​Happy New Year – 2021 – to all our readers and poets of The Avocet community:

    Let’s have a toast, a cheer to this coming year, let’s live our lives greener, smarter…  

Let’s start thinking of the new, coming Spring.  Then share your poems with all of us.

A new Spring, a new beginning… a world without a pandemic…

Be well, be safe, we look forward to reading/sharing more of your work in 2021,

Charles, Vivian, and Valerie

2021 will be the year we put climate action over activism 

Guidelines for the Spring printed issue of The Avocet  

Submission Period – January 1^st– February 28^th         

Spring-themed issue  

                                              Please read the guidelines below before submitting.  

We want to save you time, money and not waste paper 

so, we ask you submit your work by email at: 

cportolano@hotmail.com 

Please submit up to 4 poems in one Word document attachment with your info under each poem/haiku.

or you can submit by snail mail: 

(In our hands, not postmarked) 

The Avocet, a Journal of Nature Poetry 

Charles Portolano, Editor/Publisher 

P.O. Box 19186 

Fountain Hills, AZ  85269 

cportolano@hotmail.com 

We welcome previously published poems.  

    Think of the Season when you send us your work. We want Spring-themed poems for the Spring issue, but, of course, there are those Saving Mother Earth poems that transcend the seasons, they are always welcome at any time of the year. We love poems with animals in them, even better, poems with humans interacting with animals out and about in Nature. Send poems written about the beginning of a new season and the end of a Season. In each issue, we try to present a cubistic view of a season, to display Nature in all her splendor…  We use your poems to tell the story of each season… 

    It is such a great honor to be the Editor/Publisher of The Avocet. I love being a poet. I love knowing if I get an idea, a phrase, or, even a word, it might bring about a poem, from out of nowhere, there onto the paper, such great fun.  

    I believe the main purpose and focus of my being an Editor is to promote the best poetry possible in each issue. I believe Poetry is everywhere, in everyone. I believe if everyone wrote poetry, we would have a better, kinder, more caring, planet Earth to live on. I believe we as poets belong to a community who has a fiduciary duty to spread the word of poetry.  

    I am looking for poetry that moves the reader through the beauty, the peace, and the fury of Nature in all of its glory. I love poems that have people interacting with nature. I love poems that have animals in their element. I love poems that have a message! I believe the purpose of poetry is to provoke thought!   

My guidelines are based on my experiences as a poet for over the last 25 years.  

5 tips to help get your poetry published…  

1. Never write to “To whom it may concern” or editor or, even worse, no name at all. Do your homework and find out the editor’s (or editors’) name. Please never send a form letter.   
2. Always write a friendly few lines to let the editor know you care about them as people, not just someone who can publish your poetry. There are always more poets’ poetry than pages to put those poems upon.  
3. You have 5 lines to catch the eye or interest of an editor; make them engaging, make the editor/reader want to continue reading!  
4. Send a few long (within the guidelines, of course) and a few short poems. Never ask an editor to make an exception for your work. If the line limit is 39 lines, don’t send poems that are longer.   
5. Always, always, write a Thank you to an editor who is kind enough to publish your work. Believe it or not, editors are people, too, who have feelings and they also have the power to publish or not to publish your poetry. It amazes me how few poets do this. I always write a Thank you, always. It is a missed opportunity to have a closer relationship with your editor when you don’t write them. 
   
    There are four submissions periods. (In our hands, not postmarked) 
   
   January 1 – February 28        – Spring-themed issue 
   April 1 – May 31                   – Summer-themed issue
   July 1 – August 31                 – Fall-themed issue 
   October 1 – November 30     – Winter-themed issue 
   
   If you miss the deadline for one of the reading periods your poems will not be considered for the next reading period! 
   
   We welcome previously published poems. 
   
   But no simultaneous submissions. 
   
   I will not read submissions that are not addressed to me, Charles.
   
   Only one batch of poems submitted per reading period. 
   
   Please no religious references. 
   
   Send no more than four poems, all in one attachment. 
   
   No more than 39 lines per poem. (spaces between stanzas count as lines) 
   
   Do not use fancy font, which only confuses the scanner.  
   
   All poems must be left margin formatted. 
   
   Use single spaced lines.  
   
   Do not use all Caps in the title. 
   
   Please, please type your name/town and state/email address underneath each poem, thank you. 
   
   Please, I want a short bio so I can get to know you, the poets, of the Avocet community better! I don’t care to hear where you have been published before. Please tell me of your love of Nature. 
   
   I welcome previously published poems; if a poem is good enough to get published once before; it probably deserves to be read again! Of course, please do not send poems that have already appeared in the Avocet. 
   
   Please notify me of any change of address. I will not send out another copy to a new address if you fail to tell me. Also, we mail by bulk mail, which will not be forwarded. 
   
   So you know: If you would like to do a Showcase that would go directly into the homes of over 490 Nature-loving poets and people of The Avocet community, please put together a short intro about your book for our/your readers, why you wrote it?  How did you come up with the title? If it comes from one of your poems from the book, please use it as of your three poems for your Showcase. Why the reader should buy your book?  A short write up about you, the author.  3 short reviews. 3 poems, if possible, Nature ones.  Please have your info under each poem.  The number of pages and poems? How they can buy a signed copy from you?  How much? 
      This is your showcase so have fun putting it together to get our readers to become your readers of your book. I have final approval, of course.  
      Please send in the body of an email a cover photo to be included in your Showcase. 
      There is a $25 fee for your Showcase and a signed copy of your book if you are a subscribing member and $50 + a signed copy if you are not. 
      There is a $25 fee for each hyperlink included in your Showcase, including websites.