Submission Guidelines

NOTE: WE ARE TAKING YET ANOTHER BRIEF HIATUS IN ORDER TO CLEAR OUR BACKLOG. PLEASE CHECK BACK TO SEE WHEN WE ARE READING SUBMISSIONS AGAIN. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT FIRST LITERARY REVIEW-EAST IS NOT REVIEWING BOOKS AT THIS TIME, EXCEPT WHEN SOLICITED.

IF WE PUBLISH YOUR POEM IN AN ISSUE OF FIRST LITERARY REVIEW-EAST, WE ASK THAT YOU NOT POST YOUR INDIVIDUAL POEM ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE OR BLOG WHILE THE ISSUE IS CURRENT. JUST GIVE THE LINK TO OUR JOURNAL (www.rulrul.4mg.com) AND ASK PEOPLE TO CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE JOURNAL. THANK YOU!

PLEASE NOTE THE MOST IMPORTANT GUIDELINE OF ALL: WE ONLY PUBLISH POEMS THAT ARE 16 LINES AND UNDER (STANZA BREAKS DO NOT COUNT AS LINES, NOR DO THE TITLES, JUST THE LINES OF THE ACTUAL POEM). IF YOU SEND US SOMETHING THAT IS OVER 16 LINES, WE WILL REJECT IT OUTRIGHT (NICELY, OF COURSE!)

MISSION STATEMENT:  Here at FLRev, we wish to create a warm and safe place for talented poets to showcase their work.  Although we need to be selective and want only high-quality work, we believe in the personal touch and, to that end, we hope you will be courteous in your correspondence, as will the editors in replying to your submissions. 

Before submitting work to FLRev, PLEASE READ ALL THE GUIDELINES, as follows:

Seeking excellent and exciting poems (free verse, prose, or traditional forms); 16 lines or under. We are aiming for an eclectic mix of topics and styles, so send us love poems, humorous poems, haiku, experimental poems, abstract, etc. Seasonal poems, sent several months in advance, are always welcome. We do have a fondness for surrealism, spiritualism, and outside-the-box musing. We especially love to feature poets who have never been published before, as well as poets from around the globe. 

Blow us away with your poetic prowess!!

Previously published poems are okay (WITH PROPER CREDIT—AND THE EDITORS ARE VERY GOOD AT SNAKING OUT PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED POEMS BECAUSE WE READ A LOT OF OTHER JOURNALS!). That being said, we do prefer work that has not yet been published. Simultaneous submissions okay (with immediate notification if accepted elsewhere). Please send 3 short poems in the body of your email (no attachments—if we accept your poem, at that time we may ask you to send as an attachment so we can properly format it), with brief bio (please don't ask the editors to pare down your bio—we don't have time to do that!), to poet2680@aol.com. A cover letter is always nice, addressed to Cindy Hochman, Editor-in-Chief and Karen Neuberg, Associate Editor. PLEASE PROOFREAD YOUR WORK.  Although we will do everything in our power to ensure that your poems are free of spelling errors and typos, it is really the poet’s job to submit work that has been proofed.  We are writers—let’s be professional and have respect for the English language.  

WE PREFER TO AVOID SWEAR WORDS.  While we will on occasion drop the "F" bomb if it's really vital to the poem, we don't much care for it.  There are so many beautiful words in the English language, so let's use them.  (That having been said, we are not prudes, and we do like a bit of sensuality as long as it's tasteful).

Also, we prefer poems that are easy to format—i.e., lines that start at the left margin.  We do sometimes print poems that have a bit of fancy formatting, but we feel more comfortable with regular lines rather than all over the page.

After publication of poem(s) from a batch you have submitted, please wait at least 6 or 7 months before submitting a new batch, as we like to vary the voices. We may accept more than one of your poems and publish them over several issues.

Response time is from immediately to one month. We answer queries promptly and personally. The editors are poets too and we hate rejection as much as you do.  If we reject your poem, it's usually because we don't have enough space, or because your poem doesn't fit our particular issue at the moment. So don't be discouraged—and do try again. We look forward to reading your work!