Submission Guidelines
Special Submission Calls
Lift Every Voice--An Anthology of Poetry: See HERE
Art Submissions: See HERE
Book Review Submissions: See HERE
Regular Poetry Submissions
Thank you for considering Kissing Dynamite as a home for your work and for trusting us with your words. Please mind the following guidelines to ensure a smooth process for all.
The submission window is available from the 5th of each month through the 15th (we're located in the EST/EDT time zone). Any submissions received outside the window will be returned unread. Submissions are read for the following month's issue, and all submissions are cleared by the end of each month, so potential contributors can expect a decision by the last day of the month at the latest.
The team seeks to identify common themes/issues/topics among submissions to create an organic, theme-based approach to each issue. As a result, we may end up passing on gorgeous, accomplished work, and for that we apologize. Our current acceptance rate is approximately 13%.
Submissions are and always will be FREE. Please send ONE poem of any length and in any style/form in a Word Document (.doc/.docx); a visual poem should be sent as a JPEG or PNG image (.jpg/.png). If your poem contains special formatting, you may send, in addition to the Word Document, a PDF to confirm the formatting of the poem. Any easy-to-read standard font is appreciated. A brief cover letter in the body of the e-mail is appreciated (we will solicit full biographies from authors upon acceptance). Submissions should be e-mailed with the subject "SUBMISSION--Title of Poem" to kissingdynamitepoetry@gmail.com
If you choose not to submit electronically, you may send a hard-copy submission (typed or hand-written) with a self-addressed stamped envelope for return reply via postal mail. Any work received via postal mail will be added to the work considered in the next available submission window. Our mailing address is:
Christine Taylor, EIC
P. O. Box 662
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
Submissions must be of unpublished work; however, if you have a poem that was previously published in an online journal that has since "gone dark" or if you have withdrawn work from a journal for any reason, we will make an exception to this guideline.
Simultaneous submissions are definitely accepted! If another journal scoops up your poem before we get to it, congratulations, and it will be our loss. If you need to withdraw your poem, please send an e-mail to kissingdynamitepoetry@gmail.com with the subject "WITHDRAWAL--Title of Poem." You are welcome to submit another poem as long as the reading period is still open.
Please make only one submission per month; you may submit again during the next month's submission window. If your work is accepted, kindly skip one month before submitting again--we will refrain from publishing the same author in consecutive issues to maintain the diversity of the journal and to offer more writers a venue for their work.
All writers at any stage in their career are welcome to submit. We especially encourage writers from underrepresented backgrounds to submit. Please note in your cover letter if you identify with an underrepresented demographic.
Kissing Dynamite is an inclusive space and will outright reject any work that is degrading. We also reserve the right to remove from the journal work by authors who later perpetrate abuse on others.
We acquire First North American Serial Rights upon acceptance. After publication, all rights revert to you. We ask as a courtesy that you refrain from republishing your poem until the monthly issue has moved to the archives--we'll be doing all we can to promote your work and hope that this is a team effort! We would also appreciate being mentioned as your work's first publisher in the case of a reprint.
Unfortunately, we are not a paying market--the conception of this journal is as the love-child of our editor-in-chief, and as such, she pays for all fees related to the journal out of her own pocket. We will, however, nominate for major awards and continuously promote contributors' work via social media.
The journal is listed on both Duotrope and The (Submission) Grinder, so you can check out and report response times.
We reply to all submissions and queries and include a receipt of submission; even if a submission cannot be read (i.e. it does not follow our guidelines), you will receive a message saying so. If you have not heard back from us by the end of the month, please assume your message has somehow gone astray, and we do apologize--let us know!
The submission window is available from the 5th of each month through the 15th (we're located in the EST/EDT time zone). Any submissions received outside the window will be returned unread. Submissions are read for the following month's issue, and all submissions are cleared by the end of each month, so potential contributors can expect a decision by the last day of the month at the latest.
The team seeks to identify common themes/issues/topics among submissions to create an organic, theme-based approach to each issue. As a result, we may end up passing on gorgeous, accomplished work, and for that we apologize. Our current acceptance rate is approximately 13%.
Submissions are and always will be FREE. Please send ONE poem of any length and in any style/form in a Word Document (.doc/.docx); a visual poem should be sent as a JPEG or PNG image (.jpg/.png). If your poem contains special formatting, you may send, in addition to the Word Document, a PDF to confirm the formatting of the poem. Any easy-to-read standard font is appreciated. A brief cover letter in the body of the e-mail is appreciated (we will solicit full biographies from authors upon acceptance). Submissions should be e-mailed with the subject "SUBMISSION--Title of Poem" to kissingdynamitepoetry@gmail.com
If you choose not to submit electronically, you may send a hard-copy submission (typed or hand-written) with a self-addressed stamped envelope for return reply via postal mail. Any work received via postal mail will be added to the work considered in the next available submission window. Our mailing address is:
Christine Taylor, EIC
P. O. Box 662
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
Submissions must be of unpublished work; however, if you have a poem that was previously published in an online journal that has since "gone dark" or if you have withdrawn work from a journal for any reason, we will make an exception to this guideline.
Simultaneous submissions are definitely accepted! If another journal scoops up your poem before we get to it, congratulations, and it will be our loss. If you need to withdraw your poem, please send an e-mail to kissingdynamitepoetry@gmail.com with the subject "WITHDRAWAL--Title of Poem." You are welcome to submit another poem as long as the reading period is still open.
Please make only one submission per month; you may submit again during the next month's submission window. If your work is accepted, kindly skip one month before submitting again--we will refrain from publishing the same author in consecutive issues to maintain the diversity of the journal and to offer more writers a venue for their work.
All writers at any stage in their career are welcome to submit. We especially encourage writers from underrepresented backgrounds to submit. Please note in your cover letter if you identify with an underrepresented demographic.
Kissing Dynamite is an inclusive space and will outright reject any work that is degrading. We also reserve the right to remove from the journal work by authors who later perpetrate abuse on others.
We acquire First North American Serial Rights upon acceptance. After publication, all rights revert to you. We ask as a courtesy that you refrain from republishing your poem until the monthly issue has moved to the archives--we'll be doing all we can to promote your work and hope that this is a team effort! We would also appreciate being mentioned as your work's first publisher in the case of a reprint.
Unfortunately, we are not a paying market--the conception of this journal is as the love-child of our editor-in-chief, and as such, she pays for all fees related to the journal out of her own pocket. We will, however, nominate for major awards and continuously promote contributors' work via social media.
The journal is listed on both Duotrope and The (Submission) Grinder, so you can check out and report response times.
We reply to all submissions and queries and include a receipt of submission; even if a submission cannot be read (i.e. it does not follow our guidelines), you will receive a message saying so. If you have not heard back from us by the end of the month, please assume your message has somehow gone astray, and we do apologize--let us know!
