Submissions
We are accepting submissions for the Spring 2025 issue.
Both new and established writers are encouraged to submit. Our guidelines are subject to change. Please review them prior to submitting.
Publication and Reading Schedule
We publish four issues a year—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
We accept submissions March 1–21, June 1–21, September 1–21, and December 1–21.
Poems are published online over the course of the season. Once the issue is complete, it is released in its entirety in print and as a free ebook.
Guidelines
During our submission windows, you can submit by using our form or email us at submissions@rustandmoth.com. If you submit via email, make sure the word “Submission” is in the subject line. Expect a confirmation email when using our form but not when submitting through email. Please submit only once per open reading window. Any submissions received outside our submission windows will be discarded. Before you submit, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with our previously published issues.
What to Submit
Submit up to three poems in any style. Additional poems will not be considered. Please send all poems in a group using the contact form below or as an email attachment (.pdf files only). Do not paste poems into the body of the email.
Please include a personal bio of no more than fifty words, written in the third person. If you submit by email, please include the bio in the body of the email, not in an attachment.
You may also send links to your Twitter account, Facebook page, and/or website to help fans better find you from your published works.
Simultaneous Submissions
Rust & Moth will happily consider simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately by email if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Response Time
Rust & Moth responds to all submissions received during open reading windows within six weeks. If you’ve been waiting on a response longer than that, something has likely gone wrong on the technical side. In such cases, please reach out to us via email.
Derivative Works
Rust & Moth will consider “remixed,” found poetry, and other derivative submissions, but only provided that the poems therein meet the standard of “significant imaginative or intellectual transformation” laid out in the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry. Any poems that borrow significantly from the structure or content of others’ published works will not be considered for publication.
We require that all derivative submissions (including “after” and ekphrastic poems) be accompanied by links to or copies of the source material for comparison.
Artificial Intelligence
Rust & Moth approaches poems generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in much the same way we treat other derivative works. A submitting author who uses AI as a tool must make major contributions to any text generated by an AI and in so doing meet the standard of “significant imaginative or intellectual transformation” as laid out in the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry. We require that partially AI-generated submissions be accompanied by a description of process that includes how an AI was used. These descriptions should include links to source material, clearly delineate human and AI contributions, and be as explicit as possible about the origins of the AI in question.
We will not accept poems generated entirely by AI. Also, if an AI borrows too heavily from a single author (e.g. asking ChatGPT to write a poem in the style of Emily Dickinson), we will reject any downstream work on the grounds of plagiarism.
Revisions
Rust & Moth expects writers to have their work finalized upon first submission, and we seldom grant requests for revision.
Other Things to Consider
Rust & Moth uses a standard web publication line length of 45-75 characters. When submitting poetry, please be aware that poems with longer line lengths may need alteration to work in our format. Please reference our published works for examples.
For some helpful tips on how we format poems and artist bios, please see our Style Guide.
Rust & Moth places no hard limits on the number of times an author may submit new work. That said, please submit only once per open reading window. Authors who submit to us more than 4-5 times without an acceptance are asked to revisit our previous issues and consider goodness-of-fit before submitting again.
Publication Rights
Rust & Moth will publish no previously published works unless we ourselves request them. Individual rights revert to authors upon publication. By submitting your work, you affirm you are the sole author and maintain all rights for your work. We request that any poem republished from Rust & Moth be properly cited. We reserve the right to nominate works published in Rust & Moth for honors such as the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, etc. Rust & Moth will inform authors of such nominations via email.
Upon Publication
While we would love to be able to provide financial remuneration and free issues to the artists whose work we publish, unfortunately we don’t have the budget to do so at present. However, we do all we can to help you find your audience, including publication in print and on our website, promotion on our social media outlets, and a dedicated page with your bio and web links on our site. In addition, our editors sometimes write reviews of poetry chapbooks. These reviews are free to authors for use in the promotion of their work. Due to time constraints, we typically offer these reviews only to poets whom we have nominated for the Best of the Net or the Pushcart Prize.
What Not to Send
At this time, we publish only poetry. While we personally love fiction, art, photography, essays, and many other forms of expression, we ask that you do not send them as submissions.