January 2024 Newsletter — Updates on Submission Guidelines
January 2024 Newsletter — Updates
Welcome to the very first Newsletter from Apollo, Dreams, & Poetry―the first Sunday of this year!
Can you all believe it? We are already a week into this New Year!
We are growing since more Poets are expressing their interest in this publication.
I always look forward to your submissions!
Today, I will go over a few things with you:
- Update on the Submission Guidelines
- Publication Schedule Reminder
- Tips and Tricks for optimizing your articles and submissions
- The current list of the Poets in this Publication
- Poetry Prompt of the Month
Let’s get started!
Submission Guidelines
Although I love all your creations, I want to go over several things with you:
- I will only accept Poetry for this Publication. Although I appreciate blogs and short stories (I write them too), this publication is dedicated to all types of Poetry only. If you submit an article that is NOT in poetry format, I will not publish them.
- Always have a Photo Cover with your article/poetry and please CREDIT THEM properly! Artists work hard for their creations. Please do not steal their work. If you make your Photo Cover from Canva like me, simply just state that you did. If you took a photo from Pinterest, credit the artist. Just tell me where you got the photo from. ☺️ Although in the past, I have made a Photo Cover for some of you, I will be taking a step back from now on in doing this. This will allow me to go through everyone’s submissions much easier and have them published on time. If you do not have a Photo Cover, I will leave an Editor’s Note and I won’t publish your submission until you have one.
- Edit your work as best as you can before you submit it. Even though I optimize and edit your work, please make sure that you keep the grammatical errors to a minimum. E.g. Proper Punctuation (.) (,) (…) (―) (;) (?) (!) (?!), Capitalization, Spelling Errors, Correct Usage of the Words, etc. If I see way too many grammatical errors, I will leave an Editor’s Note and I won’t publish your submission until you have gone through the errors as best as you can. I also suggest using Grammarly or any editing software to help you. I also bend grammatical rules to keep the rhythm going, but please try to keep your work coherent.
- Have a Title (this is that big T) and a subtitle (the small T). If you do not have a subtitle, that is okay as well. I will have your name as the subtitle so the readers know who it is by. However, having a Title is a must. If you do not know how to turn the text into a Title, simply just have it in quotations for me and I will edit it for you. Or tell me in brackets that you want this to be your title. E.g. “This Poetry is the Best! It made the Pantheon Gods Cry.” or This Human Boy Broke My Ancient Godly Heart (Title)
- Be original and do not plagiarize. Please do not steal from other writers. You don’t want your hard work to get stolen too, right?
- It is okay if you have some affiliation right after as long as you have proper disclaimers and disclosures (just don’t be spammy). I affiliate too and I understand the hustle ☺️
- State what your poetry is about. Not all readers have the same tolerance E.g. This poem is dark and it talks about sensitive issues. Reader discretion is advised. Or This is an erotica poem. NSFW. Reader discretion is advised
- Please no child pornography, or anything that glorifies abuse and violence (I am all for creative horror but glorifying abuse and violence is not it). If you are writing horror, erotica, or NSFW, put on proper disclaimers. It is an excellent habit to always have one
- Once you become a writer for this publication, be respectful to everyone. Abuse and harassment will not be tolerated. I will immediately remove you
- Max submissions from each author that will be published every Sunday will be eight (8 means good luck — I am not superstitious but…I am LOL). If you submitted more than eight, I will schedule the rest for the following Sunday! Don’t worry. Your creation will still be seen ☺️
Publication Schedule Reminder
- Submissions will be published every Sunday
- Max submissions from each author that will be published every Sunday will be eight (8 means good luck — I am not superstitious but…I am LOL)
- I will release a Newsletter at least once a month (every first Sunday of the month). The Newsletters will act as updates, announcements, tips and tricks, and highlighting the awesome poets that make this Publication a great place!
- Once a month (every first Sunday of the month) I will put out prompts that you can use as an inspiration! You do not have to use the prompt, but I thought it would add some fun. The prompts will be included in the Newsletter
- As I have previously mentioned, if you have submitted more than eight this week, I will schedule the others for next Sunday. 🖤 If you are particular like me, make a note for me which ones you want published that week
Tips and Tricks for optimizing your articles and submissions
- Keep the grammatical errors to a minimum
- Use proper punctuations
- Did you know that SEO and the algorithm love images? If you are going to use them, properly format them and make sure that it doesn’t hinder your poetic flow
- Do not be shy in introducing yourself after your work! Let the Readers know who it is by and you are more than welcome to add in your note: don’t forget to comment or follow. Be proud of your creation! You poured your soul into this 🖤
- For keywords and topics, you are allowed five. I will always put Apollo, Dreams, and Poetry, and Poetry on Medium for the other two. Your three keywords should state the genre of your poetry, what kind of poetry it is, and the topic. If you are not sure what to put, leave a note for me and I will do it for you. E.g. “Hi CyCy! Help! I don’t know what keywords to use. My poetry is fictional and it is about mythology.” In that case, I will most likely put: Fictional Poetry, Mythology, and I will put it under an appropriate theme (e.g. Heartbreak). Keywords will help your work to be seen by others. Thus, I will try my best to get your stuff out there ☺️
The current list of the Poets in this Publication
This publication is made up of amazing poets! Keep an eye out for their work and check them all out! I love getting lost in their works, even the ones they have not submitted here.
Give them some love and follow!
New Additions:
Poetry Prompt of the Month
This month is usually seen as a new start for everyone. For this month’s prompt, write a poem about New Year, New Me.
Get creative! It does not have to be inspirational. Put your twist on it! It can be fictional, horror (e.g. something went horribly wrong), mythology, etc.
If you are using this as a prompt, just leave me a note and I will make sure that the right Keyword is used.
Super excited to see your work!
Last Note from Me:
This publication will always welcome new poets. Just let me know in the comments and I shall add you! Don’t forget to give this publication a follow, and to use this month’s Newsletter as your guide.
