Tandem Guidelines
Please read guidelines thoroughly prior to submitting. If you do not adhere to the guidelines, your submission will not be considered.
Please keep in mind, we are looking for quality; not quantity.
Submission Windows
Spring issue: January 15–February 15 (comes out in April)
Autumn issue: July 1–31 (comes out in October)
Format
Tandem is a collaborative rengay-only print journal. Submissions must be in-hand by the end of the submission period.
Although longer versions of rengay exist, we are accepting only 6-verse rengay. Rengay may have 2, 3, or 6 authors, in the following formats:
2 authors (A & B): A-3 | B-2 | A-3 | B-3 | A-2 | B-3
3 authors (A, B, & C): A-3 | B-2 | C-3 | A-2 | B-3 | C-2
6 authors (A, B, C, D, E, & F): choose either format for 2 or 3 authors.
A-3 | B-2 | C-3 | D-3 | E-2 | F-3 or A-3 | B-2 | C-3 | D-2 | E-3 | F-2
• Each rengay must have a title.
• Indicate the author of each verse by placing their initials next to each (these will be removed in final print form). Do not use other forms of differentiating authors.
• Put a single space between verses.
• Do not double-space the verses themselves.
• In general, do not use bold for titles/verses.
• If you are including more than one rengay in your submission, make sure the authors’ full names are beneath each individual rengay, and put a solid horizontal line as separation before the title of the next rengay.
Submissions
Only one submission, up to 5 rengay, per submission period from any particular collaborative group. A given poet may submit with a maximum of three different collaborative groups. Rengay must be previously unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere. ‘Previously published’ includes print and online journals, as well as public social media, such as blogs, etc.
Submissions may be made by email only. Put ‘Tandem Submission’ in the Subject Line to make sure it isn’t accidentally overlooked. Please type your rengay into the body of the email. If you copy/paste, ensure that the format in the email adheres to our guidelines. NO attachments. Note any special formatting in your email text.
Include the full names of all the authors as they wish them to appear in the journal, as well as the location of each author (City, State/Province, Country).
Include a short bio for each author (maximum of 75 words each). We want readers to know you as real people, who you are when you are not writing poetry. And we want a fun fact to add a little color. Lists of published works will be edited out, as will words above the 75-word limit. Bios need only be submitted once because we keep them on file for future submissions.
Send to Marcyn Del Clements — tandem.mclements@gmail.com
Selection
Submissions will be read and considered by the entire editorial staff. Rengay will be accepted when at least two of the editors have chosen the poem for inclusion. Selections will be made within 2 months of the end of the submission periods. Poets will be notified as to whether or not their poems will be included and receive emails including their poems and bios, to confirm spelling and formatting. Each subsequent issue will feature an “Editors’ Pick”: a favorite rengay from the previous issue.
If you have any questions regarding submissions, contact either Ignatius Fay (tandem.ifay@gmail.com) or Seren Fargo (tandemrengay.seren@gmail.com)
Rights
Tandem retains first publication rights for accepted work. Once published, rights revert to the author, but Tandem retains the right to reprint the work in future editions, anthologies, etc.
Compensation
Tandem is unable to provide compensation for contributed work.