Open Mouse Guidelines

Page last updated: May 24, 2010

Poetry Scotland (the magazine) receives many poems which it is unable to publish, so this website opens a page to contributors who wish to offer good poems for publication on its website. The Open Mouse page, like the entirely separate printed broadsheet Poetry Scotland, contains only poems - no editorial content. This is a 'no-frills' operation, so to keep editorial work to the minimum, please read the following guidelines carefully:

  1. Yr website editor is Colin Will. His decisions will be based solely on the quality of the poems (as he judges their quality), and are final.
  2. While poems may be sent by poets from anywhere in the world, for editorial reasons only poems in English or Scots will be considered for Open Mouse.
  3. No correspondence can be entered into. If the poem is accepted, it will be posted (without comment) within four weeks. If not, it will not appear, and that's it. No messages can be sent, and nor can poems be forwarded anywhere else.
  4. Correspondence relating to poetry in general or Poetry Scotland in particular should be sent separately to Sally or myself.
  5. No advice or suggestions can be provided in relations to poems offered.
  6. I do not have the time to correct spelling and/or grammatical errors, not to suggest how poems might be altered to make them more acceptable.
  7. Long explanations, notes and justifications in accompanying messages will usually guarantee that the poem(s) will not appear.
  8. Please don't send me your 'qualifications', your CV, or your list of previous publications. If I like your poem, it goes in.
  9. No images can be accepted, either as illustration or wallpaper.
  10. No adverts will be accepted.
  11. No fancy typography or page layouts can be reproduced (except simple HTML layouts like left, right, and centred text).
  12. Poems MUST NOT be sent as attachments - they can only be accepted in the body of messages. Attachments will be deleted without opening.
  13. Multiple poems can be sent, up to a maximum of five poems per message. If you send me more, I will only read five.
  14. Poems sent must not have been published elsewhere - in print or on the web - at the time of sending, and must not contravene earlier copyrights. This does not affect an author's right to publish elsewhere later, in print or other form.
  15. Poems must be the sole work of the author(s) named.
  16. Copyright is retained by the authors.
  17. Poems must not, to the knowledge of the author, contravene any laws within the jurisdiction of Scotland, the European Union, or of the home countries of those submitting. In particular obscene or defamatory poems will not be accepted.
  18. Links to contributor's home pages may be posted.
  19. Poems will remain on the page for three months.

Submissions by email only to Colin Will. Please include 'Poetry Scotland' in the subject line of your message.

 

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