Best of the Net
Quick answer: Best of the Net is an annual anthology from Sundress Publications honouring the finest poetry and prose first published online. Here is how nominations work.
Best of the Net is an annual anthology, run by Sundress Publications since 2006, that honours the strongest writing first published online. It exists to make a simple argument: work that appears on the internet deserves the same respect as work printed on paper. Each year, online journals and magazines nominate poems, stories and essays they published, and a rotating panel of judges selects winners and finalists for a freely readable online anthology.
You will meet the phrase in poets' bios alongside the Pushcart Prize, and in the awards pages of web journals. For poets who publish mainly in online venues, which now means most emerging poets, it is the flagship recognition designed specifically for their world.
How Nominations Work
Eligible work must have first appeared online during the anthology's eligibility window, which runs from July of one year to the end of June of the next. Editors of online venues submit a limited slate of nominations across the categories, with poetry allowed the largest share, and guest judges in each genre then choose the winners and finalists.
Writers cannot nominate themselves. As with the Pushcart, the honour begins with an editor deciding that your poem was among the best things they published all year.
Why It Was Needed
When the project began in 2006, online publication still carried a faint smell of second best, and some print-era awards barely acknowledged it. Best of the Net set out to change that, and the culture has largely followed: leading journals now publish online first or online only, and a Best of the Net selection sits comfortably in any poet's bio. The anthology itself is free to read, which suits its founding belief that good poems should be easy to find.
What It Means for Your Bio
The same honesty rules apply as with any nomination-based honour. 'Nominated for Best of the Net' means your editor put you forward. 'Finalist' and 'winner' mean the judges agreed. All three are worth having, but they are different sentences, so write the true one. If your publishing history is entirely online, a nomination is also a quiet signal to other editors that your work is landing well in that ecosystem.
What poets can take from this
- Aim your submissions at online journals whose past nominations you admire; their taste tells you what they will champion.
- Track where and when your poems appear, since eligibility depends on the July to June window.
- State the credit precisely: nominated, finalist or winner, never blurred.
- If you run an online journal, calendar the nomination deadline so your contributors are not forgotten.
- Read the current anthology for free online to study what wins.
Try it yourself
Write a poem that could only live online: let it mention screens, tabs or search results at least once, but make its emotional core something older than the internet, such as homesickness or first love.
Questions
What is the difference between Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize?
Best of the Net honours work first published online and is run by Sundress Publications; the Pushcart honours small press work and historically centred on print. Many online journals now nominate for both, and the two credits sit side by side in bios.
Can I submit my own poem to Best of the Net?
No. Only the editors of the online venue that published your poem can nominate it, from work that appeared during the eligibility year. Your route in is publishing strong poems in online journals that take their nominations seriously.
Does a Best of the Net nomination help a poetry career?
Modestly and genuinely. It signals that an editor rated your poem among their year's best, which encourages other editors to read you attentively. Like all credentials, it opens doors a crack; the poems still have to walk through.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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