Autumn Sky Poetry—the blog

Autumn Sky Poetry 23, the Art issue, now live

2011-11-06T17:44:00.001-08:00

Greetings!

The twenty-third issue of Autumn Sky Poetry, the Art issue, is now online.

Read poems and enjoy art by Mary Alexandra Agner & Julia Tenney, Jesse Anger & Adamo Sacchetti, Catherine Chandler, Noelle Leslie dela Cruz, Luke Evans, Jen Karetnick & Jaime Ferreyros, Jean L. Kreiling, Mary Meriam, Richard Meyer, John Savoie & Shannon E. Thomas, Joannie Stangeland, and Laura Elizabeth Woollett.

With this issue, Autumn Sky Poetry is going on an indefinite hiatus. I’m grateful, as always, that so many talented artists and poets have graciously allowed me to publish their work over these past six years. Thank you for making Autumn Sky Poetry one of the more enduring poetic experiences of my writing life.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Autumn Sky Poetry 22 now online!

2011-07-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The twenty-second issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Hala N. Alyan, Zeina Hashem Beck, Whitney Egstad, Joseph Harker, David Hubbard, Clyde Kessler, Bob McHeffey, Winnona Elson Pasquini, Kathleen T. Smith, and Kelley White.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

~~~
Call for Submissions: Every October, Autumn Sky Poetry publishes artwork as well as poems: visual, video, etc. I'm looking for poems with corresponding artwork, or ekphrastic poems. Please read the Submission Guidelines for details and feel free to peruse last year's Art issue, Number 19, for examples.
~~~

Submissions for the July issue are now closed

2011-07-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard from me yet, you will in the next few days.

I am now open to submissions for the October Art Issue, which means I will be looking only at ekphrastic poems or poems accompanied by some sort of artwork: photography, video, fine art, music, etc. Click here for guidelines.

email acknowledgements

2011-06-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

Dear poets,

I know I usually manage to send out acknowledgment of receipt within a few days of receiving your submissions, but family obligations have been preventing me from doing so the past few weeks and the week to come. Rest assured, I'm receiving your submissions and I'll still be reading during July for July's issue.

SASE—yes, it's important

2011-05-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

I've been getting snail-mail submissions for a year now, ever since I placed a listing in Poet's Market. However, I am amazed at the number of submissions I receive without a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). I honestly didn't think I needed to specifically state that I needed one of those, but apparently I do. So, for the record:

If you are sending me a snail-mail submission for Autumn Sky Poetry, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Please.

If you don't include an SASE, I won't be responding, particularly if you haven't included an email address. Your poems will disappear into my recycle bin and you will be left wondering what the heck happened to them. Why am I so mean about this? Because I can't afford the envelopes and stamps or time. I already pay for all the online stuff out of my own pocket without any hope of ever recovering my costs, so I'm certainly not going to fork over more cash for stamps and envelopes. If you have never heard of an SASE before, please read up about it. It's important.

Autumn Sky Poetry 21 now live!

2011-04-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The twenty-first issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Amy Billone, Mary Campbell, Alexandra Cannon, Carolyn Martin, Wyk McGowan, JB Mulligan, David Oestreich, James Owens, Simon Perchik, and Gail White.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

I have my ten poems!

2011-04-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just finished choosing the ten poems/poets for April's issue. Because I am crazy busy, I even managed to layout all the poems today. The proofs are ready to send out to the contributors, just as soon as I hear back from them about the acceptances. Yay!

Feedback on rejections

2011-03-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

I generally receive around 200+ submissions for every issue. I accept ten poems (or fifteen for the art issue). That means a lot of poems to read and reject. I don't always comment on rejections, mostly because I just don't have the time. Then how do I find out why my poem was rejected? you ask. Well, one of the best ways to find out whether a poem works or not is to participate in one of the many online poetry workshops that are available on the web.

Besides editing Autumn Sky Poetry, I also serve as the Site Admin Poets.org's discussion forum. Anyone can become a member and post poems there. It's a lovely community sponsored by The Academy of American Poets (Poets.org).

Occasionally, I will critique a poem on the forum that I find interesting. I make no promises, but if you're ever wondering why I've rejected one of your poems, you may find out if you are willing to participate at Poets.org.

However please remember: if you post poems for critique, you must also critique other people's poems. Lest you think this is too much work for the answers you'd like, I must politely disagree. One of the best ways to grow as a writer is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of other people's writing. It sharpens every one of your skills: it increases your facility with reading and interpreting poems, it hones your ability to persuade with your writing, and it often gives you surprising insight into how language really works.

If you're interested, feel free to sign up. Don't forget to read the Posting & Conduct Guidelines before you get started!

Autumn Sky Poetry 20 now live!

2011-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

The twentieth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Karina van Berkum, Deborah H. Doolittle, RJ Ingram, Tyrell Johnson, Andy Macera, Marc Massari, David McAleavey, Lucia Stacey, Lucie M. Winborne, and Christine Yurick.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Autumn Sky Poetry's nominations for the Pushcart Prize

2010-11-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased to announce the six poems Autumn Sky Poetry has nominated for the Pushcart Prize:

3 a.m. Service, New Melleray Monastery by Tania Pryputniewicz from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 16

My sister's Chihuahua in heat by Kristen Stone from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 17

our lady of perpetual contusions by Nielle Norton Buswell from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 18

Soldier by Brigita Orel from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 18 

The Bear by Lia Brooks from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 19 

Exit Wounds by Stephen Bunch from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 19

Congratulations!

Autumn Sky Poetry's nominations for Best of the Web

2010-10-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here are Autumn Sky Poetry's three nominations for the Best of the Web 2011, sponsored by Dzanc Books:

Monet to His Wife, While Winding the Sheets by Kristin Roedell from #19

Sharing Christina's World by Don Thackrey from #19

Surgeon Finds Tree Growing in Man's Lung by Laura Sobbott Ross from #18

Congratulations!!

Autumn Sky Poetry, the Art Issue, now online

2010-10-26T16:48:00.001-07:00

Greetings!

The nineteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems and enjoy art by Lia Brooks, Stephen Bunch & Dianne Wilson, Theresa Senato Edwards & Lori Schreiner, Heather Kamins, Jean L. Kreiling, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, David W. Landrum, Rick Mullin, Sandra Riley, Julia Klatt Singer, Kristin Roedell, Diane Sahms-Guarnieri, Janice D. Soderling, Paul Stevens, and Don Thackrey.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Autumn Sky Poetry's 2009 Best of the Net Nominations!

2010-09-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that the following poems have been nominated for the 2009 Best of the Net anthology (Sundress Publications):

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger by Tania Runyan from Autumn Sky Poetry 14

We Leave the Beaches for the Tourists by Ira Sukrungruang from Autumn Sky Poetry 15

Low Tide at Sundown by Brent A. Fisk from Autumn Sky Poetry 16

Shrubs for the Northern Garden by Maryann Corbett from Autumn Sky Poetry 16

Stingers by Anna Evans from Autumn Sky Poetry 17

Skeptic by Anna Serio from Autumn Sky Poetry 17

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone!

Autumn Sky Poetry 18 now live!

2010-07-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The eighteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Peter Branson, Nielle Buswell , Melissa Butler, Luke Evans, Jennifer Givhan, Laura Levesque, Brigita Orel, Laura Sobbott Ross, Matthew Sholler, and Lew Watts.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,

Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

~~~

Call for Submissions: Every October, Autumn Sky Poetry publishes artwork as well as poems: visual, video, etc. I'm looking for poems with corresponding artwork, or ekphrastic poems. Please read the Submission Guidelines for details and feel free to peruse last year's Art issue, Number 15, for examples.

~~~

Done reading!

2010-07-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned—Autumn Sky Poetry number 18 will be live in a week or so! Now onto page layout. . .

still reading the maybes

2010-07-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have narrowed it down, but must still go through the maybes. Tomorrow! In the meantime, if you would like to submit to Autumn Sky Poetry, I am now open for Art submissions for the October art issue. Guidelines:

Art Issue Call for Submissions

Reading submissions . . .

2010-07-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

And have been for a few days. Like always, the ratio of rejections to maybes is really high. My pet peeve today? Dropped articles. I don't know why but it seems to be a fad: lines of poetry where there are no "a's" or "the's." When did this become so common?

Short interview at Everyday Intensity

2010-05-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Tania Pryputniewicz of The Fertile Source, I had the opportunity to answer a couple of questions about a subject near and dear to me: being a poetry editor. She has a guest spot on the lovely blog Everyday Intensity where she talks about being an editor. Then she asked me and Marjorie Tesser, editor of The Mom Egg, some questions about editing. Go check it out!

Guest Post by Tania Pryputniewicz: “So You Say You’re a Poetry Editor…”

Autumn Sky Poetry 17 - now online!

2010-04-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The seventeenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Michelle Barker, Anna Evans, Juleigh Howard Hobson, Rich Ives, David W. Landrum, Lyn Lifshin, Mangesh Naik, Anna Serio, Kristen Stone, and Larina Warnock.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

still reading submissions

2010-04-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

And I know that sometimes I tweet about how frustrated I am with passive voice, or cliches, and whatnot, but I also get some of the most startlingly brilliant work. So much, in fact, that lately the problem hasn't been finding ten poems for each issue, but rather, whittling my favorites down to ten poems. This is a wonderful problem to have.

Reading submissions . . .

2010-04-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

. . . for the April issue of Autumn Sky Poetry. FYI: I tend to tweet as I read the poems. If you're curious, you can find me on Twitter: @chrissiemkl.

Yesterday's tweets:

—"2 spots filled, 8 left for Autumn Sky Poetry's April issue."

—"If I read one more poem bogged down with passive voice I think I shall scream."

(Many jokes were left on my FB status feed regarding passive voice after I posted this one ((heh, irony!)). Don't know what passive voice is? Look here.)

—"Sending rejections. The worst part is how closely the the poems I refuse resemble my own work 20, 10, 5 years ago. Humble pie for me today."

(Yes, I made a typo. I blame the pie.)

2009 stats for Autumn Sky Poetry

2010-02-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

In case anyone was wondering:

Page Loads: 13,934

Unique Visitors: 6,709

First Time Visitors: 5,836

Not bad for such an itty-bitty journal. Last October's Art issue had the most hits of all my issues (unique visitors): 1523. I wonder what the stats for this year's art issue will look like? Most issues have an average of 650 to 870.

Autumn Sky Poetry 16 now online!

2010-01-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

The sixteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by William Aarnes, Jenn Blair, Maryann Corbett, Brent A. Fisk, R. Nemo Hill, Prairie L. Markussen, Daniel Milbo, Tania Pryputniewicz, Kathleen Spivack, and Robert Wexelblatt.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,

Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Page layout is complete

2010-01-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

Now, all that's left is for my contributors and copy editor to check the issue and hopefully catch any mistakes.

I have my ten

2010-01-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

I have my ten poems for January's issue. This was the most difficult submission reading session ever. I had a record number of emails to read and a ridiculous number of them contained wonderful, compelling poems. Thank you for sending me such fabulous work.

Now, on to page layout!

I am still reading

2010-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Just an FYI: if you submitted last Aug., Sept., Oct., and the first half of Nov., and you haven't heard from me yet it's probably because your poems are in my maybe pile. I expect to finish up this week. You will hear yea or nay soon.

twittering while reading

2010-01-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

FYI: I tend to tweet while I am reading submissions. Find me here: @chrissiemkl

Reading submissions

2010-01-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

I am finally reading submissions, a bit late, like usual. I like to wait until I have a chunk of uninterrupted time so I can concentrate on the poems. That's hard to find until after the holidays. I'll probably be reading the rest of this week. Sorry for making everyone wait so long!

Prints of "A Murmur to MamZelle"

2009-10-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to announce that one of the artworks I featured in the October issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is available to order as a print. Check it out!

A Murmur to MamZelle by J.L. Glenn and K.S. Bartow can be ordered at Fine Art America. This art accompanies the poem "The House Servant" in Autumn Sky Poetry #15, the Art Issue.

Autumn Sky Poetry 15, the Art Issue—now live!

2009-10-11T08:56:00.001-07:00

Greetings!

The fifteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry, the Art Issue, is now online.

Read poems and enjoy art by Bebe Cook, Theresa Senato Edwards & Lori Schreiner, J.L. Glenn & K.S. Bartow, Mel Goldberg, Guy Kettelhack, Rivka Keren, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, J.B. Mulligan, Kristine Ong Muslim, Katherine Riegel, Cheryl & Janet Snell, Janice D. Soderling, Rae Spencer, Ira Sukrungruang, and Donna Vorreyer.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,

Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

proof pages are up

2009-10-09T17:37:00.001-07:00

And I'm waiting to hear back from my contributors and copy editor. I can't wait for this issue to go live!

Submissions for the Art issue are closed

2009-10-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

And I'm just about to start the layout. This will probably take a bit longer than usual with all the extra artwork involved.

15 instead of 10

2009-10-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

I am doing something insane, yes: I will be publishing FIFTEEN poems (with art) this coming issue, instead of ten. Why you ask? Because this is the only art issue. It may be the only art issue ever (or I may do it again next year), but don't think it's a pattern. We will go back to our regularly scheduled number of ten poems with the next issue, due out in January.

reading has commenced!

2009-09-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

I have just started reading all the submissions for the October art issue! If you still want to submit, that's fine. You'll probably hear from me in a week or so.

Remember to read my submission Guidelines before submitting.

Best of the Net Nominations

2009-08-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here are the poems I've nominated for Best of the Net Anthology, 2009:

The Last Wild Otter Near Otter Crest, Oregon, 1906

by Scott T. Starbuck, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 11, September 2008

Lunatic Blues

by Antonia Clark, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 12, January 2009

A bee in the car

by Brent Fisk, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 12, January 2009

Elegy for Eva

by Colin Ward, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 12, January 2009

Crouching Female Figure: Pompeii

by Gail White, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 13, April 2009

Dove

by Kelley White, Autumn Sky Poetry Number 13, April 2009

Good luck!

What not to do when you get a rejection

2009-08-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

First, if you haven't followed the submission guidelines, don't expect your poems to be accepted. The guidelines are there for a reason. Specifically, the word "Submission" must appear in every email subject. Why? Because this way I can search my spam folder for submissions that have gone astray. If that word doesn't appear, it's likely that your submission will end up in Spam and then end up deleted. If you're lucky enough for it to actually make it to the inbox, I'm still going to send it back to you because you didn't follow the guidelines and there are far more professional poets out there that did. They get first dibs on my time.

If you've decided to ignore the guidelines entirely and send me a submission with not only the subject line missing, but also more poems than I ask for, you'll be lucky to get a response from me at all. Therefore, when I send poems back with a politely worded note to follow the guidelines, do NOT send back a bitter and egotistical response. You can simply not respond. If you do respond with a bitter and egotistical note, expect your future submission to be deleted without response. Seriously. It only takes a second to ignore a rejection. It takes at least 2-3 to send back a nasty email and my irritation about it will last forever. Expect me to ignore you in the future if our paths ever again cross.

By the way, there's about a zillion webzines out there, and a zillion poets. It's not really gonna hurt my journal to pass on your brilliant contribution. Go post on a blog somewhere.

contributors: FYI

2009-07-29T13:53:00.001-07:00

I like to add the people who have so generously contributed their work to Autumn Sky Poetry to my list on this blog. If you would like to be added to this blog, please send me an email or post in the comments (with a link to your website, blog, etc.) and I will add you asap. Thanks!

Autumn Sky Poetry 14—now live!

2009-07-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The fourteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by George Bishop, Eric Blanchard, William Keener, W.F. Lantry, Jen McClung, Esther Greenleaf Mürer, Sergio A. Ortiz, Tania Runyan, Donna Vorreyer, and James S. Wilk.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,

Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

just finished the draft

2009-07-20T14:47:00.001-07:00

of the July issue, Autumn Sky Poetry number 14. Whew! Just waiting for the contributors to check it over now. Hopefully there are no hideous mistakes. . .

finished reading!

2009-07-17T10:11:00.001-07:00

And I've got my ten poems for July. Just have to lay out the pages now.

Still reading

2009-07-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

the submissions for July. Some really amazing poems here! I am going to have a hard time choosing the ten from my "maybe" list.

reading submissions

2009-07-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

Due to real life, I may not be able to start reading the submissions for this month's issue until next week. I promise I'll get to them!

Submission Call-the art issue

2009-06-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

Autumn Sky Poetry, Number 15, October 2009

-----------------

For the first time ever, Autumn Sky Poetry will be publishing artwork as well as poems! If you are a poet who also dabbles in any of the visual arts, send me your work. I'm looking for poems with corresponding artwork:

—Do you have a poem about a barn? Send me the poem and the photo that you took that inspired the poem.

—Do you like to draw abstract shapes? Send me the poem you wrote and the doodle that you drew in the margin.

—Do you paint? Send me the painting and the poem you wrote about it.

—Did your sister or your son draw something after reading your poem? Send them in together.

—Alternatively, you may submit ekphrastic poems with a corresponding link to the art that inspired the poem. I won't publish the art, but I will include the link with the poem.

-----------------

Send submissions to: autumnskypoetryeditor@gmail.com

Send up to four poems within the body of the email. I only read the first four poems.

Attach the artwork as a .jpg. I will only accept four graphic attachments per submission.

To submit to this particular issue, make sure you include the words: "Submission Number 15" in the subject line of your email. All other email with attachments will be discarded unopened.

-It's all about the poetry.

Christine Klocek-Lim

editor, Autumn Sky Poetry

-----------------

Autumn Sky Poetry 13 now live!

2009-04-20T17:55:00.001-07:00

Greetings!

The thirteenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Mary Alexandra Agner, Ed Bennett, Kay Cosgrove, Dennis Greene, Arthur Leung, Corey Mesler, Burgess Needle, Faith Watson, Gail White, and Kelley White.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Proof pages are out

2009-04-19T14:42:00.001-07:00

Finally, the proofs are out with the contributors. It should only be a few more days before the new issue can go live. Whew!

finished reading!

2009-04-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

And it was agony because there were so many wonderful poems. I had to let go of several that I truly liked. I hate that. Even more difficult was narrowing some down to one per poet when the submission had two poems that I liked equally.

Thanks everyone, for submitting your excellent work. It's always appreciated. I apologize forever for having to reject so many. I know what that feels like.

Now the fun part: building the issue. This should take a few days to a week. I always like to send out proof pages, just in case I make a stupid mistake. My copy editor is also amazing and this is when he goes over everything with a fine-toothed comb. The astonishing thing is how fast he is at picking out typos and inconsistencies! I would be sunk without his help.

So, I'm reading submissions

2009-04-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

and no, I haven't forgotten that this is the month the next issue comes out. I like to read all the submissions at once, putting the ones I like into a pile and whittling it down. Then I send out the notices of acceptance. I'm in the middle of reading right now and I've a few poems that are definitely keepers and a bunch of maybes. And that's where things are at!

Autumn Sky Poetry 12 now live!

2009-01-28T08:02:00.001-08:00

Greetings!

The twelfth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Antonia Clark, Luke Evans, Brent Fisk, O.P.W. Fredericks, Leland Jamieson, Niaz Khadem, Brigita Pavsic, Paul Stevens, C.P. Stewart, and Colin Ward.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

still waiting on two

2009-01-27T13:21:00.001-08:00

I'm still waiting to hear back from two contributors. Regardless, I'm planning on releasing the issue tomorrow morning. Everything is ready to go!

almost done

2009-01-25T15:20:00.000-08:00

All the pages except one are put together. I will hopefully be sending out the proofs tonight to my contributors. If not tonight, then definitely tomorrow morning. Whew!

almost ready

2009-01-16T18:22:00.001-08:00

I finished reading through the submissions today. Whew! I am waiting to hear back from a few people and then I can start putting the issue together. I should have it published next week.

I have to say, I am tempted to place a list of forbidden poetry words on the submission guidelines. However, that probably would not go over too well with the poets who read and want to submit to the journal. For what it's worth, I really don't ever want to read anything about "drifting" this or that for at least three months in a poem. I don't know if it was just this round of reading, or if it's a more insidious indication of modern poetry's descent in the trivial, but I would really like to see more original imagery. Is that too much to ask?

Of course, now the question becomes: what is "original?"

Changing publishing schedule

2008-12-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, in case you haven't noticed, real life kicked my butt this holiday season and December's issue is non-existent. However, to remedy this situation and keep it from happening again, I am changing my publishing schedule. From now on, Autumn Sky Poetry will be published every three months starting in January.

So, there will still be four issues, published in the months of January, April, July, and October.

Please accept my deepest apologies for the delay this time around.

Best wishes for a peaceful New Year.

Starting to read for December's issue

2008-12-03T14:07:00.001-08:00

To all of you waiting to hear from me: I've started reading submissions. Please be patient; December is one of my busiest months.

Autumn Sky Poetry 11 now live!

2008-09-22T14:26:00.001-07:00

Greetings!

The eleventh issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Michael Brownstein, C.E. Chaffin, Gabriel FyK, Rashmi Prakash, Janice D. Soderling, Scott T. Starbuck, Donna Vorreyer, Ann Walters, Allen Weber, and Martin Willitts Jr.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Proof pages are out

2008-09-20T15:16:00.001-07:00

. . . to the contributors and my copy editors, so it should only be a few days now.

Now open for December issue submissions

2008-09-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Submissions are now open. Here are the Submission Guidelines:

We are interested in both formal and free-verse.

Submit no more than four poems in the body of an email to: autumnskypoetryeditor@gmail.com. If more than four poems are present, the submission will be rejected.

The word Submission must appear in the subject heading.

Please include a short bio with your submission. We reserve the right to edit bios upon acceptance.

Do not send attachments. Any email with attachments will be discarded unopened.

If your poem includes special formatting, send us an email stating that you wish to send an attachment and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Do not submit poems longer than 70 lines.

After submitting, you will hear from us the during the last week before the next issue is due to go live on the web. In other words, if you submit in April, you will receive a response the last week of May (before the June issue). If you submit in June, you will receive a response the last week of August (before the September issue).

We consider work that has appeared elsewhere, either in print or on the web.

We accept simultaneous submissions with notification.

We do not accept responsibility for lost or damaged submissions.

Do not submit more than once every six months.

There is no payment for contributors at this time.

the next issue

2008-09-10T14:34:00.001-07:00

So, I'm about to begin laying out the pages for the September 15 issue. I've been on a long hiatus from the internet, and I'm hoping that will give me a fresh outlook into poetry. I grew a bit tired of the whole writing thing for a while, and when I take these long breaks (and I always have), I often find that something new has grown into my understanding of poetry.

Autumn Sky Poetry 10 now live!

2008-06-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

The tenth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Elizabeth H. Barbato, John Byrne, Bebe Cook, Kathryn Good-Schiff, Christina Kapp, Marybeth Rua-Larsen, Nic Sebastian, Cheryl Snell, Farren Stanley, and S. Thomas Summers.

—It's all about the poetry.

Sincerely,
Christine Klocek-Lim, Editor

Proof pages are out

2008-06-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

So now I'm waiting on my copyeditors and contributors. I hate sending out pages with errors, which is why I always like to give the poets a chance to look over their work and bios before publishing the issue. Even then, mistakes slip through. I have a policy of changing any errors even if the issue has already been published. Just FYI.

I finished reading all submissions

2008-06-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

and was thrilled to find enough good poetry for two issues! So, I have closed submissions for Autumn Sky Poetry until September 15, 2008.

Now, on to the page layout portion. This should only take me a few days, barring any emergencies.

FYI: I've noticed that the latest version of Firefox (3.0) is wiggy on the graphics support. So, looks like some pages will have good photo reproduction and some won't (specifically the nifty reflection thing I like so much) when using that browser. Maybe no one will notice?

rejections are not fun

2008-06-17T12:48:00.001-07:00

As I continue to read through the submissions for this go-round, I am continually disappointed that I have to turn down so many poets. I try and always remember what it feels like to receive a rejection, and even if I cannot always make my replies personal, at least I can try and be kind.

A few days ago, after I'd finished reading for the day, I went to my rejections folder and counted up all the ones I'd received since 2000. The total was 89. I didn't count my acceptances because for me, on that day, I wanted to remember what it feels like to have someone say "no" to you, to your poem, to your work that you spent hours and hours working over. It's not an easy feeling to live with, but I have discovered that those early submission rejections don't hurt as much because my poetry has changed and matured over the past several years. Many of those old poems of mine I would reject for Autumn Sky Poetry if I was reading them, so in some small way, I can understand how difficult and tedious it must have been for those editors to read through and then send back my poems.

At any rate, I never forget the feeling. And really, I'm still getting rejections too. That doesn't ever really stop. And I've finally decided and more importantly, convinced myself, that the creation of the poem is more important than the publishing of it. It took me a few years to get there, but after reminding myself of that philosophy over and over it seems to have finally stuck. It occurred to me that I could probably live and be happy without getting published, but that I would be miserable if I couldn't continue writing and exploring this wonderful language.

15 submissions read today

2008-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

And that's about my limit. I get a bit saturated at times and don't want to infect new poems with old poem voices, so I must stop.

six wrongly filed submissions

2008-06-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

I just discovered six submissions from May that were filed in the wrong place. My apologies. I usually read submissions from oldest to newest, but now things are a bit mixed up. I think it happened because gmail has been wonky now and again this past month.

I have also been holding onto a bunch of maybes whose poets haven't heard back from me yet.
If you're still waiting, I promise I'm getting to it asap. I usually try and publish by the 15th of the month, but it looks like things are going to be delayed this month, probably by a week. Ah well.

So far I've read

2008-06-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

ten submissions today. I'm hoping to do some more in-between real life.

~~~~~

Now I've read thirteen. I have a bunch of maybe's and a bunch of no's. I hate sending out rejections so I'm feeling sad now and will resume reading tomorrow.

Contributor's List

2008-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've added a list of Autumn Sky Poetry contributors to this blog, but it is by no means comprehensive. Some poets don't have blogs or websites and some probably have them and I couldn't find them.

If you are a present or past contributor and would like to have your site added to the blogroll, feel free to post in the comments or send me an email: autumnskypoetryeditorATgmailDOTcom.

what about bios?

2008-06-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

No one has asked me this question, but I find myself thinking about it nonetheless: do I read the bios before I read the poems? The short and easy answer is no. I usually read the name of the person so I can get a sense if the poet is male or female because in 95% of the poems, the voice of the narrator is the same sex as the poet (though not always). After that, I read the poems. The bio just isn't that important to me. It's the poems that speak.

That said, I often receive submissions from a poet more than once. Sometimes from people I've published. When that happens, I can't help but have an idea about the poet because I've not only read the bio before, but very often I've read the poet's poems many times before, like I do all the poems that I accept. In those cases, I can't help but understand a bit more about the voice of the poet. I also have an understanding about the poet's personal history that sometimes influences my understanding of the poems sent to me.

However, even with this, I try not to let it affect my judgment. I've declined poems from poets who I've published before. I've also accepted poems from poets I've published before. I try to do my best to be fair in all those cases and I'm sure that I sometimes fail, but I make the effort each and every time. I don't reread the bios of people I've already published. In fact, I don't read the bios of new poets I'm about to publish until I lay out the pages and start looking for links to their work. In my opinion, the poems are the important thing, not the bio.

why only four poems per submission?

2008-06-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

So, my submission guidelines state: Submit no more than four poems in the body of an email. Why so few? The answer: four poems is just enough for me to get a sense of the voice of the poet. Less than four leaves me wondering if there is some good poem that the poet didn't include in the submission, and more than four poems is too many to read when I'm faced with 80 submissions and one week to read them all.

So what do I do when I get less than four? Sometimes I ask the poet to send me more, but that only happens if the two or three poems I've received have some sort of spark or gusto to merit the effort. If I receive more than four poems, I read only the first four. Seriously. If the same poet sends me more than four poems again in another submission, I reject the submission outright without reading the poems.

It was really difficult for me to come to that decision, but after more than a year of reading submissions I had to sacrifice something in order to make the time spent on this endeavor worth it for me. Too much time taken makes me feel like this journal is a huge chore and sucks the wonder right out of the poems I'm reading. This is not fair to the poems or the poets who submit. I want to give each and every poem a chance and I can't do that if I'm pissed off.

It's extremely frustrating when the submission guidelines are ignored. To me, it's a sign that the poet not bother to read my journal. It's just plain disrespectful. 'Nuff said.

Reading submissions

2008-06-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've finally got started reading the unprecedented number of submissions I've received this time. I'm a bit overwhelmed. I already got a late start because I have had an unprecedented number of health problems and have had to spend most of the last eight weeks resting rather than reading. Oddly, this has pared down my editorial process in a way that I didn't expect. Since I'm so short on time, I've found that while reading, if a poem does not grab me within the first three to five lines, it's probably not going to grab me later on in the poem.

So, for all those who are wondering how does an editor choose the poems? This is a biggie: the beginning of your poem is extremely important. If your title is boring, or you use a lot of cliches right off the bat, or the alliteration is excessive on line two, I'm not going to read any further. The imagery has to be original. None of this: "her eyes were as lovely as sapphires" or this: "his trousers were as brown as mud."

I want to see something new. Thrill me!

Please.