VPR Submission Guidelines: A Policy Change

As some readers may have noticed, the submission guidelines for Valparaiso Poetry Review have been altered slightly. Beginning June 1, the option of submitting poems, essays, or reviews through postal mail has been discontinued. When VPR was initiated in 1999, most poets submitted by postal mail. In the past dozen years that situation has continually shifted, and the vast majority of submissions received have been sent by e-mail.

Other editors will confirm that handling e-mail submissions is much more convenient and manageable. Furthermore, writers will verify that e-mail submissions are simpler and inexpensive. In most cases, e-mail submissions result in quicker response times from journals. Therefore, most electronic magazines today restrict submissions to e-mail or use online submission managers, as is the case with the newly instituted Valparaiso Fiction Review.

However, until now Valparaiso Poetry Review has accepted submissions in both e-mail and postal formats, primarily as a courtesy and as part of an ongoing tradition. Indeed, in earlier years, some of the finest poems in VPR offered by a few well-known poets had been presented only because snail mail submissions were acceptable. Nevertheless, I have found lately that all of these poets now also correspond with me through e-mail.

In an informational piece published at One Poet’s Notes in 2009 at the time of a rate hike announced by the U.S Post Office (“VPR Note on Submissions: An Update”), I reported the following: “the vast majority of submissions received in the first few years were sent by postal mail; however, a bit more than three-fourths of the nearly 7,500 poems received in the last year were sent by e-mail.” Yet, statistics of submissions in the past year have shown a further growth in the number of e-mail submissions, which now account for about 95% of the almost 10,000 works received annually.

In addition, virtually all the postal submissions have included an e-mail address in their contact information, and acceptance notices for poems or prose received through postal mail were usually sent in e-mail messages accompanied by a request for an e-mail response containing a Word file of the work. Consequently, the option in the guidelines allowing postal submissions no longer seems necessary, and it has been deleted.

Once again, as I have in the past, I wish to express my appreciation to all who have submitted poetry, reviews, essays, or interviews for appearance in Valparaiso Poetry Review, and I encourage others to consider submitting to VPR with their work.