Aside from the category guideline expansion details with the arrows as you scroll down below, please read our Submittable reminders shared document HERE before proceeding and then carefully read https://www.dipitylitmag.com/submit. Thanks so much for considering Dipity as a home for your work and please never stop writing or creating no matter what our decision is!
Send an email to diptydesk@gmail.com if you have just a general question. OR you can also hop into our dipity. Discord chatroom (invitation linked here) on your computer or mobile to ask questions or just to chat with us and say hello.
We are looking for poets to just share and read their awesome creative poetry on our social media channels @dipitylitmag, such as Instagram, Threads, YouTube Shorts, BlueSky etc. Within 90 secs or must be under a 1 minute 10 seconds as we add 3-5 seconds of end graphics at times. Do not go over it, or it won't be considered. The video should be of you facing forward in a vertical format. We will not post blurred video, cropped with dark lighting, or freezing.
Please choose only ONE option A, B, C, D, E
Format: For any of the below options, remember to Introduce yourself. Hi! My name is____. Introduce your poem, book, etc. titles. Feel free to share where you're reading from the state, city, country, etc.
Conclude with: Thanks, dipity! Bye! or something similar.
Option A) Can be previously published from your OWN poetry collection, either self-published or through another press which you have permission to do so. It can be a poem from your social media feed or personal space, too.
Option B) Can be a poem you've had accepted through dipity. Read the title, then the poem.
Option C) You can simply share your book title, where it was published/when, and its description, or why you wrote it. Where others can get it, hold it up so others can see it, etc.
Option D) State why you love poetry, OR share how you started writing.
Option E ) Read a new, previously unpublished poem.
Lastly, Please attach in a Word. doc. or a PDF file copy of the poem being read in the event we are able to add a transcript or captions. And attach a few headshot photos, preferably a standing photograph to pick from that we can edit. If you have an Instagram or Substack account, feel free to mention it in your brief cover letter at the bottom.
Accepted entries will be published online and narrowed down to the TOP 3, and then down to 1 poet for the CASH PRIZE of $50. Past winners can be found here: https://www.dipitylitmag.com/surf-rock
ENTRY TERMS & CONDITIONS
Open to poets of ALL ages, and you can be located anywhere in the world. Formerly known as the Symphonic Challenge in 2023, it is now permanently rebooted as our annual dipity. Surf Rock Poetry Prize. Our reading team will not see your cover letter unless it makes it to the final stage. You can enter as many times as you like in the year before it closes. ALL accepted poems again in each window will be published and featured under our Contest or Dipity Lit Mag > Online Tank > Surf Rock [Contest] Tab and become potentially eligible to be part of one of our new upcoming spin-off Dipity Press community mini print series one day. We may hold up more than one round in a calendar year, if possible, or close it early depending upon our submission volume caps. All entry fees are non-refundable. SURF THE 22. Choose any ONE of the artists or groups listed and linked BELOW and write up to THREE NEW poems inspired by just ONE of their song releases—we recommend going out to the links of their profiles below: SoundCloud [Tracks] section, YouTube, and Spotify, etc. It cannot be a cover song. Again, send up to 3 inspired poems but focus on just ONE artist/ band and ONE song for the overall entry. The poems can be of any length or style (again, read our general site sub guidelines under Submit carefully).
dipity.'s 2025 Surf Rock Poetry Prize Artist & Band List
1. Saint Gardenia
- https://www.youtube.com/@saintgardenia/videos
- https://soundcloud.com/saintgardenia
- https://open.spotify.com/artist/08aIHAz9znmhSLwOuZOhqt
2. Isla Rose
3. NoxTros
4. ECHOS
5. Kiiōtō
6. fkblnde
7. Boy Okay
8. CELIA [OPEN]
9. Josh Pozzi
10. Some Days Are Darker
11. 92elm
12. COSETTE
13. Kylo
- https://open.spotify.com/artist/4H8gvWMKDnkJeqeuRtOqQj
- https://www.youtube.com/@kylomusic4987/videos
14. MYRY
15. Fever Blue
16. Marley Angel
17. BLOCKED
18. Fire Beninois
19. In the Middle
20. EDDA
21. MUX
22. Jahrund
Multiple chapbook submission entries are permitted in each window. Your chapbook(s) must be themed or have a distinct singular focus e.g. flower species, birds, movies, love, heartbreak, queer love, food, grief, environmental impact, horror, sci-fi. Please leave your name off of the document file name and DO NOT include it inside the document anywhere. Each chapbook submission must contain a minimum of 21 to 24 poems and must be at least 30 pages IN TOTAL including a title page, author page 5-8 sentences in third person (only after acceptance) leave it blank with BIO PAGE HERE, description, and table of contents, an acknowledgments page; in a Word.doc. Each on their own page is preferred. We are no longer able to publish chapbooks with interiors under 30 pages. We'll resize the font and style so no worries, but ensure we can read the font e.g. Times New Roman. Please only put your cover letter and chapbook description(s) in the Submittable form box (it is concealed from our reading team).
REMINDER NO previously published poems (we want to see completely new poems). Read our Submit FAQ page too. Each poem should fit on one page, but if you must continue it indicate within the title e.g. cont'd. We'd prefer again to see each poem fit on one page so 24 poems would be typically ideal if you're not using sections to add pages too etc.
We DO NOT accept Ai generated writing.
REMEMBER that our chapbooks will not be 8.5 x 11 and closer to approximately an A5 (5.2 x 7.8) saddle stitch booklet so your poems must fit this much smaller A5 page size therefore within or way under 30 lines single-spaced including line breaks would be ideal.
While you can submit your poems on an 8.5 x 11 Word.doc, chapbook submissions that consist of poetry that fits the size limitations will only be considered. We will choose the font style and standard size for it so no worries there.
All submission processing and reading fees are non-refundable. If you make a submission mistake we can open it for editing just message us through Submittable.
You are permitted to have sections in your chapbook [single title pages named] such as part 1 [title] and part 2 [title], and part 3 [title] as well.
EXAMPLE LAYOUT REQUIREMENTS
Page 1. [Chapbook no. Page For Us ]
Page 2. Title Page - Title Only [Do NOT Include Your Name]
Page 3. Description of Chapbook Here [Leave Blank]
Page 4. Author About Page - Third Person [Leave Blank We'll Ask for this After or You Should Input it in Your Submittable Cover Letter Form Section Instead ] Followed by Your Chapbook Title(s) or About Collection Description(s)
Page 5 leave blank - dipity press + author copyright pages
Page 6. Acknowledgments or Dedications Page
Page 7. Table of Contents
Pages 8 - 30 [ For 21+ Poems Minimum + [Preferably A Miminum [30 Required Pages] At Least Which Includes the other intro pages] Each poem must be titled.
Page 31 - Leave Blank For Us OR You're welcome to create a playlist of songs on this page (meaning pair one song to each poem in order of appearance that you feel represents the vibe of that poem). You can share it with us via Spotify or YT playlist you create if that's easier than typing.
We will choose one or more chapbook manuscripts for each open window. The winner(s) for these will receive:
- 5 chapbook print copies minimum and publication as payment instead within a year. Acceptance decisions are made within about 3-6 months after your submission or ASAP. We cannot gauge or guarantee monetary amounts at this time but may in the future if enough submission interest is generated or seen for Dipity Press's existence may be able to]. Royalties nowadays are quite tough to maintain for small presses therefore we believe a donation-based page to support each accepted poet's chapbook would be better suited along with other forms of payment e.g. physical copies as payment. As time goes on, Dipity Press may be able to facilitate cash prizes and bump up the number of physical print copies.
- Print bookstore listings at a minimum + digital eBook or PDF listing.
- You retain 100% rights to your work and can include these poems in new or future publications and all that we ask is that you acknowledge Dipity Press as the first publication appearance (optional but preferred) followed by the year.
- You will receive a signage agreement over these terms if selected.
- Those selected will get a direct donate button for your chapbook on our website [ we are creating a new donate to poet chapbook page space to direct traffic towards to support poets further long-term]. Readers and visitors of the Dipity Press chapbooks series will be able to donate to you.
- This is open to poets of all ages and international and we are not accepting translations at this time. We do not integrate art into the interior in all chapbooks at this time.
- We try to keep fees to a minimum because they def suck. All sub fees and purchases of your chapbook go towards helping maintain dipity, supporting artists, fund contests, and future literary arts community publication projects or initiatives such as saving towards paying writers, promoting work, website maintenance fees, and our operation expenses since we do not have any significant funding or support at this time.
- Each accepted chapbook will receive a cover design by an artist which will be either collage-based or illustrative. We will pick your cover art.
- Selected chapbooks receive promotion through the shared dipitylitmag and press social media channels such as Threads etc. and our Substack. You're welcome to share through our podcasts and audio streaming channels too if you let us know (optional).
The Dipity Press chapbook subs will be judged by Jazz Marie (VFORROW) and volunteer staff readers will aid in eliminating any chapbooks that do not comply with guidelines or are not what we were looking for etc.
We may close this window early in the event of reaching caps or an extremely high submission volume OR may extend it if there are not enough subs in each window. Thank you so much in advance for considering us as a home for your work!
Up to three previously unpublished poems may be submitted, but they must be LGBTQ+ themed. Do not put identifying info in your document file. Accepted poems will be placed in our online tank and will be eligible to be selected for any of our print series in the future
No more than 500 words or less for flash fiction pieces, please include a word count.
No more than 1-2 or 2.5 pages max for any short story. It must be fiction. See our guidelines on the Submit page. More recent examples are in our Substack as well, aside from the site. If accepted, it'll go into our online tank section. We do permit previously published short stories, but you must tell us if you do submit one that's appeared elsewhere.
No theme--have fun!