Submission Guidelines Update
And some reminders
Greetings.
First of all, whether you are a reader or a contributor, thanks for supporting Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Poems. I can’t believe it is now a year since I started this publication journey.
Thanks to BBP, I have got to know and read the work of many great writers and poets. To say the publication has grown into something that’s much bigger than me is an understatement. It keeps me very busy.
I thought it was time for an update because poems have been coming in thick and fast, and I am spending a lot of time doing edits that are avoidable.
Kickers, Titles and Subtitles
I know we poets are a creative bunch, and poetry allows us the freedom to do away with the usual rules of writing, but the title of your work must be in title case. That is the style of the pub. I go with the Chicago style guide for title case in BBP (and Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Short Stories). Here is a website you can use to check how to capitalise titles.
Subtitles should be in sentence case. I used to go with title case (and might need to change that in the submission guidelines), but these days, I use sentence case.
Please don’t write things like ‘Poem’ or ‘Freeverse’ in the subtitle. Use the subtitle to add nuance to the main title. For example, ‘Sleeping in the Gutter’ as a title with ‘A trip down memory lane’ as a subtitle.
The kicker, if you have never seen one, is a supertitle (I think that’s the correct term) that appears before the main title. This is where you tell the reader that it’s a poem, free verse, covers trauma, meditation, or microbiology.
To create a kicker, take the cursor to the start of your title, and press carriage return. In the space created write the kicker, highlight it, and format it as a subtitle (small T). The word ‘Kicker’ will appear on the left of it.
Format the kicker in the following way:
Poem | Free verse | Nature
Use of Italics and Bold
Make italics special again. Use italics sparingly to highlight thoughts, foreign words, or the names of books, for example. If I see a poem that is completely italicised and/or in bold, the first thing I do is reformat it to its original plain state. Save me the effort, please.
Spacing
Please use no spaces between lines of verse. Only use a space between stanzas. Does this mean you can’t be creative with spacing? No, by all means, if you want to make a point with spacing by adding a few extra line spaces here and there, of course, you can. What I don’t want to see is unnecessary spacing for no reason.
For example:
The cat sat on the mat [shift + carriage return]
Realised it had shat
A brown messy splat [carriage return]
Its owner was upset
So she started to fret
Wanted to forget
It’s not the best poem, admittedly, but it’ll do.
Add Context
This is a new rule and one that I believe will add a lot of value to your stories. Please say a few words before and/or after the poem to add context. You can explain what inspired you to write the poem or give a little more context to make the meaning clearer. Some poems are so deep and cryptic, they are lost on me, but when some explanation is offered, I get more out of them.
For example, if I were going to write something about my terrible poem above, it might go like this:
‘The other day, I was explaining how I wanted poems to be formatted in BBP and decided to show an example. Short of time, I made a poem up from the top of my head, and ‘The cat sat on the mat,’ seemed the most obvious start. Since my default thinking is very childlike and usually drifts towards the gutter, I decided to write about the cat leaving a soggy turd on the mat.’
It doesn’t have to be long. When you do this, you might be prompted to add more. I could have said, ‘My cat has never sat on the mat before, but only because we have no mats in the house. He has, however, tried to make a mess next to his litter tray to protest that it was full.’
By adding text, you can engage with your readers and encourage them to spend longer on the piece, and even if they didn’t get the poem, they might comment on your explanation.
Nationality and Heritage
This is a really important one. We attract work from poets from all over the world. Some use British English, others use American, and there are plenty of other flavours such as African-American Vernacular English (AAVE).
Although I edit everything that comes in, I honour whatever kind of English has been used. If you are writing in American English, I will do what I can to ensure you don’t drop any balls according to the rules of American English. Authors appreciate it.
By stating your nationality, you make it clear what variation of English you are using.
As for heritage, I want to celebrate diversity. If you are a person of colour, I invite you to declare it however you like — ‘African-American writer’ or ‘Black poet’, for example.
Some people are not comfortable revealing too much about themselves, and I understand that, so if you only want to state your nationality, that is fine. Again, feel free to add nuance — ‘Writer born in London, raised in Scotland, living in California’, for example.
Grammarly
I often see grammatical errors and typos that could have been avoided had the writer used the Grammarly app. It makes mistakes sometimes, but I will pick them up. If you use this app before submitting, you will make my job a lot easier.
Don’t Forget the Tag
When you are adding the tags to your work, please don’t forget to include ‘Bouncin and Behavin Poems’
The Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Book
I wanted to have finished this by now, but I have not had the time. It is still happening. Please be patient and bear with me.
Thanks for Reading
Still here? Thanks for reading this update.
Martin Morrison (English writer)
