Submission Guidelines

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka

These submission guidelines were revised on Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:14:18 GMT

SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO: AtlasPoetica (at) gmail (dot) com

SUBMISSIONS SCHEDULE
#5, Spring 2010 – Submit Nov 15, 2009 - Jan 31, 2010. Publishes March 15, 2010.
#6, Summer 2010 – Submit March 15 - May 31, 2010. Publishes July 15, 2010.
#7, Autumn 2010 – Submit July 15 - Oct. 31, 2010. Publishes Nov. 15, 2010.

Submissions do not close before the announced date. However, we always recommend submitting earlier rather than later. Since we respond promptly, this gives the poet a chance to take editorial feedback into consideration and resubmit. Submissions made before the reading window will be held and not responded to until the regular time. Submissions will be considered for the current issue only and not be held over for the following issue.

EDITORIAL POLICY Please read carefully.

Atlas Poetica [ISSN 1939-6465] is a literary journal published three times a year in an 8.5" x 11" perfect bound print version, e-book version, and online on the World Wide Web. It is dedicated to publishing and promoting fine tanka poetry of place (including tanka written in variant forms). Issues 1-4 are available from . Starting with 5, issues will be available from .

ATLAS POETICA'S SELECTION CRITERIA:

We are interested in both traditional and innovative verse of high quality and in all serious attempts to assimilate the best of the Japanese waka/tanka/kyoka genres into a continuously developing English short verse tradition.

Our touchstone is tanka, but we will accept sets and sequences in which tanka is the basic unit of organization, but which may include verses in other forms, including haiku, cherita, couplets, monostiches, sonnets, quatrains, prose, etc. Thus a Wilsonian sequence, a tanka sequence with a haiku as an envoy, a sequence in which sonnets alternate with tanka, or a haibun in which the verse portion is a tanka are some possible examples. We also accept one line, two line, three line, and other non-standard lineation in tanka.

We also accept 'visual tanka' in which special formatting contributes to the work. Such visual layouts are limited to a maximum of two side by side 8.5 x11 inch pages. We do not accept illustrated tanka. We do accept tanka in international alphabets; however, we may require your assistance in handling non-European fonts. Due to incompatibilities between computer systems, formatting does not always survive, therefore your submission should include both a plain text version and along with the specially formatted version. Intelligible submissions will be rejected. DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS unless requested. Even specially formatted submissions must be contained in the body of the email.

We accept multi-author works if the submitting author includes a statement of permission from the other author(s) designating him/her as their authorized agent with regard to the work. The publisher, editor, and other staff are obliged only to notify the designated agent. It is the agent's responsibility to convey information to the poet(s) s/he represents. Works which depend on another author's works, such as 'found tanka,' must either be accompanied by the original author's permission, or constitute 'fair use' as designated in the laws of the United States and the treaties regarding copyright to which it is party. When any doubt arises, our publisher takes a strict view of copyright matters and will not publish any questionable work.

We will NOT publish single poems which are not tanka, waka, kyoka, or one of their recognized variants (cinquains, etc). We accept all forms from microtanka to sanjuichi to SLSLL to free style tanka. Do NOT send renga/renku that would be welcome by mainstream haiku magazines; we are seeking new ground in tanka sets and sequences.

We are not a mainstream tanka journal. Our reason for existence is tanka poetry of place. Therefore, place information must accompany every poem submitted. If no place information is supplied, the author's place of residence will be assumed to be the place for each poem accepted. We will publish short notes on a space available basis; the author should consider turning long notes into a work of tanka prose. Poems which are generic in location are not wanted; poems that evoke a strong sense of place, whether it be 'kitchen' or 'The Grand Canyon' are what we seek.

Atlas Poetica is a poetic atlas of the tanka world. Therefore, we are very open to work in other languages from poets around the world. We especially seek tanka which reflect the human and natural landscape and believe that through the specific details of place and event a universal insight can be gained. However, not all details will be grasped by all readers, so brief glosses should be supplied where necessary.

We do not normally publish poems that have been previously published. However, exceptions may be granted for poems previously published in a language other than English, or in a venue not regularly read by our audience. All such submissions must be accompanied by complete information regarding their previous publication. All exceptions are at the sole discretion of the editor.

Serious poetry and adult themes are appreciated. Doggerel and anything that is pornographic or in any way nasty, hateful, or bigoted will not be accepted. All such judgments will be made at the sole discretion of the editor.

SUMMARY OF SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Atlas Poetica welcomes previously unpublished tanka/waka/kyoka, either single poems or sets and sequences, single author or multi-author. We welcome international submissions, but require that poems written in languages other than English be accompanied by an English translation. In addition, we will NOT accept poems that are English translations only, the original poem in its original language must be included. The submitter, by virtue of submitting works to Atlas Poetica, certifies that he or she is the authorized agent of both author(s) and translator(s).

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES: Atlas Poetica cannot guarantee that we will review unsolicited books sent in for review; we may choose to review such an unsolicited book or not. All books received, solicited or unsolicited, will not be returned, whether reviewed or not. Book reviewers will receive a biographical entry on the Contributors page. We publish "Book Notes" and announcements at our sole discretion. (Haiku-only announcements will not be published.) If you wish to submit a fully written Book Note (300 words maximum) along with a copy of the book, we will consider publishing it; no guarantees. No biographical entry is published with a Book Note. For both book reviews and notes/announcements, we will publish only those which have some relevance to the scope of Atlas Poetica, i. e., tanka poetry of place.

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS: Atlas Poetica is interested in serious articles and essays of interest to our target audience, which is to say, readers of tanka poetry of place. Any length, up to chapter length, may be acceptable, with a target range of 500 - 5000 words. We are very sensitive to even the appearance of copyright infringement, so be certain that you have and provide any necessary permissions for works quoted in an article or essay. [USA copyright information] We may solicit articles and essays, but we are also glad to receive them after queries or even over the transom. We seek to promote the assimilation of the best of the Japanese waka/tanka/kyoka genres into a continuously developing English short verse tradition.

The criteria for publication of articles and essays are that the topic be of interest to our readers, that the author(s) have something fresh to say, and that the article or essay be well written, and that it in some way connect to tanka poetry of place. We are interested in items of various levels of expertise and scholarship and do not expect all items to be written at the same technical level.

We do NOT exclude good articles simply because they propose an idea with which we do not agree. We do NOT exclude good articles simply because the author is someone not in favor with us, with readers, or with the tanka community in general. We do NOT publish inferior articles on the basis of their agreement with our various positions on relevant matters, and we do NOT publish articles simply because they are by well-known names. In short, the publication of articles and essays is decided according to our editorial criteria. Concomitantly, publication of any article or essay in Atlas Poetica cannot reasonably, and should not be, taken as Atlas Poetica's or Modern English Tanka Press' endorsement of the propositions and ideas contained therein. We publish, as we are able, multiple viewpoints of important poetry of place tanka questions and issues.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters to the editor of Atlas Poetica are welcome and may be published in the currently open issue. Please put "LETTER TO THE EDITOR" on the subject line of your email to distinguish letters intended for publication from other correspondence. You letter may be edited for grammar, spelling, or brevity.

NO GRAPHIC ART: Atlas Poetica does not publish unsolicited graphics of any kind.

NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Please do not submit anything on offer anywhere else. Generally speaking, you will have an initial response within one month, and will know if your work is not being accepted at that time. You will receive final notice when the selection for the issue is complete. However, due to the exigencies of publishing, until the issue actually goes to print, there is no guarantee. It is rare, but sometimes necessary, to make last minute cuts.

NOT PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED: We primarily seek to publish fine tanka/waka/kyoka that have not been previously published. Each poet is personally responsible for noting in the submission any previous publication of any submitted work. We, of course, reserve the discretion to select previously published work of extraordinary merit from time to time. However, our preference is always for previously unseen work. By 'previously published', we mean work available in a public forum, such as works posted to blogs and websites, including those workshops which make their archives available to the public. Materials shared in closed sessions, such as email workshops whose archives can only be accessed by members, are considered unpublished.

PLEASE NOTE: This is an edited review. We DO NOT publish everything that is submitted to us. We reserve the right to exercise editorial discretion in ALL cases. If, for any reason, you cannot cope with rejection, better not to make submissions. We use only a portion of the submissions that we receive. There are plenty of other websites which are unedited and where you can post your poems with no editorial interference if that is what you seek. Occasionally, we may want to offer some editorial comment, assistance, guidance, etc., in which case, we will respond to your submission before publication. You always have the right to decline to make any changes suggested, and we have the right to decline to publish the work if it does not meet our criteria. You will always receive an explicit response from us indicating that your work is being accepted, declined, or held for further review. In the event you make multiple submissions, we will respond to each submission individually. Thus, if you submit A and B to us, and we decline A, that means only that we have declined A. You will receive a response to B when we make our decision. Not all decisions are made at the same time. The editor has a full time job and a family, so works on the journal as time is available. IF YOUR EMAIL DOESN’T WORK, then you will not receive your notification. Likewise, if your spam filter/security software rejects our email, you will not receive our notices. We will attempt an alternative email if we have it, but it is up to you to maintain an open line of communication with us.

HOW TO SUBMIT FOR ATLAS POETICA: You may submit up to forty tanka/waka/kyoka at one time. We may publish as few as 1 or 2 poems or a larger number. Please do NOT send us works that are still in progress. We will also consider sequences and sets of up to forty poems. We will consider multi-author works, provided all other criteria have been met, plus the submitting author(s) certifies that they are authorized to act as the agent for the other authors. Please clearly indicate which part is authored by which person. Please send us polished works, error-free. Make your submission by sending your poems in to Atlas Poetica in the body of an email. Do NOT send any attachments. Emails with attachments will be deleted. If you need clarification, or have a special situation you want to discuss, please feel free to write to the Editor at AtlasPoetica (at) gmail (dot) com.

RIGHTS SOUGHT: We seek first world English rights, including print, digital, and online versions, plus the right to reprint the work in our compilations and archives. Poems published in another language are eligible if accompanied by English translation. If we discover that the work has been previously published or submitted simultaneously, we will reject it. Errors happen, and we appreciate being notified when they do. However, a submitter who develops a record of failing to respect our submissions policy runs the risk of not being published with us at all. There are many fine poets who understand the importance of editorial guidelines and are happy to comply with them.

We have an exclusive right to publish your poem from the time you submit it until ninety days after the print edition becomes available. At that time, all rights revert to the author(s) and are free to be submitted elsewhere. In the event that a poem previously published by Atlas Poetica is reprinted elsewhere, we expect a credit to be given, e.g. “First published in Atlas Poetica [#], [year].” If you wish to republish the poem during our period of exclusivity, you need our permission. However, once our period of exclusivity has expired, you are free to publish it anywhere you like and do not need our permission and do not need to notify us. Poets are encouraged to purchase the issue in which their work was published, but it is not a requirement for publication.

WHAT TO SUBMIT: We need the following information: 1. Your name as you wish it to appear in the journal. 2. Your email address. 3. An alternative email if you have one. 4. Biographical sketch (100words max., written in the third person), including your location: your city, State/Province, and country (the minimum information acceptable is your country; the rest is optional). We reserve the right to edit biographies for length, grammar, or any other reason. 5. If you are younger than 16 years of age, tell us so that we may comply with the U.S.A. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (the COPPA applies to children under 13; our minimum age limit is 16 as a matter of editorial policy). 6. The submission itself, including location information for each poem.

NOTE: You must be 16 or older to submit anything to our journal. If you are under 16, EXIT NOW !

EMAIL POLICY: We will not include any email address with your Contributor Note unless you specifically request it. If you want your email address to be published online and in the print and e-book editions, please say so in your submission email. No live links will be included in any case.

THERE IS NO PAYMENT FOR CONTRIBUTORS: No payment will be made. No contributor copies are furnished free. There will be no payment of any kind for accepted submissions for any issue of Atlas Poetica.

CONTRIBUTOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES
If you choose to submit any work(s) for publication in Atlas Poetica, please read and familiarize yourself with these Submission Guidelines, as well as our Copyright, Privacy, and Editorial Policies. By submitting any work(s) to Atlas Poetica, you are representing that you have the copyright to the work(s) or are the authorized agent, and you are permitting Atlas Poetica copyrights in accordance with the published Copyright Policy and Submission Guidelines of Atlas Poetica, and that you hold Atlas Poetica, its publisher, editor(s) and agents harmless in all respects from any copyright infringement caused by your submission.

Include this personal information with your email submission and send it to: AtlasPoetica (at) gmail (dot) com.

SUBJECT LINE: "Atlas Poetica submission - [Your Name]"

BODY OF EMAIL:

1. Name.
2. Email Address.
3. An alternative Email Address if you have one.
4. Bio sketch (75 words max.)
Include your residential location: [City, State/Province] Country.
We reserve the right to edit bios for length, grammar, or any other reason.
5. Age—check this box IF YOU ARE UNDER 16: [ ]—Younger than 16.
6. Submission: 1 to 40 poems, including location information.

Feel free to copy and paste the above list to your email, for convenience's sake. Just highlight the list, then hit EDIT and COPY; then send in an email to the SUBMISSIONS email address and, in the body of your email, hit EDIT and PASTE, and you will have the list to fill in. Add your poetry submission after your personal information WITHIN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL.

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