Poetry Submission Guidelines

Aphelion will accept original poems with a science fiction, fantasy, or horror theme. Poems that, in the opinion of the editors, contain bigotry or slander will not be published. Any form of poetry will be considered. The only guideline is if the editor likes it, really, and that's a matter of my (warped) taste. We've previously published everything from haiku to mock - saga by way of limericks and sonnets.

We will accept previously published works, but please tell us where they have been published before, so that we can include a link.
Copyright:

Being an amateur publication, ask only the right to publish the work once in our webzine, all other rights are kept by the author. We ask to be able to archive previously published work, but will remove a work from the archive at the authors request (so as not to interfere with potentially paying markets)

Writers will receive copyright notices at the end of each poem, a short biography, and if you include one, a picture. We can handle most graphic formats, but GIF or JPEG are preferred.
Length:

Works of any length will be considered, but if anyone sends in something equivalent to "Beowulf," we reserve the right to serialise it.
Cover Letter:

The cover letter should state that you are submitting the poem to Aphelion and should contain a brief biographical sketch (one or two sentences will be enough, more if you are so inclined. Don't be afraid to write too much. I reserve the right to edit it if the bio is longer than the poem). If you wish us to publish link to your homepage please include the URL. Unless otherwise specified, a link to the e-mail address from which the work was sent will be included at the end of each work. If you don't want your address published, or wish to put an alternate address into the final version, please let us know.
Format:

Do not send more than one poem in a single email. The poem may be included either as a file attachment (Ascii text, HTML, or MS Word are acceptable) or as text within the email. You should be aware that when you export a story from a word processor as text, you will lose paragraphing and italics. If you are sending a story in text form, you might want to insert hyptertext markups to indicate paragraphing and italics.

1. To indicate a paragraph break, insert <p> between each paragraph.

2. To indicate italics, mark the italicized material as follows:

<i> This will appear in italics </i>

Please follow the suggested format:
---------------
Title
By (Your Pen Name)
[Text left justified]
THE END
---------------

Always include a title for your poem.

Always indicate your byline beneath the title.

Always place the words "The End" at the end of the poem so I will know that I have received everything.

If you have deliberately not punctuated or capitalised your work, please indicate this with a note at the start. I have a tendency to apostrophise.

Submissions must be received no later than the 15th of the month to be on time for the issue then under production. Submissions received after the 15th will be held for consideration for the following issue.

We provide a free webzine, and have no income from this enterprise. Consequently, we do do not pay for submissions.

Please be patient. Submissions will be processed in the order they are received and response times will vary depending on the number of poems received and the energy level of the editor. If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your poem within one week, please send a query. If you have not received a rejection or acceptance within four weeks, please send a query.

You will receive a galley proof of the poem in HTML for review prior to publication. If you do not respond to the email, it will be assumed that you accept the document as it stands.

Aphelion welcomes your submissions.

Iain Muir
Poetry and Filk Editor
poetry@aphelion-webzine.com