Tar River Poetry: Submissions

One of the top ten poetry markets.
--Writer's Digest

NEXT READING PERIOD BEGINS
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008.

We do not read in summer months (no editors are here). MS submitted between May 1 and August 31 will be answered with an auto-generated reply, then deleted.

HOW TO SUBMIT

We no longer consider hard-copy poetry submissions. All submissions should be via email.

To submit your work to Tar River Poetry, please send us an email with your poems pasted into the email body OR attached as either a Microsoft Word "doc" file or a Rich Text Format "rtf" file. Please send NO MORE than five poems per submission; include your phone number, mailing address, and a brief contributor's note. We generally reply within 4 to 6 weeks.

Before sending to Tar River Poetry, please familiarize yourself with the Writers' Guidelines below, and read a few of our sample poems to see what sort of work we publish.

Our address for submissions is TarRiverPoetry@gmail.com

WRITER'S GUIDELINES

Ever since Writer’s Digest ranked us in the top 50 United States poetry markets, we've been getting between 100-200 poems a week. We only have room to publish 30-40 poems per issue, and we print two issues a year. Since the competition here is so fierce, your best work has the best chance.

We prefer poems with strong imagery and figurative language. We are not interested in poems featuring trite, worn-out phrases, vague abstractions, or cliche situations. Length is open, but we rarely have space to publish very long poems. On the other hand, we are always on the lookout for good short poems--ten lines or fewer.

Tar River Poetry is open to all schools of poetry, but for a real sense of what we publish, it’s best to read a few issues. A sample copy is available for $6.50; subscriptions are $12.00 for a year (two issues), or $20.00 for two years (four issues).

Please send no more than five poems when submitting. It is most helpful to us if your email subject line includes your name and the word "submission"--for example, "Susan Jones: Submission." Please be sure your email spam-blocker does not have TarRiverPoetry@Gmail.com blocked, or we will be unable to contact you regarding your manuscript.

Once you have sent your submission, you should receive an auto-reply confirming that we've received it. Please note: Gmail sends an auto-reply to any specific address only once every four days; thus, if you have emailed us more than once within four days, only the first email will receive the auto-reply. Other failures to receive the auto-reply confirmation are likely due to your email client's spam-blocker (see above).

We make every effort to respond promptly--much more promptly than the majority of small journals. We will not tie up your manuscript for months at a time. Because of this policy, we do not consider simultaneous submissions. We also ask that you do not submit more than four times a year.

Reporting time: four to six weeks. We do not read in summer months (no editors are here): MS submitted between May 1 and August 31 will be answered with an auto-generated reply, then deleted.

For further information, see our listing in CLMP’s Directory of Little Magazines. Online, you may browse our listing at duotrope.com by clicking on the image below.