Call for Submissions: The Auroras & Blossoms Magazine (Issue 2)

Like our anthology series, the Auroras & Blossoms Magazine is based on the concept of PoArtMo, which stands for "Positive Actions Rally Thoughts & Momentum."

PoArtMo follows three major tenets:

1. Family-friendliness & clean language.
2. Positivity and upliftment.
3. Inclusivity and respect for all.

Inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month), PoArtMo seeks to promote positive and inspirational art and creativity, and has two long-term goals:

• Give a voice to projects, concepts, and stories that foster positive discussions and outcomes; and
• Build a nurturing, family-friendly community of like-minded individuals (ages 13 and over) around the world.

The Auroras & Blossoms Magazine gives a voice to writers whose work seeks to nurture hope and optimism.

Submission deadline for Issue 2: March 31, 2024

Ages: 13 and over.

Language: English only.

Theme: Auroras and / or blossoms. What do these two words mean to you? Your interpretation of the theme can be literal or metaphorical.

Note that the theme is optional. We will still consider non-themed entries.

What we accept: Haiku and senryu

Number of pieces accepted:

• Young writers (ages 13–16): Up to two (2) haiku / senryu.
• Adult writers (ages 17 and over): Between three (3) and six (6) haiku / senryu. Submissions that contain fewer than three haiku / senryu will be automatically rejected.
• AI-GENERATED POEMS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY REJECTED

Number of entries accepted per issue: 20–25.

Other requirements:

• We will give priority to original and never-published material. If your work has been posted anywhere online (Facebook groups / pages / profiles, Twitter, Mastodon, CounterSocial, Tumblr, Pinterest, blog, website, etc.), it is considered already published. This is acceptable of course, but you must mention it in your submission.
• Family-friendly work only! Some of our readers are teenagers, so please take that age group into consideration. Absolutely no dirty words or erotica! Only clean language will be accepted.
• Inspire us! No matter the subject(s) addressed, your work must contain uplifting elements. No exceptions allowed.
• Be professional. Treat your work and submission the way you would like to be treated as an artist and human being.
• Have your work proofread / edited before you send it to us. If we accept it but find too many issues during the editing phase, we will send it back to you for corrections or charge you an hourly fee if you prefer us to proofread it for you.
• If our guidelines are unclear to you, feel free to email us to ask for clarifications. However, due to an increasing number of submissions coming from writers who refuse to follow our guidelines, we now have a zero tolerance policy for work that has been incorrectly submitted to us. We will no longer contact writers to give them a second chance.

We are inclusive: As human beings, we greatly value empathy and respect. We believe that diversity makes the world beautiful. No matter who you are and where you come from, we welcome your submission.

Fee

There is no fee to submit to us. However, adult contributors (ages 17 and over) interested in receiving a digital copy of the issue are required to make a small donation. The amount is up to you.

A donation also entitles you to:

• Receive royalty payments for being published in our digital magazine. Our rate is 1% per accepted piece, up to a maximum of 6%.
• Be interviewed, if your haiku / senryu are our favorites for the issue. The interview will appear in the issue as well.

Miscellaneous Questions

• Do you accept simultaneous submissions? No, we don't.
• If my work is accepted, do I have to respond to your acceptance email?  If you have not emailed us back within 14 days, we will consider that as an agreement with our publication decisions. Also requests for submission withdrawals sent after the 14-day window will be subject to a fee to compensate us for our time.
• Will you produce print copies of this issue? No, we only release digital issues.
• Will I receive a complimentary copy if my work is accepted? Only contributors who have donated to us will be entitled to receiving a copy. They will also be able to receive royalty payments.
• If I wish to receive royalty payments, what's the process? Royalty payments are managed by Draft2Digital, not us. You need to open an account with our distributor to be able to be paid. More information here.
• Will I lose copyright of my work if it is accepted? A work is automatically protected by copyright when it is created. You retain all of the publishing rights to your work, so feel free to submit what we feature from you in our anthology elsewhere. We just ask for first international publication rights, which then revert back to you after three months.
• Where will the issue be available for purchase? Everywhere except for Amazon, because the company has a zero-tolerance policy towards non-original content. If something is freely available on the Internet (and social media), Amazon does not allow you to use it in a paid ebook.
• Can I mention Auroras & Blossoms as publishing credits? Absolutely! If you choose to self-publish a collection that contains a piece of yours that we have published, we ask that you mention the title of the anthology in which you were published. This is to ensure you get the opportunity to have a publishing credit listed in your book.
• Final note to writers whose work will be published in the anthology. We may minimally edit your published piece(s), if we feel that it will obviously improve the grammar/flow of your work. This will be at our own discretion and we will only do this to ensure your work looks professional when published in our anthology. We will of course respect any style choices you have decided to use within the context/format of your piece of writing.

Ready to submit your work?

We can't wait to read you!

If our guidelines are unclear to you, feel free to email us to ask for clarifications. However, due to an increasing number of submissions coming from writers who refuse to follow our guidelines, we now have a zero tolerance policy for work that has been incorrectly submitted to us. We will no longer contact writers to give them a second chance.

STEP 1:

• Writers ages 13 to 16: Click here to download the submission form and save it to your computer. Fill it up, then send it back to us. All sections must be filled.
• Writers ages 17 and over: Click here to download the submission form and save it to your computer. Fill it up, then send it back to us. All sections must be filled.

(If you have issues downloading the submission form, please email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to send it to you directly.)

STEP 2: Email: [email protected]. Subject: Auroras & Blossoms Magazine + Your Name.

NB: Failure to include the submission form in your email will result in an automatic rejection.

REMINDERS:

• If our guidelines are unclear to you, feel free to email us to ask for clarifications. However, due to an increasing number of submissions coming from writers who refuse to follow our guidelines, we now have a zero tolerance policy for work that has been incorrectly submitted to us. We will no longer contact writers to give them a second chance.
• Please do not use a Hotmail or Live.com email address to send us your work. Your submission will be rejected by our server.
• Failure to include the submission form in your email will result in an automatic rejection.

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Auroras & Blossoms thrives on positivity and inspiration. We are inclusive and patient, and strive to be as helpful and encouraging as possible to the people who submit to us, no matter who they are. However, our policy is that we cannot promote/publish artists whose behavior runs counter to the way they portray themselves through their work.

Any unprofessional behaviors, threats and false accusations will be addressed in the following manner: automatic rejection of your submission and indefinite ban from submitting to us.

While we understand that mistakes happen, it is your responsibility to read and follow our guidelines. We will no longer contact artists who have incorrectly submitted to us to give them a second chance.

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We look forward to reading you!

Cendrine & David