The Apples in My Orchard

This week brought fall freshness to my life. The breeze at night has been cool and comforting. But before bed, we shut the windows as it’s been as cool as 49 degrees by morning! So far, my plants are withstanding the change in seasons.

Many of you have followed my mushroom posts about my Dad asking for a sign from my mom that she was doing alright (in heaven). I continue to be enamored of forest fungi and found a few new specimens this week. I’ll share a few haiku I wrote with the photos that inspired them but am also going to hold a couple back for possible inclusion in the Picture Perfect Poetry Nature Anthology that I am working on. In addition, I will repost the guidelines for the anthology today – in long form. I know sometimes people are reluctant to download things off the internet. I hope you consider submitting some of your work! Thank you to those few who already have.

New Haiku

I’m awaiting confirmation from some of my biologist-conservation friends on the identity of this bumblebee. I think it is a rusty patched bumblebee that is now federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. In any case, it was pretty.

Anthology Guidelines:

Nature Poetry In Pictures Anthology Book Project

Details

The following are the details regarding the process and policies for an upcoming children’s book of ekphrastic poetry. Please read the submission guidelines carefully, as they include specific information about your photography that will accompany your poem(s).

Submission Window: August 1^st, 2023 – November 1^st, 2023.

Notification of poem/photography receipt will be sent via email within a week of submission (this does not mean acceptance – just receipt). Make sure you use an email you use frequently to send your submission so that you can check it in a timely fashion. If accepted, other documents such as the publication rights and other communication will be sent to the email you use.

Rolling acceptances will occur as submissions are received.

Please allow up to one month for notification of your submission status (as to whether your work is accepted or not). 

What should you submit?

Submissions should include a poem/photo pairing. The photo must evoke the words for your poem in some way.  This is referred to as ekphrastic poetry. There are parameters set for the photography to make sure the images are a high enough resolution for print material. See below.

The poems should be nature-based and use language suitable for children ages 10 years of age and above (fifth grade or higher). No adult content or violent themes are allowed.

Please indicate if you use a particular poem form. (I might use these to group the poems – or not – editor’s discretion.) Thus, if you write a haiku, sijo, tanka, cinquain, ode, villanelle, or any form other than free verse, let me know when you submit. Thank you.

Three (3) poems can be submitted with accompanying photos for $10.00.  Only one of the three can be a haiku.

Why the submission fee?

Northern Loon Press is a small independent press that has released one poetry book, in black and white. I, Carol Labuzzetta, am the press.

This project is more complicated and will entail photographic quality assessments as well as a subjective judgment of the accompanying poem. In other words, the book will require more graphic design organization and editing than a pure black-and-white, text-only, poetry book without photography.

Printing will cost more due to the color photography that will be included in the book.

The $10.00 nominal fee per 3 poems is to offset that time and cost. Thank you for understanding.

Photographic Requirements

The photographs for this project need to be of high resolution. For example, I know that a photo with a total DPI of 300 with a 1500-pixel width by 2000-pixel height would be adequate for hard copy printing. Photos taken with a camera are typically larger (higher quality) files than with a phone. If your photos are not a high enough resolution, this might disqualify your submission. On the other hand, if your photo is too large and you have trouble submitting as a file attachment, please contact me to find an alternative method of submitting it.

The orientation should be portrait with pixels greater for height instead of width. 

Photo editing release – check one

____ I allow Carol to adjust my photo to fit the page of the anthology and place the text of my photo over part of the picture or next to the photograph – whichever is appropriate for variation and/or consistency in the final book (send text and photo in separate files, please). She will make every effort to allow me to preview how the page with my poem and photo will look after editing.

____ I do not allow Carol to edit my photo for the book. (This may prevent inclusion in the anthology).

____ I verify the photo I am submitting is my own and only I have the right to submit it to the anthology for use.

____ (initial here).

Font Requirements

Please use a common, non-script font to submit. For reasons of consistency in presentation, I will choose one font and convert all poems to that typeface.

Where Do I Submit? My blog, The Apples in My Orchard, will serve as the contact page for this anthology. I also publish to Medium.com but want all the contact information in one place. There is a dedicated submissions/payment page on The Apples in My Orchard, found here: https://theapplesinmyorchard.com/nature-poetry-in-pictures-anthology-submissions/ .

New information: The file boxes for your photos do not seem to be showing up on the submissions page. After completing your poetry text and submitting your fee, follow photo labeling instructions and send me your photos as attachments to the email listing below.

Author payout

Due to being a small, independent press, authors who have their work chosen for inclusion in the anthology will receive one free copy of the book at the time of publishing. Named credit for your work (photo/poem).

Editing

I, Carol Labuzzetta, will edit the book entries. I intend to secure the services of the professional book editor I used for the previous poetry book for copy editing. Some changes might be needed at that time (I will contact you if these are necessary for you to consider).

Preview copies of the book will be ordered and reviewed by me before the book goes live on KDP.  This is to check layout, photo quality, and consistency. Your submission fee also helps to cover this.

Publishing – by Northern Loon Press (Carol Labuzzetta is editor and publisher) to be sold via Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.  Price to be determined. A trade-size book – A 6 x 9-inch paperback is currently planned.

Rights -If your work is chosen for the anthology, you will receive a document about first publication rights that you must sign and return. Again, both the photos and poems must be your own original work, never published before.

Why this project? This project combines my love for writing and my love for children’s literature with my love of nature and photography. I have worked much of my adult life connecting children with nature, and this work is an extension of that experience. I possess a master’s degree in child health (1990) and a second master’s degree in environmental education (2018).

Photo details:

I have a photo editing program for this that I use often to adjust my own nature photos and my jewelry photos (for an Etsy shop I have). I will do my best to adjust your photo to optimize it for hard-copy printing.

In most cases, I will superimpose your poem onto the photo using Canva.  In some cases, your poem will be featured next to your photo. This will be decided upon on an individual basis without input from authors (those submitting).

Thank you for your interest!

Carol Labuzzetta

labcar81@gmail.com

Today is Poetry Friday. Our round-up host this week is Ramona at her blog, Pleasures from the Page. Please check out her post for links to more inspired poetry from all the participants around the world! Thanks for hosting, Ramona!