Because of the unique nature of online entries, be sure to read the ONLINE entry Contest Rules. These rules are the same for the ONLINE contest. (These rules do not apply for the manuscript contests) You may print them from this pdf: (Read carefully. Any violation will disqualify entry.)
1. Any poem submitted must:
A. Be the original work of the contestant,
unpublished in any form, including electronically and placed on exhibition, not
under consideration or accepted for publication. (Award will be recalled if a
winning poem is found to be in violation of rules before publication in the
NFSPS anthology of prize poems, and lower prizes and honorable mentions will
move up in classification).
B. Be
written in English, be titled, unless the poem is a haiku or another form that
is supposed to be untitled
C. Have a 40 line
limit for all contests not stating line limit. Line count includes every line,
both printed and blank, except the title and its following space.
D. Be typed or
computer generated (not handwritten or hand printed) without illustrations.
2.
Poets give NFSPS exclusive first printing rights to all poems entered in the
NFSPS Annual Contests. Poems winning a cash prize of $15 or more will be printed
in the NFSPS prize poems anthology, Encore, at the discretion of the Editor. The
Editor reserves the right to alter line breaks in poems having more than 50
characters per line, including punctuation marks and spaces. Printing rights
revert to the poet after the anthology is published (approx. August of 2021).
Printing rights to poems winning less than $15 (or no prize) revert to the poet
after the list of winners is published in the August, 2021 NFSPS newsletter,
Strophes. All prize winners will be notified, and others may obtain a list of
winners in August, 2021 by sending $1 and a #10 SASE to: Paul Ford, Strophes
Editor 10239 Hickory Point Dr., Sandy, UT 84092
3.
An eligible poem may not be withdrawn after submission.
4. Except as indicated in Contest 1–NFSPS Founders Award, contestants may submit only one entry in any contest, and may not submit the same poem in any other contest.
5. Payment must be completed at time of entry. (See Non-Member or Member Submission Form) If entering less than 2 contests, please mail in your submission or pay $2. a. Non-members may enter most contests at $1 each (except $5 for each entry in Contest 1–NFSPS Founders Award). Non-members may not enter contests marked with an asterisk, * and which are designated members only. If entering less than 2 contests, please mail in your submission or pay $2. b. Members may enter up to 10 contests for $1 per poem or $10 total for entry in more than 10 contests (except for Contest 1-NFSPS Founders Award, which is $5 per poem). If entering less than 2 contests, please mail in your submission or pay $2.
6. Judges will be selected by NFSPS, Inc. No ties will be awarded, and the decisions of the judges will be final.
7. When to submit poems, January 1, 2021-March 15, 2021.
8. “Members Only” eligible if a paid-up member of a state society, listed in alphabetical membership roll mailed by a state society along with NFSPS dues to NFSPS Treasurer by January 15, 2021 and updated as required by the Contest deadline.
9. You may submit poems in any of the following formats: pdf, doc, docx, rtf, wpd, odt, and txt.
10. Place number and name of contest in upper left corner. Do not put any identifying marks on this entry. Submit this version using the proper form on Submittable. (see rule 11)
11. Prepare a document for submission in the proper form that list poet’s name, address, phone number, E-mail address (if available), state society membership or “Non-Member." List on the document the number, but not the title of each contest you are entering. List the total number of poems submitted. Submit this document separate from poem entries using the proper form at Submittable. A sample of this document can be found here: (sample1.pdf)