Submissions Closed for Issue 14
Co-editors: Aoife Lyall and Jo Clement
Deadline: Midnight June 30th 2020
Eligible poets should currently be based in the UK or ROI. Each issue includes some authors who share a connection to Northern England or whose poems explore ‘the North’ thematically or tangentially. Our poets don't exclusively live in the North or write about it. We include a strong mix of work.
So what do we publish? Put simply: great poetry. There is no other theme. We read your work completely anonymously and publish established authors alongside previously unpublished emerging voices. It's our ethos to publish accomplished poems that blow our hair back.
We operate a best practice policy whereby poems of great promise - that are perhaps a little dog eared - will still be long listed. As experienced editors, we may suggest changes to improve poems in terms of their musicality and meaning, as well as the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar. We are happy to hear why particular choices have been made but will never publish work that falls below the standard readers expect from Butcher’s Dog.
GUIDELINES
Submissions are free. Please consider dropping a few quid in our Tip Jar. This contributes toward rising publication costs. You should read any publication before sending your work so if you've never held a copy, please buy one of our magazines or consider taking out a subscription.
Ineligible and simultaneous submissions do not cost us money but they certainly cost time. As an independent and unfunded publisher this is our most valuable asset. Please be mindful of this courtesy and only send work that is not being read elsewhere.
If you don't follow the guidelines below, you'll stand out for the wrong reasons.
How to Submit
Send us one file. Word document or .pdf, this should contain:
Your poems:
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No more than three unpublished and original poems.
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A new page for each poem (40 lines max).
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Text only: absolutely no colours, unusual fonts or images.
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Author’s name should not appear anywhere on poems.
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Translations of contemporary work accepted where permission to publish is secured in advance.
The final page should be a covering letter:
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Hellos and biographies welcome.
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Include your full name and postal address. Without exception you must currently live in the UK or ROI.
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Include a valid email address. This is how we contact you with an outcome. Please check this is right or we can't reply.
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A list of poem titles.
DEADLINE:
Midnight June 30th 2020
This process allows the Editors to read your poems anonymously so please follow it closely. Once we have arrived upon our long list - this usually takes a couple of months - we get in touch via the email address contained in your Covering Letter. Please double check you have included a valid email address. We can't reply without one.
Got your document ready? Click below to launch the Submissions Portal. Uploading is very simple- you can either manually select your file or for those who like to drag and drop, the page supports this function too. All that's left to do is complete the short form and click send.
You’ll receive an automated email to confirm (sometimes your junk or spam filters will catch the email - do check). This means your poems are now with the Editors. Changes cannot be made after this time. Please make sure to do your best editing before you press send then click below to submit.