Dear poets, when submitting reprints, please remember to include the previous publication in your submission so that appropriate “first appeared” credit can be given. As a small journal editor, I feel it’s important to be open and inclusive toward the wider poetry community. I also enjoy introducing my readers to other poetic venues. I’ve updated my guidelines to reflect this change.

Submissions Guidelines:

1. Send ONE poem in the body of an email to autumnskypoetryeditor@gmail.com with SUBMISSION in subject heading (no cover letter).

2. Response time is one week via publication. If your poem doesn’t appear online within one week, consider it rejected.

No formal acceptance or rejection (email, paper airplane, aural hallucination) will be sent. Read Autumn Sky Poetry DAILY for one week from the date of your submission and you will find out if your poem was chosen for publication when it either does or doesn’t appear online.

3. Include links to your website, Facebook, Instagram, etc. (please, no bio).

4. Reprints and previously published poems are welcome. Please mention that your poem has been previously published and where so that proper credit can be posted with the poem.

5. Poets retain copyright. Poems remain online indefinitely.

6. Simultaneous submissions are accepted.

7. There is no payment for contributors.

8. If submitting a formal poem, please feel free to include the name of the form (sestina, sonnet, prose poem, etc.).

9. I do NOT accept art submissions. Occasionally I will solicit artwork if I’m feeling inspired.

FAQ:

1. No formal acceptance or rejection? Seriously? That’s rude!

It may be rude, but it greatly simplifies my life and makes running a daily poetry journal possible. If I had to reply to every submission I received, I’d probably lock myself in a closet and cry until I passed out. This also persuades (*cough* tricks *cough*) more readers to check out the published poetry, so really, it’s a win-win situation.

2. You published my poem but it has a typo/error/glaring hideous mistake! Why don’t you send out proofs? How do I get this fixed?

Easy: send me an email and I’ll fix it. I don’t do proofs because this is a daily and I don’t have time to do the whole sending out proofs thing and still have a life.

3. You published my poem and tagged it as free verse, but it’s actually a formal poem.

Whoops! Send me an email and I’ll re-tag the poem correctly.

4. This is supposed to be a daily, but there is no poem today? What happened?

It’s the weekend, I’m on vacation, or no good poems crossed my email desk. I won’t post a poem unless I receive something worth sharing. Occasionally, I will go on a long hiatus, too.

5. Why no cover letter? Why no bio?

Who you are doesn’t matter. If you write a great poem, I will publish it.

6. You published someone’s art and this is a poetry daily! What gives?

Every once in a while I’m going to veer to the side and publish artwork. I do not accept art submissions. However, if I happen across something beautiful, I may contact you for permission to publish your work.

7. There are typos/errors/glaring grammar mistakes on your website!

Don’t panic! Just send me an email and I’ll fix it.

8. How much does it cost to run this thing?

Around $60 USD a year for the website domain and various other things. This cost may go up as I’m using a “retired” version of software and I need to update things, probably in 2023. Submitting poems is free and will always remain free, as will reading the poetry and email subscriptions. I pay for the site and general costs via sales of my art and novels.

9. Why aren’t you paying poets for their poems?

I truly wish I could, because I firmly believe that artists should be paid for their work, but unfortunately, this is a non-profit venture and most poetry doesn’t sell (unless you’re Robert Frost). At the very least, I can promise submitting and reading will always remain free.