Submission Details

PRESENTATION GUIDE NOTES

Poems should be typed on 1 side only of an A4 page.

If a poem goes on more than 1 page, each page should have the poem’s title and page number. Use plain paper no fancy colours or textures.

A good clean page is preferred: [editorial notes are liable to be scribbled on it at our end].

A clear typeface or font should be used: [no fancy stuff].

Your name should be on each sheet: [and address if space permits].

Hand-written corrections should be avoided, these can be difficult to read.

Check spelling.

Check punctuation.

Check grammar.

Check layout on page: [would it go onto a book page?].

Keep style consistent i.e. capital letters at the start of lines or start of new sentences.

Check margins top, bottom and left, keep these generous so that the poem has good visual appearance.

Check that these are the poems you really want to see published; by a strange quirk the poems you are uncertain about are probably better in many ways than your favourite poems.

Enclose a biographical note, people like to know a little about you.

Enclose a list of work previously published, broadcast, awards etc.

REMEMBER: most poems are at a certain stage of development: experienced writers will have worked at a poem until it is as good as it can be.

REMEMBER: many people need to find the right format for their writing; some people try poems when they should be writing short stories or plays or novels. Poetry just might be right for you, if not try another genre as well as poetry.

REMEMBER: it can take a year or more to go through all the business of publishing. From first reading of a submission right through to the launch of a publication, publishers have many, many hours and days of work to do before that first word of welcome to an audience gathered to hear you read from your ‘new’ publication.

REMEMBER: editors and publishers try to do their best for you as a writer and may send poems back many times for you to reconsider, especially points which they feel and generally know, are important.

REMEMBER: keep writing, that’s what writers do, other people only talk about it.

REMEMBER: whilst the majority of poetry published and purchased is from the past and sometimes far into the past, it is important that new poetry is also read and it helps if someone buys a few copies.

REMEMBER: there are over 100,000 books published each year in the UK and Ireland out of about 500,000 publications, from the Mr.Men to The Star, The Sun, other daily and weekly newspapers, journals and magazines of all kinds. It is impossible for any shop to stock all the really fine NEW literature as well as the old public domain favourites and poetry fares badly because not enough people buy it, and its sales have slowed right down almost to a dead stop. Try finding poetry among all the lifestyle and ‘celebrity’ publications.

STANDARD CONDITIONS

1 Lapwing Publications accepts work in good faith as an author’s own creative work irrespective of subsequent editorial inputs.

2 Where there is/are quotation/s from other works, authors should ensure that such quotation/s do not infringe Copyright Rules.

3 Authors are obliged to seek and obtain permission if their work is a translation of another writer’s work.

4 The receipt of work by Lapwing Publications is not a commitment to publish. Nor does the reading and consideration of a work by Lapwing Publications imply a commitment to publish.

5 Any commitment to publish work is solely dependent on resources being available to Lapwing Publications to do so; the work’s demonstration of potential development of the author’s literary ability in the future, or present competency.

6. Aesthetic merit will not be an overriding factor since aesthetic responses depend on the reader therefore Lapwing Publications is mindful of such subjective values but demonstrable competency in the language is of prime importance. If, according to Propp, there are only thirty or so narratives common to all humankind, the art is in the telling and writing of any ‘story’.

7. Lapwing Publications will offer editorial advice where it seems that an author’s work may benefit.

8. The style and type of publication will be in accordance with Lapwing Publication’s House style at any given time. From time to time Lapwing Publications may suggest for practical, typographical and printing reasons that a poem’s presentation or layout be modified.

9. In every instance, full copyright will remain with the author although it is often the case that Lapwing will be asked for releases, permissions and licenses by third parties. These are normally granted and any income forwarded to the author.

10. Author’s final proofs will be the sole authoritative text should a work be published. It is therefore incumbent upon the author to ensure final accuracy of Text and Punctuation. Errors do occur from time to time despite diligence such as a foul paper being sent by accident to a printer.

11. In every instance, there is no conventional ‘print-run’ , all work is prepared for ‘print-on-demand’. The author will receive twenty complimentary copies based on a ‘notional’ first printing of two hundred copies. Further copies may be purchased by any Lapwing author at 50% of the cover price.

12. Due to the low volume and sale price of Lapwing Publications and in the absence of a Public Subsidy for Royalties in the United Kingdom, no Royalties will be paid. Exceptions being where Secondary fees are paid to Lapwing Publications from other users of the material published, in which case any payment will be forwarded to the Author.

13. Lapwing Publications is an independent publisher and is not grant aided by public bodies such as the Arts Council etc., nor is it a profit distributing organisation. All resources are used for the advancement of poets, poetry and other literary genre Lapwing may publish from time to time.

14. All Lapwing Publications are hand-bound and finished, not as object d’art in themselves but as utilitarian books to be read, dog-eared and annotated through use.

15. It is expected in due course that Lapwing Publications will publish in other Formats and media than its current pamphlet, chapbook or book formats. Lapwing Publications expects to use Electronic Publishing and/or Digital Storage/Retrieval systems to promote and expand the readership of its authors’ works. It is expected that an author’s Consent to Publication will include other media. Should distributable amounts of income be generated from such formats, this will be distributed in an equitable manner pro rata. In 2010 Lapwing will extend its Partnership with Google Books by participation in Google Editions a new arrangement by Google whereby readers can establish an individual virtual bookshelf and purchase titles with which to stock it. It will be permnently 'live' to the paying client. It is hoped that Lapwing authors will benefit from this greater access to their work.

16. Lapwing had signed up to the Google Booksearch Publishers’ Programme and preview pages can be read by visitors to that site, 120,000,000 potential customers use this site. This is a world-wide display case for Lapwing poets although a book in the hand is worth a million sparks n the dark.