Best American Experimental Writing (“BAX”)
Guidelines for Submitting
Submission Period: March 6 to November 15, 2013
What is the Best American Experimental Writing Anthology (“BAX”)?
The Best American Experimental Writing anthology (“BAX” for short) will be an annual anthology of approximately 200 pages. The first issue will be published in the spring of 2014. The Guest Editor, Cole Swensen, will choose 60% of the content; the Series Editors, Seth Abramson and Jesse Damiani, will select 20% of the content, and at least 20% of the content will be chosen from submissions received via the submission process described below. We say “at least 20%” because some of the writing chosen by the Guest Editor and Series Editors may include submissions we receive via the submission process described below.
General Guidelines for Submissions
This is approximately an 8-month open reading period for all writers, with no limitations on the amount or type of writing a writer has published previously. A minimum of 20% of the selections for each edition of Best American Experimental Writing will be made by the Series Editors, with the assistance of the Guest Editor, from unsolicited submissions received during this open reading period via Omnidawn’s Submittable web page.
All unsolicited submissions from Omnidawn’s Submittable web page are read blindly by the Guest Editor, Series Editors, and a small number of preliminary readers; please do not include any acknowledgments with your submission, or any identifying information on or in the submitted pieces themselves (for instance, do not include a cover letter, letterhead, header, footer, or literary biography). If you do include identifying information in your submission your entry will NOT be disqualified, but the identifying information will be removed before your submission is read. The cost for submission is $9 for three pieces of writing or nine pages (whichever is fewer). The pieces of writing may have been previously published in literary magazines, anthologies, or single-author collections, though this is by no means required. Likewise, pieces of writing may be published subsequent to submission, as the anthology asks only for world serial rights for any poem(s) selected, not first serial rights. Our only requirement is that previously-published pieces of writing submitted to the anthology be first published (whether in print or online) in 2013, and not in previous years. Multiple submissions during this approximate eight-month reading period are both permitted and encouraged; however, a separate reading fee will be required for each 3 pieces of writing or 9-page submission. Simultaneous submissions to other venues are likewise permitted and encouraged. If your work is selected for the anthology, we will ask you to inform us of any previous publication of the poem(s) so that this can be properly acknowledged in the anthology. Only online submissions are accepted; entries must be received via our Omnidawn online Submittable web page between March 6, 2013 and November 15, 2013. If you have ever been a colleague, student, and/or close friend of the Guest Editor (for 2013: Cole Swensen) or the Series Editors (for 2013 and beyond: Seth Abramson and Jesse Damiani) there is a question on the Omnidawn Submittable web page where you can indicate any editors with whom you have had such a relationship. Please indicate such a relationship with an Editor or Editors, so your submission can be read by someone other than the Editor or Editors you know. Selections for the anthology will be announced publicly in spring 2014, though authors whose work is selected will be notified electronically in winter 2013-2014. We may ask to excerpt selected pieces of writing for the anthology or for promotional purposes; however, work will not be excerpted or used for promotion without prior permission from its author(s).
If you have questions, please email bax@omnidawn.com.
Additional Guidelines and CLMP Compliance
Neither this anthology nor its Editors or Publishers subscribe to a single definition for the term “experimental writing.” No definition suffices; experimentation in the literary arts is by definition a moving target. Individual submitters must decide for themselves whether their work sufficiently challenges conventional literary mores to warrant submission to this project. While we anticipate that the bulk of submissions and selections will be authored by individuals who at least partially self-identify as poets, and that the bulk of submissions and selections will exhibit some manifestation of form or concept that reasonably may be attributed to a poetic impulse, our interest is equally in genre, cross-genre, and non-genre work. Consequently, no author should feel excluded from this open reading period on the grounds that she or he does not primarily write or publish work written under the sign of contemporary American poetry. Our focus, instead, is simply on literary work–of any vintage or variety–that pushes boundaries rather than conforming neatly to existing literary phenomena.
Omnidawn abides by The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Code of Ethics. The CLMP community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical submission and editorial guidelines for open reading periods and book contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethically-run open reading period or book contest. To that end, Omnidawn, its annual Guest Editors, and its Series Editors agree 1) to conduct our open reading period for Best American Experimental Writing as ethically as possible, and to address any unethical behavior on the part of Omnidawn staff, Guest Editors, Series Editors, or preliminary readers; 2) to provide clear and specific guidelines for the reading period, including defining conflicts of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process readily available to the public. The CLMP Code of Ethics recognizes that different selection models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. Omnidawn has adopted the Code for its Best American Experimental Writing open reading period to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our open reading periods, like our book contests, contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
If you have questions, please email bax@omnidawn.com.