In the first quarter of each new year, FutureCycle Press publishes an anthology, FutureCycle, in print (on demand) and ebook (Kindle) formats, combining poems and flash fiction accepted in the previous calendar year. Contributors receive one copy of the published ebook and the opportunity to purchase one or more copies of the printed anthology at a deep discount.
What to Submit
We are drawn to individual poems that rely on strong, fresh imagery and metaphor. We are open to any style or subject except for hard-core pornography. Ideally, we want poetry that achieves the "electric effect,” but we'll consider lower-voltage work if it's otherwise well written.
In general, we're not averse to rhyme and formal structure as long as the work is innovative. We confess that we're not fond of haiku or any visual forms of poetry. (Positioning words in artful ways is hard enough in print; in web-like ebooks, it's practically impossible.) If, however, you've written something in this vein that you think will sway us, feel free to send it.
We loathe contrived or distancing perspectives, such as when the poet writes a poem about a painter painting a painting of a sculptor sculpting a sculpture. We'd rather the poet just wake us up with the poem! We love richly connotative, well-crafted poems but are largely non-plussed by heavily academic work. We think erudition, when used to distance the reader from the heart of a poem, is ineffective at best.
We eagerly look for new poets, but only those who have worked hard to learn the craft. We are not interested in poets who consider themselves amateurs or those who refuse on principal to consider revising their work. It's been our experience that poets who only read their own work don't write very well, so ask yourself if you are one of them before you submit.
Unless specifically stated otherwise in a call for submissions, we do not reprint previously published poems. We do consider simultaneous submissions as long as we are notified immediately if a poem is accepted elsewhere.
How to Submit
We only accept submissions (in one of the listed formats) via our online submission form. Please limit your submission to five pages of poetry or one long poem up to six pages. Include a short bio, which can include your web site URL and email address if desired. We ask that you please not type your titles in all caps. If you have other questions not addressed here, please refer to our general submission guidelines. There is no reading fee for submissions of individual poems, and we do not give feedback on rejected submissions.