Editor Interview: ONLY POEMS Poem of the Month Go to the listing List all editor interviews Edit answers (editors only) Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.PoetryKaran Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?AGNIRattle32 PoemsAlice James BooksKaran Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?Leonard CohenGabriel Garcia-MarquezRainer Maria RilkeKaran Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?At ONLY POEMS, we publish poets (as opposed to poems). We feature a portfolio of 5-10 poems by a poet every week, alongside an extensive interview. We pay poets for their work, and champion both emerging and established voices. We are ad-free, independently run, and committed to intellectual exploration, artistic innovation, and inclusivity.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?Send us poems that matter to you most.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025Describe the ideal submission.An ideal packet of poems feels inevitable rather than impressive: poems written out of necessity, marked by attention and restraint, confident craft, formal invention, and a voice that knows when to stop.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?Our submitters are fantastic and the only thing they miss sometimes is the deadline. We never extend our deadlines, so don’t miss them!Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?We love cover letters, though we only read them later, so they have no influence on the decisions. We’d like to know you, and your publications credits have little to do with who you really are.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?Our first readers read every piece to the end. Our editors can tell within the first few lines if a piece is for us or not.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?We usually ask poets to send 10 more pages before we can make a decision. We want to know if poets are really serious about their work and are in this for the long haul.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?Each submission is first read by 3-5 readers who help cull the submissions that are not for us at all. The upvoted submissions are read by all editors, and sometimes the full team of readers. The final decisions are made by myself, often in conversation with our Creative Director, Managing Editor, and Associate Editor.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?We offer minimal edits, and that also not too often. We’re lucky to get thousands of submissions each month which means we get to be extremely picky in what we accept, which often means the poems we pick are often ready as they are. All edits we offer are only suggestions and the final decisions are the author’s to make. We haven’t yet sent a conditional acceptance, I think. We proofread everything that goes on our site.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Spiritual Poetry, Monarch Queer, and Nina Riggs Poetry Awards. In the first year of nominations, ONLY POEMS has already made it to Best New Poets & Best Spiritual Literature.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025How is your project funded?We’re proud to say that ONLY POEMS is funded by our annual prizes and monthly workshops. Thank you to everyone who participates and supports us.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025How do you promote your project and published authors/artists?We have a weekly newsletter that goes out to over 22K people. We have a very active Instagram with over 55K followers, and we’re also active on Threads, Twitter, Bluesky, and Substack. We have a separate daily newsletter where we send a poem every morning 20K people.Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief on 06 December 2025 Cookie Consent: This site uses secure first-party cookies for essential, preference-setting, and statistical purposes. We do not use any marketing, advertising, or third-party cookies. Read our full cookie policy. Accept All Cookies Allow Essential Cookies Only