Submission Guidelines

Click here for a PDF version in a separate window.

WestWard Quarterly maintains a positive editorial philosophy, presenting material that is reflective, inspiring, uplifting, encouraging and humorous. Although difficult issues of our time must be addressed, we believe poetry has a role to play in raising the standard of our expectations. It can do this through offering hope instead of by magnifying what is crude, deplorable, or depressing in the human condition.

We accept all styles of poetry and look for good imagery and grammar and a fresh outlook. If rhyming, we look for consistency and natural word order in the rhyme scheme. If metrical, we look for consistent scansion or “beat.” If free verse, we look for some kind of rhythm, flow, and harmony that makes a poem differ from prose. We do not publish material with a negative or cynical outlook (possibly excepting in a humorous vein) or material with profanity or crudity. Additionally, poetry that is obscure (with references or meanings not readily accessible to most readers) is not likely to be acceptable for this magazine, which we call "The Magazine of Family Reading."

Publishing and Submission Schedule

WestWard Quarterly is published in January, April, July, and October. The deadlines for submissions for each issue are as follows: Winter—December 15; Spring—March 15; Summer—June 15; Fall—September 15. Because we publish in October and January, we do not normally use Thanksgiving or Christmas poems.

Submission Methods

E-mail is the preferred method of submission, to avoid errors in scanning hard copy. Send submissions or inquiries to editor@wwquarterly.com. Put “WWQ Submission” or “WWQ Inquiry” in the subject line. We prefer that submissions be in the body of the e-mail unless the material contains special characters or formatting. Submissions by e-mail attachments may be in MS Word (Office 365), WordPerfect 6-10, or RTF files. Postal submissions should be sent to Shirley Anne Leonard, Editor, P.O. Box 369, Hamilton, Illinois, 62341, and include a SASE for response.

Poems: 40 lines

You may submit up to five poems at a time not exceeding 40 lines each. Include your name, address, e-mail (as applicable), and line count at the top of each page. Use single-line spacing and a normal font size; Times New Roman 11 point is preferred, but we can handle any standard font. Because of the number of submissions we receive for each issue, we recommend you submit only once each quarter.

Editing

The Editor reserves the right to edit all material for minor corrections in grammar, punctuation, etc. before publication.

Response

We will try to respond within two months of the receipt of your submission. We will let you know which (if any) of your works we are holding for upcoming or future issues. If material you submit to WestWard Quarterly is subsequently accepted by another magazine before we publish it, it is your responsibility to notify us and withdraw it if you so desire.

Publishing Rights

For first rights, WestWard Quarterly provides the author with a copy of the issue in which material appears. All rights revert to the author upon publication, except that material published in the magazine may be presented in archive copies on the WestWard Quarterly web site unless the author requests otherwise. If the material has been published previously and the author has the rights to it, the author should inform WWQ of the previous publication (name and date of issue) so that proper acknowledgment can be given.

Subscriptions and Extra Copies

The subscription price is $15.00 per year US domestic and $18.00 US for foreign mailings. (Subscriptions through PayPal include an amount for the PayPal fee.) Subscribing contributors to an issue may receive extra copies of that issue for $2.00 each ($4.00 foreign); the price for non-subscribing contributors is $3.00 ($5.00 foreign). Sample copies are $4.00 each ($6.00 foreign). Make checks payable to Laudemont Press. WestWard Quarterly is published four times a year.

Shirley Anne Leonard, Editor
editor@wwquarterly.com
Published by Laudemont Press