1) Don’t mention Bukowski in your poem.

2) Make sure everything in your poem is spelled correctly and grammatically sound. Nothing turns us against a poem quicker than an obvious lack of editing.

3) We don’t particularly care about your sexual escapades, even if they involve prostitutes. Especially if they involve prostitutes.

4) We know your jobs suck. So do ours.

5) Don’t mention Bukowski in your poem.

6) If your email provider messes with the formatting of your poem, put it in an attachment. We can’t guess what you mean.

7) Say something to us in your submission. It’ll make us like you more.

8) Don’t get upset with us if we reject your poem. We reject over 99% of the poems we receive. Many of our contributors got their first acceptance after five or more rejections.

9) We don’t really care about your entire publication history. Just list the two or three most important places you’ve published.

10) Don’t mention Bukowski in your poem.