Guidelines for Poetry Submissions
All forms welcome — from sonnets to free verse. Good stuff only.
Clichés are disingenuous softball acquaintances who think only of themselves. So please don’t use them, unless you’re doing it intentionally to somehow comment on the cliché itself.
I’m open to publishing poems on just about any theme, so long as the poem says something interesting in a new way — surprise me! Uninterested in pornography or religious fervor for religious fervor’s sake, but poetry on adult themes will be considered. Any content published with strong adult language or themes may feature an “Adult Content Advisory” popup upon first load on a computer, requiring the user to agree that they are adult and okay with such content.
Tone
We seek to publish gentleness, in a world of rip-roaring indignation and rage. Uninterested in polemics, erotica, or anything vituperative, mean-spirited, or rapturously religious. The moocat is a gentle cat.
No suicide notes disguised as poems will be considered.
If you are thinking about doing yourself harm, please contact a local suicide-prevention resource. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline by simply dialing "988" (in the U.S. and Canada).
Length and Quality
Please limit submissions to 1-3 poems per issue, and limit individual poem length to no more than 50 lines. To avoid unwanted line breaks, no individual line should be longer than 90 characters (including spaces).
Original works only. Exclusive submissions strongly preferred (and acted on first). Simultaneous submissions will be reviewed only after all exclusive submissions have been reviewed. Only works sent in via the online submission form will be considered.
Bio Guidelines
Limit bios to 50 words max. You may include your photo to appear in the bio. Bio photos will be presented as 80 x 100 px images in greyscale, but it’s best to submit a high-res photo, in case it needs to be cropped.
Use your bio to tell readers about you as a writer or creator and to record where your work has appeared. A short list of prior publications and any forthcoming ones is welcome, as is a link to your own website or portfolio.
Do not include links to or handles for social media platforms, nor links for purchasing your books or other merchandise through Amazon or other commercial storefronts. If your book is available, include the title and its publisher; readers can take it from there.
Other Stuff
I will only post material sent from contributors with a working e-mail address or telephone number, so that I can contact you to discuss your submission if necessary.
Copyright
You retain full copyright in your work.
Electronic rights. By accepting a formal offer of publication, you grant moocat.net First Worldwide Serial Electronic Rights and a perpetual, non-exclusive license to maintain the work in its digital archive. Moocat.net holds exclusive electronic rights for 90 days following publication, after which all rights revert to you and you may republish the work elsewhere, provided moocat.net is credited as the original publisher.
Print rights. You also grant moocat.net a non-exclusive license to reprint the work in print and PDF anthologies of moocat.net content, including for-sale editions, for as long as the anthology remains in print. This license does not affect your right to publish the work elsewhere in any form.
The Submission Process
Submissions are processed either offsite, on Duotrope, using the Duosuma submission management system, or locally, on this site, depending on the section. For some sections, you can choose between the two submission paths. Your work will be reviewed only by moocat.net editors.
Simultaneous Submissions
Upon receiving a Conditional Acceptance, authors must notify other editors of the piece’s withdrawal within 48 hours.
Editorial Exclusivity
To protect the time invested in iterative editing, the work remains exclusive to moocat.net during the collaborative phase until either a final grant of rights is signed or the piece is formally withdrawn.
Guidelines for other sections:
Poetry submissions for the Fall 2026 issue are currently closed.