You'll notice we have a strict set of guidelines.
Welcome to the J.Mark Press Poetry Contests
Online. Ongoing. No Deadline.
This poetry contest, is our way of discovering deserving new poets
to fill our fabulous hard cover poetry anthologies.
Our guidelines have changed.
You'll be able to enter one poem that conforms to our
publishing requirements below.
Come join the fun...
But THINK before you enter our poetry contests
"R e a d" great, time-enduring, classic poetry
and our prior poetry contest winners
if you hope to get a poem accepted here.
Adhere to each rule! The rules are here for a
purpose.
If you disregard one,
your poem will be deleted
and so will your e-mail access, permanently!
It is difficult to chase away all the people who want to
call themselves "published poets" to satisfy their ego,
because they never amounted to anything.
They devoted their life to nothing and nonsense, and suddenly discovered they're worthless. They think that calling themselves a poet will bring them respect even though they are uneducated and have nothing to offer society.
There is a company that specializes in putting "that kind" all in one big fat book with thousands of their peers. That kind of person needs to go there, and brag that they're published.
The real literary world knows the truth.
How To Send Poetry to our Online,
Monthly Poetry Contests
Read excellent, delightful, poetry before you enter.
We will know if you didn't.
Know what poetry is or don't enter.
Send ONE poem,
3 to 16 lines of text,
Most poets haven't learned to cut out what is
not "needed" to get their point across.
They become boring due to their lack of skill and laziness. We don't publish lazy boring writers.
Use traditional 12 pt. typeface.
Type within 45 keystrokes wide.
Never use all capital letters or script, italic, or fancy.
Single space your lines.
(blank line between stanzas.)
Stanzas must be 3 or 4 typed lines.
If you do any of that wrong,
you can never enter again.
1. Type your (poignant) poem, (Look up "poignant")
in proper upper and lower case letters, not fancy or all capitals.
up to 16 lines.
A poem needs attractive presentation,
not a bunch of formless text.
2. Single space the lines.
Skip a (blank line) between 3 to 4 line stanzas.
3. Maximum width - 45 keystrokes per line.
WIDER LINES ARE ANNOYING TO READERS.
(So are serious Typo's and too many skipped lines between
lines). They're disqualified.
4. N-E-V-E-R USE:
ALL CAPS, or lower case " i " or "&" instead of I, and
lite, nite, or thru, or other cute mis-spellings. They're disqualified.
Don't copy bad/wrong grammar used by TV celebrities,
and bad rhymes from songs.
Let "them" look bad, not you, and not J. Mark Press.
You've got to learn the English language to be an American poet.
(Otherwise, write for your native country). Poetry is "the
highest use of a language, anyone's."
5. DON'T USE:
slang, vulgarity, archaic words
like "doth, o'er, ne'er, nary, whence, 'tis, hast, thee" etc.
dumb spelling like nite, and thru. Alright is NOT a word!
All right is the ONLY SPELLING of the word. "Already" is a word.
6. DON'T USE:
colloquialisms, (street language, "yeah," etc.) and old familiar
clichés such as: it's true, so true, they say, my friend, a stitch in time, as they say,
it's been said...each and every,"
and everything else you've heard too often that reveals a person with a flawed education.
(Never use "Each and every." It is used too often, even by respected
writers and TV reporters who should know better. It's as maudlin as
pronouncing the "T" in often. Politicians and celebrities have revealed
their ignorance doing it. Some with a brain should correct them.
It is improper English.)
7. Don't Use
Unnecessary, colorless words just to show off your vocabulary,
like: extemporization, and other rare words we can't visualize.
Poetry is about imagery...visualization from use of words,
said in a way we can see or feel with our mind's eye and our senses..
8. NEVER distort a sentence to create a rhyme.
POETRY DOESN'T NEED TO RHYME!
I've seen ridiculous lines like
("the brother I knew never"
instead of "the brother I never knew."
Don't copy bad rhyme from pop songs, either.
Your lines are not "required" to rhyme. You should learn
to use rhyme intelligently and effectively, read classic rhymed
poetry to understand how great rhyme is used.
9. Wait...
We allow One poem entry per-poet.
If your entry is accepted for publication, you
will have a chance to pay a small fee to place
an extra meaningful poem in the book.
10. If you sound like you're talking to yourself, instead of
reaching out to enlighten us, you're out of here, permanently, and without even a reply.
If you're a novice, please
study before you enter.
Is that too much to ask?
J. Mark Press Hard Cover Poetry Anthologies,
when published, are sold to book stores and libraries
all over America. They are read and saved for decades for their significance.
We do not publish to annoy our readers.
If you've never read books by truly great authors
or poets, and never paid much attention to the looks of a book, go educate yourself before you
send anything here. There are places you belong,
and this isn't one of them.
READ our various winners and workshop articles.
- We want to see every budding poet grow to delight us and the world with genuine accomplishment.
Who'd want to be in a book
that no one reads?
At J. Mark Press you know your poetry is READ and
thought about because included poets vote for prizes!
Unlike other poetry contests, the poets included in our
anthologies vote for 10 favorite poems.
This guarantees poets an audience. The most voted for
published poets of the year win and $25.00, $50.00, $100.00,
or book printing or your own web page.
To limit entries to serious poems, and to help assure
meaningful readership for all our published poets,
you'll need to buy the anthology to be published in it.
The overhead is enormous to publish hard cover books
for a limited audience. If you aren't concerned,
you needn't occupy space that others can use.
To get news of our upcoming anthologies
click here for our home page and contents
www.worldtv3.com/jmark.htm
When you know in your heart your poem is worthy
of being read by our audience, and it does not exceed
16 lines of text or 4 stanzas or 45 characters wide,
and it complies with our requirements above,
enter it here.
If you come close to acceptance, you'll get our encouraging e-mail.
If you do it wrong twice, your URL access will be banned permanently.
We can't be plagued by thousands of dopes.This is your sworn statement of good faith:
I believe I am inspired to write poetry to share my visions and tales with the world,
not to receive accolade without working to earn them.
I have familiarized myself with your guidelines and checked
my poem for typographical, spelling and grammatical errors,
lower case " i " and
archaic words like o're, nary, whence, etc.,
and distorted sentences to make a rhyme.
I have used vivid words and phrases that touch the senses, that can be visualized.
I am respectfully submitting this poem that does not exceed 16 lines
or 45 characters wide, or 3 blank lines.
It truly complies to the best of my knowledge. I understand I may be barred from entering again if this poem is not at least a sincere attempt.
Hard cover Book Printing,
for self-publishing poets and writers,
or hard cover book binding
for your own printed pages
Poetry Contest - winners' poems from Notable American Poets Anthology
Please Click here and read some prior winners before you enter! Poetry Contests - List of All Winners' Names from all J. Mark Press anthologies. Hard cover book publishing & Book Printing, for self-publishing poets and writers. OR
Hard cover book binding for your own printed pages
Poetry Contest
Winning Poems of
these books:
Helping Hand, Bright Horizon, Sunlit Path.
Next page: Guest Register plus monthly poetry
contests and interesting
tidbits."J. Mark Press
Prize-winning
published poets
of 2000.VISIT OUR NEW "POETRY WORKSHOP"
How To sound like a seasoned pro.
[workshop 2]
Click to charge discounted previous anthologies while they last.
Article
"Promoting Yourself"
[ Poetry Contents Home page]
Guest RegisterSee some excellent poetry samples from our editor:
"A Backpack of Milestones" by Barbara Morris Fischer
J. Mark Press
"Poet of The Year"
Sean Young
we'd like you to read this page to understand the meaning
of fresh use of imagery and the English language.
Find what else you need in our
J. Mark Cutlery Web Site Directory
All are products in this directory are from J. Mark
Coordinating
Kitchen Ceramics
From J. Mark
For decor theme
click...
Roosters
Grapes/
Palm Tree /
Apple/
Fruit /
Cows/
Sunflower/
Magnolias/
Pineapple/
lighthouses/
Fat Chef
Frog/
Strawberry
Continue to Glass and collectible
Cookie Jars
Gibson, John Deere, Enesco-
Precious Moments, Aunt Jemima, Coca Cola,
Mayfair Glass...
For products
click...
Just "Ceramic" burner coversJust Ceramic Wall Clocks
Just Spice Racks
Just WIND CHIMESJust Ceramic mugs and tea sets
Just canisters
Just Ceramic Cookie Jars
Glass and collectible
cookie jars
New Page
Collectible BLUE WILLOW
porcelain accessories
For Pink Willow andToile in these items Click Here
Bathroom Accessories
Print out our ceramics
Click for Ceramics print-out brochure
(Apple, Magnolia, Palm Tree, Sunflower)
Click for Ceramics print-out brochure
(Fruit, Cows, Roosters, Grapes)
Real Estate