• Contributor, author and writer are used interchangeably.



• Holland Writing & Publishing and HWP are used interchangeably.



• Verse, poem and prose are used interchangeably.



• Holland Writing & Publishing is an independent, small press operating as a home-based sole proprietorship.



• E-mail and direct mail are the primary means of contact, and mail order is the major avenue of distribution.



• The agreement between Holland Writing & Publishing and the writer is informal via a simple statement signed by the contributor indicating that these guidelines have been read. The statement is not a royalty contract since no sales are guaranteed.



• Though the published products of HWP are for sale, no marketing or income guarantee can be made, and there is no formal production and marketing schedule. HWP resources are divided among all projects whether in the beginning, middle or end stage.



• HWP does not make advances to writers.



• HWP is not an agent and does not represent writers.

In addition to other products, HWP publishes chapbooks. Format is 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, saddle-stapled, photocopied pages with lightweight cardstock cover. Layout is designed with desktop publishing software. The illustration of choice is b/w images, including drawings, paintings and clipart.

BALLAD- about fatal relationships

BLANK VERSE- unrhymed

CHANT- one of more lines are repeated over and over

FREE VERSE- no regular beat or rhyme but rhythmic and coherent

LYRIC/ODE- intimate poetry where the poet speaks in own voice, or a monologue, expressing emotion, can be lofty and expansive

PROSE- the usual form of written language, without rhyme or meter

PROSE POETRY- looks like prose but reads like poetry, no rhyme or set rhythm, unlike regular prose it has intense and condensed language

SONNET- about love or philosophy

TANKA- about love, seasons, sadness, with strong imagery

HWP is not concerned with formal meter or literary formats, but is more interested in style. Poetry written in the first person is preferred. Most important are poems that flow with life as a result of inspiration, crafting, deep thought, experience and expressiveness. If a verse is structured with trite or mundane words and phrases, it will be rejected, unless they are an integral part of the message.

While the poetry HWP selects may be abstract (not always concrete or easy to understand), abstruse (deep) and recondite (beyond the grasp of the ordinary mind), it is always coherent (logically integrated, consistent and intelligible). It makes some kind of sense.

Lying In The Grass & Looking At The Sky Guidelines-This chapbook will be featured in the Children's section called The Grassy Knoll. It will be filled with poetry, contemplations (prose), essays and vignettes (story sketches) based on experiences, feelings and perceptions to which children can relate. Manuscripts will be accepted from both adolescents and adults. Poetry should be 8 lines max. Essays and vignettes should be approximately 700 words or less. Contemplations are usually single thoughts and can be 1 sentence to approximately 2 paragraphs.

The Romantic Male Guidelines-HWP does not publish erotic, explicit, sexual or overtly sensual poetry. The RomanceRomance page gives a short overview of the HWP definition of romance and some poetry excerpts.

Death Fragments:Shard II Guidelines-All views, experiences and opinions of death are accepted, including accidental, homicidal, suicidal and natural, spiritual and corporal. Please do not submit manuscripts which detail the murder of children.

Ideal poems have an irregular, naturally occurring rhythm. Rhyme is usually infrequent rather than perfectly metered. The most arresting and unforgettable poetry springs forth from conscious and piercing perception, and is already completed before it is penned. It may be fine tuned over time, but is most often formed and instantaneously birthed full grown. With experience, you can even purposely craft a poem like this by learning to focus your consciousness upon a perception, a fleeting moment in time. You can induce labor, and simultaneously bring forth a spontaneous poetic offspring.

You may also submit prose in keeping with the theme of the chapbook and suitable for publication as:

• your one-line statements or quotations,
• and paragraph-long contemplations.

These are placed on individual pages in the same manner as poems.

Clarification on spelling or grammar may be needed to determine if a word or phrase needs editing, or if it is poetic license. Extra long lines may need to be divided and continued on the next line. The width of a chapbook page is 5 ½”.

Chapbook design is the sole province of HWP.

• Marketing of HWP products is mainly via the internet and direct marketing.



• Aggressive marketing is aimed at unique and obscure markets.
  
  
• Some point of sale(POS) marketing at various types of retail outlets is tentatively planned for the future.



• Price point allows for a volume discount incentive.



• There are plans to assign ISBN’s in the future, but currently no HWP publications have reference numbers in the international indexing system. This means that at this time a bookseller or librarian will not find an HWP title in their catalog. HWP sales are currently dependent upon direct marketing. Though they can, most chapbook publishers do not generally assign ISBN’s.

After acceptance, contributors may contact HWP via e-mail or snail mail at any time about any subject and a response will be sent ASAP. Periodical status e-mails will be sent to all contributors during production of the chapbook. Once a chapbook is published, e-mails will be sent in February and August, only if any sales were made during the previous six(6) months. Please inform HWP of any address changes.

HWP looks for writers who:

• live within the continental U.S. because of costly overseas postage,
• have not been published (having their own webpage or posting work on open sites or winning a contest does not count),
• if published have very few credits,
• has a poetic style which best reflects the style of HWP, mainly rhythmic and coherent free verse.

The writer must be professionally inexperienced enough to see being featured in an HWP chapbook, with all it's restrictions, as a benefit. He/she must appreciate the satisfaction of knowing that they did not buy vanity space. The ideal HWP featured writer will derive pleasure through knowing that their space was given based upon their clean, crisp, thought-provoking poetic style.

There is so much writing going on in this world, and poetry is a huge chunk of it. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the volume of poetry I encounter on the internet. There is a plethora of personal poetry webpages and collective sites for poets and authors. People whom you least expect write poetry.

There is so little space for all of us, and the popular writers take up most of the space, and royalties, over and over again. Because of this, there are many good writers who never see their work in print, unless they buy space, which we know isn't the same.

When HWP solicits a writer, the goal is to offer:

• tangible appreciation for their work via publication,
• a credit which can be added to their accomplishments through exposing their work,
• and encouragement to seek new and creative avenues for publication of their manuscripts.

• The author contributes the copy only.



• No images or special formatting will be accepted.



• There is no fee for submission and HWP generally does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. This means that HWP seeks and recruits contributors whose work reflects the HWP style.



• Writers may also be referred by those who have been featured in an HWP publication.

Manuscripts may be submitted via e-mail or snail mail. Include your:

• name



• e-mail and/or snail mail address



• a paragraph about who you are and what writing means to you



• the titles you are submitting (max 3)



• and an optional short paragraph introducing your verse by recounting the circumstances surrounding its creation. Don’t try to explain your poem. It should project its own meaning.

Please wait 6 weeks, after submission, before contacting HWP about the status.

• Your manuscript, in the format published by HWP, belongs to HWP for the life of the published product.



• HWP will not use your manuscript in any other form other than the one in which you agreed.



• You retain all rights to your manuscript. Keep in mind that your manuscript will be considered by other publishers as a reprint. Some publishers do not accept reprints and payment is usually lower from those who do.



• You cannot reproduce the HWP product that contains your manuscript. Any sales of the product must be referred to HWP for processing as part of the HWP sales program, which gives the author a higher percentage of the sale. You may sell your free copies and keep the profits. Please don't sell them for more than the current average price of an HWP chapbook, which is $5.00. I will always try to keep my chapbooks at a reasonable price, though the profit margin will be low.

Each contributor’s poem will be placed alone, with illustration to be determined by HWP, on a separate page of the chapbook. HWP usually selects two(2) of the contributors manuscripts for inclusion. Contributor may provide a short paragraph of greeting along with contact info and a photo (to be reproduced in b/w) for a bio page in the chapbook. This is optional.

Contributors receive 2 copies of the chapbook containing their work.

If a chapbook sells, the proceeds will be divided among HWP and the authors. The current ratio is 70/30, with HWP receiving the larger portion through house contribution, editing, designing, publishing, marketing and order fulfillment. I try to limit the number of contributors to no more than 2 per publication, which entitles each to 15% of the selling price. The sale of a $5.00 chapbook will give HWP $3.50 and 2 contributors $.75 each (15% each) per chapbook, or 1 contributor $1.50 (30%) per chapbook.

If any sales are realized, payment will be distributed twice yearly, in February and August.

HWP Sales Program For Contributors: Though contributors are not allowed to reproduce and sell HWP chapbooks, a higher payment percentage will be given to any contributor who refers an order to HWP (an additional 10% per chapbook), or a lead that results in a sale (an additional 5% per chapbook). Be sure that your name is mentioned by anyone who contacts HWP upon your referral.