Submission Guidelines
Quick answer: Submission guidelines are the rules a journal or contest sets for sending work: formats, limits, deadlines and rights. Learn to read and follow them well.
Submission guidelines are the rules a journal, magazine or contest publishes for poets who want to send work: how many poems, in what format, by what deadline, through which channel, and under what conditions regarding rights, fees and simultaneous submissions. They are usually found on a page called Submissions, Submit or Guidelines, and they are the first thing an editor expects you to have read.
Guidelines look like bureaucracy and function as a first filter. Editors facing thousands of submissions use them to thin the pile before taste ever enters the room, so work in the wrong format or over the line limit can be declined unread. Following guidelines exactly is the cheapest advantage available to any submitting poet.
What Guidelines Typically Cover
Most sets of guidelines answer the same questions, and the details differ enough that skimming is dangerous.
Reading Them Like an Editor
The strictest instructions usually protect an internal process. A demand for no names on the manuscript means the venue reads anonymously, so a signed poem breaks the system rather than a preference; in contests especially, anonymity requirements guard the fairness of scoring, and entries that ignore them are often disqualified before any judge assigns marks. A line limit protects layout. A single reading window protects volunteer readers from year-round burial. Once you see each rule as machinery rather than fussiness, obedience gets easier.
A Repeatable Pre-Submission Routine
Build a five-minute checklist and run it every time: reread the guidelines on the venue's own site rather than from memory or a third-party listing, confirm the reading period is open, format the file to spec, strip or include your name as instructed, match the cover letter to their stated wishes, and record the submission in your log. Poets who ritualise this never lose a poem to a technicality, which over years amounts to a real career advantage.
What poets can take from this
- Read the guidelines on the venue's own website immediately before every submission, since rules change.
- Follow formatting instructions literally, including file type, font and name placement.
- Send exactly the number of poems requested, never one extra for luck.
- Keep a short template cover letter you adapt per venue rather than rewriting from scratch.
- When guidelines are silent on a point, choose the most conservative interpretation.
Try it yourself
Write the submission guidelines for an imaginary journal that would love your work, be honest about what that reveals, then write the poem you would send it first.
Questions
What happens if I ignore submission guidelines?
Usually your work is declined unread or your contest entry is disqualified, and the venue may remember the name. Guidelines are the one part of submitting entirely within your control, so compliance is free credibility.
Do I always need a cover letter?
Only if the guidelines ask for one, and then keep it short: greeting, poem titles, a two-line bio, thanks. The poems carry the argument; the letter just opens the door politely.
Why do guidelines differ so much between journals?
Each venue's rules reflect its team size, reading process and publishing format. An anonymous-reading journal bans names on manuscripts; a print journal caps line counts for layout; a two-person team opens submissions only twice a year.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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