POETRY SUBMISSIONS FOR PRIME NUMBER MAGAZINE, Issue 269

Guest Poetry Editor: Kathleen McGookey, author of Instructions for My Imposter

Submission period: May 1 – June 30, 2024 midnight Eastern time.

Publication Date: January 1, 2025

Reporting Time: We will do our best to make sure you receive an acceptance or rejection two months prior to publication date. Submissions will be open the first two months of every quadrimester (four months) with a new guest editor. Poets are encouraged to submit again during the open submission periods (Jan-Feb; May-Jun; Sept-Oct).

Reading Fee: None 

Submit ONE unpublished poem of up to three pages, written in English in a standard font (Times, Garamond, etc.) in whatever style you wish to see the poem presented to readers. 

Please limit your submission to ONE poem. Guest editors are instructed to read only the first poem if more than one poem is submitted. Note: Since we allow for simultaneous submissions, our one-poem submission rule eliminates confusion if a poem in a multi-poem submission is accepted elsewhere. This saves us a lot of time and grief. We hope you understand.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable but please withdraw your poem immediately if accepted elsewhere. You will find the "Withdraw" button in the upper-right corner of your submission. Only original, unpublished poems will be considered.

Eligibility: Submissions are open to writers anywhere in the world who write in English.

Rights: Prime Number Magazine will be granted First Worldwide Serial Rights, including the right to permanently archive the poem in Prime Number Magazine. Once the poem is published, all other rights revert to the author.

Payment: Writers living in the United States, UK, and Australia will receive a free copy of the guest editor's poetry book from Press 53. Writers living outside these countries receive publication of their poem as compensation. (Our book printer has facilities in the US, UK, and AU, which allows us to print and ship from those locations. Due to high shipping charges outside those countries, we have to establish these limits.)

Questions/Comments should be directed to Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher and Editor in Chief.

The 2025 Press 53 Award for Poetry Award includes: Publication by Press 53 of the winning poetry collection as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection; $1,000 cash advance; 53 copies. If a Runner-Up is selected, the runner-up will receive publication by Press 53 as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection, a $500 advance, and 25 copies.

The Press 53 Award for Poetry is awarded annually to an outstanding, unpublished collection of poems. This competition is open to any writer, regardless of his or her publication history, who is 18 years of age or older, provided the manuscript is written in English and the author lives in the United States or one of its territories.  

Dates for submission: April 1, 2024–July 31, 2024. Submissions will close at midnight Eastern Standard Time on July 31. (Note: Deadline can be extended at the discretion of Press 53.)

Winner and Finalists announced: The winner of the Press 53 Award for Poetry and finalists will be announced on or before November 1, 2024, on the Press 53 website, and via email, Facebook, and by email through Submittable.

How to submit: Submit here with Submittable! 

Reading fee: A reading fee of $30 must be paid for each entry. Reading fees are nonrefundable.

Judging: Press 53 Poetry Series Editor Tom Lombardo will be the only judge for this contest; the contest will be judged solely on the strength of the poems as a collection.

Eligibility: The competition is open to manuscripts written in the English language from writers at all levels, 18 years years of age or older, who live in the United States or one its territories. Note: authors and editors who work for Press 53 or have published a book with Press 53 are not eligible to enter.

Manuscript Guidelines:

1. Manuscripts should be approximately 50 to 120 pages in length. We do not favor one length over the other. We are only concerned with the quality of the poems.

2. The author's name should not appear on the manuscript. This is a blind read.

3. Manuscript should include a Table of Contents with numbered pages.

4. An acknowledgments page for previous publication of poems in the manuscript is not necessary; we will only be reading the poems.  

5. Use a standard, easy-to-read font such as 11- or 12-point Times New Roman, Minion, Garamond, etc.

6. Poems previously published in journals, magazines, or anthologies, and poems that have won awards, may (and should) be included in the manuscript. Selected poems from chapbooks are fine, but please use only a reasonable selection of poems, not the entire chapbook.

7. Previously published collections are not eligible, including self-published collections available as ebooks or in print.

8. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration. Each submission will require a separate reading fee.

9. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher. Withdrawal can be completed via Submittable by opening your submission and clicking "Withdraw" in the upper-right corner of your screen. Reading fees are not refundable and a withdrawn manuscript cannot be replaced with another manuscript.

10. Confirmation of receipt will be sent via e-mail by Submittable immediately after submission. An announcement of our shortlist and winner will be sent to all entrants via email through Submittable, and posted on the Press 53 website, and Facebook on the dates indicated above.

11. The Deadline for entering is July 31. Requests to edit a manuscript will not be honored after the deadline. If a manuscript is withdrawn, it cannot be replaced with another manuscript, but you may enter another manuscript before the deadline, which would require another reading fee.  

If you have any questions or concerns other than technical issues with the submissions manager, please contact Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher & Editor in Chief

SHORT FICTION SUBMISSIONS FOR PRIME NUMBER MAGAZINE, Issue 269, January 1, 2025

Guest Short Fiction Editor: Stephanie Carpenter, author of Missing Persons, winner of the 2017 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction

Submission period: May 1 – June 30, 2024, midnight Eastern time

Publication Date: January 1, 2025

Reporting Time: We will do our best to notify writers of acceptance or rejection no more than two months prior to publication date. Submissions will be open the first two months of every quadrimester (every four months) with a new guest editor. Writers are encouraged to submit again during the open submission periods (Jan-Feb; May-Jun; Sept-Oct). Please limit your submissions to one story per submission period.

Reading Fee: None

Submit ONE unpublished story of no more than 5,300 words (please include word count under title), micro, flash, and short-short stories are welcome. Be sure your story is double spaced with numbered pages, written in English and set in a standard 12-pt. font (Times, Garamond, etc). Please limit your submission to one story per submission period.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable but please withdraw your story immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. You will find the "Withdraw" button in the upper-right corner of your submission. Only original, unpublished works will be considered.

Please Note: Due to the high volume of submissions, we now have a two-month submission period for each issue to give our guest editors more time to make their selections. Sorry, no exceptions.

Eligibility: Submissions are open to writers anywhere in the world who write in English.

Rights: Prime Number Magazine will be granted First Worldwide Serial Rights, including the right to permanently archive the accepted work in Prime Number Magazine. After the work is published, all other rights revert to the author.

Payment: Writers living in the United States, UK, and Australia will receive a free copy of the guest judge's book from Press 53. Writers living outside these countries receive publication of their story as compensation. (Our printer has facilities in the US, UK, and AU, which allows us to print and ship from those locations. Due to high shipping charges outside those countries, we have to establish these limits.)

Questions/Comments should be directed to Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher and Editor in Chief, at Kevin@Press53.com