Submissions will be open for 24 hours on Friday, March 20th at 12 AM Central Time, using the countdown link below:
Future submission windows will open by announcement only. Click here to be notified.
We put poets first.
PAYS $20 per poem.
1
Payment is immediate upon publication. And you may submit up to three poems at a time for the same, flat $3 fee.
Full online access and searchability, forever.
2
In addition to print publication, your poems will be freely accessible on this site to everyone, everywhere, indefinitely.
Truly blind submissions.
3
We don’t need to know anything about you in order to judge your poetry (not even your name). You just need a free Duotrope account, and that’s it! You’ll be asked for a brief bio later only after we’ve given your work the thumbs-up.
Print.
4
All poems published online will also appear in future print issues of Ruminous. And as on this site, you will always receive full credit for your work.
We are looking for verse which is surreal, dark, or contemplative. And we place a high value on form.
Though, we also welcome less traditional implementations of rhyme and meter, and ask further: what does ‘Ruminous’ mean to you?
Send us your best.
What we want:
Image: Tombstone - Arnold Böcklin (1880), Oil on canvas
Requirements
You will need a free Duotrope account to access the submission link at the top. All submissions will be considered, provided you adhere to the following:
✅ YEAs:
Submit 1-3 poems at a time.
Use page breaks at the end of each poem.
Attach the poems as a PDF.
Title the PDF file with 1) the title of your first poem (whole, or in part), + 2) an underscore, + 3) the date, using this format: DDMMMYY. Here is an example: Poem Title_01JAN26
Simultaneous submissions are allowed as long as you withdraw your submission if any poems are accepted elsewhere.
❌ NAYs:
We don’t want to see any personally identifiable information in your PDF or your poetry.
We do not accept works which are written or assisted by AI. Neither do we permit plagiarism in any capacity.
Reprints are also a no-go. If it’s been published or posted elsewhere, hold onto it.
Finishing Notes
After you have submitted, expect to hear back from us within several weeks or as soon as the next day!
We’ll reach out to you for a short, third-person bio after your work is approved.
Poems are pass or fail, and we won’t make any changes to your work outside minor grammatical fixes. We may shorten your bio, however.
You will receive up to $60 at a time ($20 per approved poem) via PayPal on the same day your work appears on this site. You will receive the date in advance, and note: Ruminous is not responsible for any transaction fees. Payments are one-time per poem.
The $3 submission fee is non-refundable. Non-adherence to the requirements above is the submitter’s sole responsibility.
Submitting to Ruminous is an agreement for your work to be published 1) online on this site and 2) in future print issues by the same. Your name will always appear with your work, fully credited.
First-time publishing rights pertain only to our online portion. After your work appears on this site, all commercial rights will return to you until the end of time whether or not the print version of Ruminous has yet appeared.
The following are not fully disallowed, but they are tough sells. That said, if you are able to use the below in a way which you believe is truly unique and is absolutely… Ruminous, then give it a shot:
Political topics
Poetry with a ‘moral message’
Poetry which laments the state of modern society
Romance (note: we do like Romanticism, however)
Slant rhyme
Rhyme for its own sake
Dry meter
Prose
Graphic violence or sexual content (use subtlety instead)