Editor Interview: Pure Haiku

5-7-5 haiku

I really do only publish 5-7-5 haiku in the English language at Pure Haiku.

Please read ALL the guidelines before even putting pen to paper! Find out WHY I only accept 5-7-5 haiku on the About Page. And if you read the Composing, Selection, Submission Email and Submit Pages, you will gain an understanding of the kind of haiku I enjoy. Better still, once you've read all the guidelines, take half an hour or so to peruse the two most recent themes to discover the kind of haiku that resonates with me.

The ideal submission would be set out exactly as detailed on the Submission Email Page.
The subject line would contain SUBMISSIONS - CURRENT THEME - YOUR NAME
You would then clearly indicate your First Name and your Last Name and provide me with your email address in the body of the email.
Then you'd paste into the email your 5 superb 5-7-5 haiku on the current theme in a plain font that's easily readable without any flourishes or asterisks etc.
After that you'd provide me with one social media link that works, the name you want to use for the copyright and a brief, one-sentence introducing yourself.

1) They assume modern haiku are 5-7-5 haiku, they're not.
2) They try to explain their haiku to me in their submission email. I don't need haiku to be explained. If I don't get it, it won't be published.
3) They don't provide me with the information requested which makes my job at processing and curating the haiku very difficult.

Please, NO cover letters! I don't need to know anything about you! Sorry, if that sounds rude, but I don't!
I'm interested in your haiku. If your haiku work for me, I will publish one or more of them.
No, previous publication credits are not relevant at Pure Haiku. I like to keep things simple. Pure Haiku is simply about 5-7-5 haiku. That's all.

As I request a maximum of 5 haiku per entry, I read every single haiku all the way through at least once, often up to 10 times before I make a final decision. The full process of how I select haiku for the site can be found on the Selection Page.

There are 3 rounds every haiku has to go through.
First, each haiku has to meet the basic requirements for publication on Pure Haiku.
Second, each haiku is then subject to analysis - does it link to the current theme, is there contrast and/or juxtaposition, is there an ah-ha moment?
Thirdly, those submissions left at this point with 5 haiku are put on a short list for the featured haiku writers' slots.
Once the artist has selected their favourite poet from the short list and I've selected mine, I go through all the rest of the submissions and make the final choice for publication.
A more detailed explanation of this process can be found on the Selection Page.

I am a full-time writer so I limit the number of times Pure Haiku is open to submissions. When the site is open, I simply file all the submission emails in a folder. When the submission window has closed, I create a document with all the submissions in it and assign a number to each entry. I then read the submissions not knowing who has written them. Once I've eliminated the haiku that don't meet my requirements or simply don't work for me, I create a shortlist and the artist and I select our favourite poet for the featured haiku writers' slots. Then I start scheduling posts and once everything's scheduled, I contact all the entrants. This process usually takes between 2 - 4 weeks, depending on how busy I am with book launches / promotions / first drafts.