SOFTBLOW is an online literary journal based out of Singapore that publishes only English language poetry. They publish work by three poets every month. SOFTBLOW usually publishes 3-5 poems per poet, and they are placed on the same page, underneath the author’s biography.
SOFTBLOW is a good place to submit to because a lot of established poets have had early work published there. It is nice because they often will accept all the poems that you submit or request more so that they can showcase not just one of your poems, but an array that gives readers a better idea of your style overall.
They publish 12 times a year on the first day of every month. However, once your work has been accepted, they post it online immediately, but it is not featured on the main page until the edition you are in comes out. It can be satisfying to see your work online so quickly, and to be able to share it with your friends right away even though it is usually months before the general public can see it.
SOFTBLOW responds to most submissions within three days. This means that if they do accept your work, it could be up on their website within three days, or less. Some time ago a friend’s work was accepted and published within twenty-four hours.
They are easy to submit to. Their email address is listed in the Editorial section of the site. Just paste a short biographical statement and 4-6 poems into the body of an email.
The editors tend to be interested in poems that have interesting, image-filled language. They also like poems that contain a central idea. They do not generally publish poems that rhyme. They also to accept prose-poems, poems that do not contain line breaks or stanza breaks.
In conclusion, SOFTBLOW is a great journal to submit to because they have a quick response time, and they post your poems without any additional delay. They also are discriminating and have a long history of publishing established poets early on in their careers. You can visit their website here: www.softblow.org.
