Five is an electronic poetry journal that has a very specific mission. Instead of publishing a large number of poets in each issue, they publish just five poet’s work per issue. However, they publish five poems by each of the five poets they publish.
Five publishes one issue per month. They have a fairly high acceptance rate. Unfortunately, they keep all their poems behind a pay wall, so unless you buy an issue, it can be hard to get a good feel for exactly what they publish.
They are published by FictionMagazines, a larger publisher that publishes a number of magazines in a wide variety of genres, ranging from horror to romance. FictionMagazines ask that you just submit to just one of their publications at a time.
They do not accept reprints. They ask for first publication rights and after they publish your work they ask for a one month exclusive. After that you are free to do what you wish with piece. They have between a one month and six month response time. The work is first read by a group of readers they refer to as curators, but all final decisions are made by the editors.
Contributors receive a complimentary electronic subscription to the magazine they are accepted in. They also receive royalties in some situations. Although, it is not clear how often the magazine meets the minimum amount (25 dollars) to distribute royalties.
They have very specific formatting guidelines that must be followed. If they are not followed they will automatically decline your piece. You can read all of their guidelines here, under formatting. All of the guidelines for all of the magazines published by FictionMagazines are on the same page.
When you submit to Five, submit five poems at a time, no more, no less. They will either accept all of the poems or reject all of the poems. The total length of your packet should be no longer than five pages. You should include a bio that is no more than 100 words in length.
You can submit to Five here, To learn more about Five, visit their main page here.
