• We love Romance and The Sublime. LOVE it. Make us feel your work, not just read it.

Please note we send out standard form rejections only and do not follow up to inquiries about this. Acceptances and light editing requests will be sent out during the month after submissions close. 

• NO AI- WE LOVE LITTLE ROBOTS BUT WANT THEM TO COME UP WITH THEIR OWN IDEAS.
• Sex and violence are fine, but don’t send deliberately upsetting or exploitative material. In particular we’re not looking for gratuitous depictions of violence towards humans or animals. This is not to say the latter can’t be a theme (the whaling fishery and SeaWorld are both interesting topics to be sure!), but please make sure that agency and respect are afforded to any character, human or animal, which undergoes trauma in your narrative.
• No endorsements of bigotry towards any marginalized group or uncritical representations of institutions or figures associated with bigotry. If you would protest such a group or person at Pride, we don’t really want to see it.
• Don’t preach to us. Seriously. Our editorial board includes folks affected by the systematic ethnic cleansing of the First Nations in Canada, so please note a deep editorial discomfort towards Catholic and Christian imagery, no matter how tongue-in-cheek or cheek-in-ass. If the priests and angels and their cliffside monasteries must make an appearance, be aware it will be a hard sell.
• Rudeness or entitlement are an instant rejection. Please conduct yourself with courtesy during the submissions process. We’re salty dogs here, not snotty clout hogs.
• Upon acceptance, we always suggest light edits with the expectation to generate a discussion. If during this time you cannot treat us with common courtesy or engage openly with the process, we will not persist and you may consider it a rejection. Editing is a process and a poem is not considered complete until it’s published. While this does not often happen, we more than understand wanting to retain the original format of your work and editorial disagreements on style. That means your work will simply have a better home elsewhere!
  
• Rejection policy: if you are not issued an official rejection after submitting you must not reach out before four months. Our rejection emails will consist of a brief, automated message, unless we suggest you do not submit here again. Additionally, we reserve the right to reject your work automatically during any point of the editorial process. We also reserve the right to take your work down at our own discretion– though we hope this isn’t a common occurrence. These decisions are based on quality of work first and foremost, but also are not limited to: attitudes/willingness to work with a heavily disabled staff, and/or how you comport yourself towards others, regardless of how you identify.  We don’t seek to police people, but if you have enough of a history of being hateful/bigoted/bullying/stalking/coercing— we don’t wish to house your work.
• Additionally, If your tone over email is akin to being in an altered state, aggression or bullying, we do not want it. You may prioritize your free time however you like. However if you find our health, jobs, and priorities to be less important than yours, we cannot publish you. We have a zero abuse tolerance for our staff. If after four months you still receive no response, you may understand this to be a rejection and take your work wherever you please. Do not reach out about this matter. We encourage simultaneous submissions and always have during this time. Thank you.

• A short bio in the body of your email (think 25-50 words including socials). Use this format in the email heading: LAST NAME- [type of submission]-[name of manuscript] send it to editor@westofcanon.com.
• Please don’t send anything illegal. We’re being purposefully vague about this, as your definition of ‘illegal’ may vary from ours. But don’t please.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine, just let us know if you are accepted elsewhere!
• We’re also pretty lax about previously published work. If the work requires acknowledgement of previous publication, please indicate so in your submission. We do not consider work that has been posted on social media or a personal blog to be previously published.