copy of my book Crack Your Marketing, which opens the door to commercial viability for authors and poets.
Response Times
I aim to reply to all submissions within three weeks, although I will sometimes go over this during busy periods. If you're waiting for a reply from me, please keep an eye on your junk mail folder, as some replies do end up there. If you grow concerned, or have any questions about anything, you can always email me at