We prefer to publish poems that are 3–30 lines. Poems over 60 lines will not be considered.
Must be genre/speculative and positive/optimistic. Think of the “Amazing” in the name of the online magazine.
We have a strong preference for poems that take a bright view of human ingenuity and the possible futures we can create.
Must be original and unpublished. Poems posted to social media are considered published. Poems created completely or partially by any AI program are not considered original and should not be submitted.
No simultaneous submissions.
We use blind judging. Anonymous submissions only, please. Do NOT include a cover letter.
Create an account at Amazing Stories Submissions, which is where your personal information is stored. (https://submissions.amazingstories.com/)
Do not include your name or address or bio on the poems, or they will be rejected as a ‘guidelines failure.’
Submit using our online submission system. (https://submissions.amazingstories.com/)
Remember to check off “Poetry” on your submission. If this is not done, your submission may be missed, or it may be rejected as a ‘guidelines failure.’
Submit each poem individually.
A poet can submit three poems during a reading period.
May 30 is the submission deadline for issues July – December; Nov 30 is the submission deadline for issues January – June.
Poems must have one-inch margins around all edges, be single-spaced, and be in a standard font and font size. Please use common sense when it comes to the font and its size (for example, using COMIC SANS in 24pt font is not a sensible choice, and may receive a ‘guidelines failure’).
Please use American spelling.
Payment is a flat fee of $10 USD.
Anticipated response time is up to one month after the submission deadline.
Please wait six weeks after the submission deadline before querying.
For the May 30 deadline, please do not query before June 30.
For the Nov 30 deadline, please do not query before December 30.
Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may be rejected. Publishing schedule Amazing Stories is planning on publishing one poem per month, beginning in January of 2024. If your poem is accepted for publication, please note: You will be asked to confirm that the poem is original and never-before-published, to verify your email address and mailing address, and to provide a short bio written in the third person. Failure to provide these in a timely manner may result in a delay or cancellation of your appearance in Amazing Stories (online). Amazing Stories publishes a maximum of one poem per contributor per calendar year. Do not submit again until there is a reading period for an issue that will appear in the calendar year following your scheduled appearance in Amazing Stories. It is possible that a poet could have a poem in December, and then have another in January, one month later. Even though rights do revert back to the contributor three months after publication, the poem will forever exist in the issue it appeared in (online), and on storage devices that Amazing Stories uses to store its issues. If you subsequently publish the poem after the rights revert to you, we would like a publishing credit, along the lines of First published in Amazing Stories, (month/year of publication). We like to have audio versions, and we invite authors to supply their own audio (in MP3) otherwise we’ll use an AI voice to read the work.