Editorial Feedback: Poetry Packets
Rawhead’s Editorial Feedback offers you thoughtful, craft-focused engagement with your work from a member of our editorial team. Instead of broad, generalized feedback or workshop clichés, our goal is to provide sincere editorial attention that meaningfully engages with your work’s language, structure, movement, and artistic intentions.
This option is intended for writers seeking a deeper editorial perspective while also helping to support the growth of Rawhead and the labor of editors working within independent literary publishing.
PRICING
$50 — Poetry Feedback
$75 — Poetry Feedback + Handwritten Notes
$100 — Poetry Feedback + Handwritten Notes + Your purchase fully sponsors a standard 5-poem critique for a poet experiencing financial hardship.
What You Receive
• A written editorial response approximately 400–800 words in length
• Line level editing and revision suggestions
• Thoughtful, craft-focused commentary addressing strengths, opportunities for revision, and overall artistic impact
• Feedback that may discuss structure, imagery, pacing, voice, clarity, cohesion, sequencing, thematic movement, and publication readiness where relevant
• Honest editorial engagement rather than generalized workshop commentary
• Those who choose our 'Handwritten Notes' option get to see the visceral reaction of your assigned editor, right on the page. This shows you exactly where a line lands perfectly, where a reader might get tripped up, and what it takes to bridge the gap between your draft and your vision.
• Those who choose our "Sponsor a Writer" option will receive feedback, handwritten notes, and their purchase will fully fund a standard 5-poem review for a writer experiencing financial hardship.
TURNAROUND TIME
Estimated 3–5 weeks
GUIDELINES
- Poetry submissions: Up to 5 poems or 10 pages total
- Simultaneous submissions permitted
- Previously published work is 100% eligible for editorial response submissions
- Work should be submitted as a single DOCX or PDF file
PLEASE NOTE
• Editorial responses are developmental and craft-focused rather than exhaustive copyediting or proofreading. That said, we will do our best to help you perfect your pieces. Let us know what kind of assistance/advice will be of most value and we'll deliver.
• Purchasing feedback does not increase the likelihood of publication or acceptance
• Editorial responses reflect the perspective of the assigned editor and are inherently subjective
• Due to staff capacity, extensive follow-up correspondence after delivery may not be possible, but we will try to answer any questions you have.
• Please note: This is a brand new service. For now, all submissions will be personally reviewed and critiqued by Rawhead’s Editor-in-Chief, John T. Leonard.
John T. Leonard is the editor-in-chief of Rawhead and managing editor of 42 Miles Press and The Glacier. He holds an M.A. in English from Indiana University and has provided professional poetry manuscript editing services for nearly a decade. John’s poems have been published in Chiron Review, December Magazine, North Dakota Review, Ethel Zine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Louisiana Literature, South Florida Poetry Journal, Jelly Bucket, Painted Bride Quarterly, Tipton Poetry Journal, Sheila-Na-Gig, Hole in The Head Review, Nimrod International Journal, The Indianapolis Review, and The Emerson Review, among many others. He is the author of the chapbook, You Are Alive When They Start to Eat You, from Bottlecap Press. His first full length poetry collection, Hunting Season, is forthcoming from Wolfson Press. He lives in Elkhart, Indiana, with his wife and son. You can connect with him on Instagram @jotyleon.
Rawhead’s manuscript consultation and editorial feedback services are designed for writers who want a dedicated, creative partner in the editing process. Whether you are preparing a chapbook for publication, entering a contest, or just trying to figure out your next steps with a story or handful of poems, getting detailed feedback from fellow writers makes all the difference.
Instead of handing you a list of generic, market-driven fixes, we focus on an editorial conversation rooted in close reading, line edits, and a genuine engagement with your work. For us, literature and art are vital forms of resistance, and treating your work with this level of serious attention is one way in which we honor that.
We currently provide developmental consultations for poetry chapbooks/packets and plan to expand these services in the near future. Our goal is to help you examine the architecture of your collection, working alongside you to refine its sequencing, cohesion, tonal movement, and overall identity until it feels like a complete artistic object.
Pricing & Packages
Editorial Chapbook Consultation — $200 — This package includes a comprehensive editorial letter, ranging from 800 to 1,500 words, focused entirely on big-picture developmental feedback for your manuscript as a whole.
Editorial Consultation + One-on-One Consultation — $250 — Along with the complete editorial letter, you will get a private, 60-minute virtual consultation with your assigned editor to talk through the notes, discuss your manuscript's direction, and ask specific questions about your revision process.
Editorial Consultation + One-on-One Consultation + Hand Written Notes — $300 — Along with the complete editorial letter and a scanned copy of your manuscript featuring the editor’s handwritten inline edits and margin notes, you will get a private, 60-minute virtual consultation with your assigned editor to talk through the notes, discuss your manuscript's direction, and ask specific questions about your revision process.
The Community Champion Consultation + Scholarship Sponsorship — $400 — You'll receive everything included in the $300 tier (the comprehensive editorial letter, the 30-minute virtual session, and the handwritten line edits) while directly investing in the literary community. Your purchase fully sponsors Consultation Scholarships for two writers in need, giving them completely free access to a full chapbook critique and one-on-one consultation. When you invest in your own manuscript, you are personally ensuring that two other poets get the exact same dedicated editorial attention.
What to Expect
Our feedback focuses on the elements that make your chapbook work as a cohesive unit. We pay close attention to the arrangement, the core ideas connecting the work, the overall timing, the shifting tones, and how the title frames the book. We also examine how individual pieces function within the context of the larger manuscript, giving you actionable advice for revisions and clear suggestions for future submission strategies.
You can expect an honest, individualized critique from our editors. Our service is tailored specifically to your project, rather than presented as a generalized workshop commentary.
Although this service is primarily developmental, we will absolutely fix typos and errors where we see them. Our main goal is helping you refine the bigger picture, but sometimes the small details are equally as important.
Alumni Support
We invest deeply in the writers we work with. If your manuscript goes on to find a publishing home, we invite you back to share the good news! For books that continue to align closely with our editorial voice and aesthetic, our staff can provide an official blurb or community review, and we will happily spotlight your launch across our platforms.
Submission Guidelines
We accept poetry chapbook manuscripts. Your file should be submitted as a single PDF or DOCX file containing one manuscript between 15 and 40 pages in length.
Once submitted, our current turnaround time to return your feedback is 4 to 6 weeks.
The Fine Print
To ensure your manuscript gets the deep attention it deserves, we may periodically close submissions when our editors reach capacity.
Please note that editorial feedback reflects the distinct perspective and craft philosophy of your assigned editor.
Because the publishing world is subjective, Rawhead cannot guarantee publication, contest placement, or acceptance by any press or journal.
Please note: This is a brand new service. For now, all submissions will be personally reviewed and critiqued by Rawhead’s Editor-in-Chief, John T. Leonard.
John T. Leonard is the editor-in-chief of Rawhead and managing editor of 42 Miles Press and The Glacier. He holds an M.A. in English from Indiana University and has provided professional poetry manuscript editing services for nearly a decade. John’s poems have been published in Chiron Review, December Magazine, North Dakota Review, Ethel Zine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Louisiana Literature, South Florida Poetry Journal, Jelly Bucket, Painted Bride Quarterly, Tipton Poetry Journal, Sheila-Na-Gig, Hole in The Head Review, Nimrod International Journal, The Indianapolis Review, and The Emerson Review, among many others. He is the author of the chapbook, You Are Alive When They Start to Eat You, from Bottlecap Press. His first full length poetry collection, Hunting Season, is forthcoming from Wolfson Press. He lives in Elkhart, Indiana, with his wife and son. You can connect with him on Instagram @jotyleon.
Please Note that Point Blank is a separate project from Rawhead's general issues. Before submitting, we strongly encourage contributors to read the project's purpose and previous features to ensure their work is a good fit. Work that is not selected for Point Blank may still be considered for general issues of Rawhead.
Read Point Blank
Purpose
Point Blank is a Rawhead digital series featuring the work of a single writer or artist, released semi-monthly, in response to what is happening now. We accept Poetry, Visual Art, CNF, Fiction, and Hybrid works for this series. Point Blank exists as a form of resistance and documentation, a way of marking what is being done, who it is being done to, and how it is being fought. This series extends our core mission into the present tense, serving as a rapid-response record for the stories and injustices unfolding right now that cannot afford the distance of traditional publication schedules.
This is a space to name the realities of state violence: from the kidnapping and murder of our neighbors by ICE, to the genocide of the Palestinian people, to the plunder of the earth itself as our forests and oceans are sacrificed to endless greed. It is also a place to witness structural rot of the everyday: the indignity of economic hardship, the legislative attacks on our LGBTQ+ community, and the systemic racism that decides who is protected and who is pushed to the margins. This is a space to call out the corruption that impacts most people’s daily lives. We are meeting that force with a point-blank record of our own.
At the same time, we recognize that resistance is found in the persistence of hope, the labor of community care, and the bravery of everyday heroes. Rawhead: Point Blank is a space for the work that documents what is being built as much as what is being broken. We value stories of the things we create in spite of the powers that be: the mutual aid, the art, the healing & recovery, the defense of neighbors, the unexpected kindness of the world, and the daily ways we choose each other over the systems that despise us. A ledger of the moment is incomplete without the stories of those who insist on beauty and survival in the face of injustice.
We want to hear from anyone paying attention, whether that perspective comes from the shop floor, the classroom, the kitchen table, the picket line, the waiting room, the cell, the back roads, or the street. Rawhead has always been committed to work that does not look away, and this series holds space for these conditions to be named and remembered as they unfold.
Honorarium
Rawhead: Point Blank offers a flat $30 honorarium to each featured contributor and a $10 donation to the charity of their choice. We recognize this is a modest amount, but it is an acknowledgment of your time, your labor, and the value of your voice. We hope to be able to offer more in the future.
Free to Submit
We believe financial reasons should never be a barrier to sharing creative work and are fully committed to always offering free submissions.
We do, however, offer paid submission options in the form of Supporter, Expedited, and Priority response submissions simply to cover operation costs and allow our journal to grow. Expedited submissions will receive a guaranteed response within two weeks and Priority subs will hear from us within 72 business hours.
Rawhead is actively seeking funding to help support operational costs, produce print issues, offer payment to each contributor, and expand our reach. If you'd like to help us reach those goals, please consider selecting a paid submission option or donating to our journal here: Support Rawhead on Ko-fi
Donations are appreciated but do not influence our editorial decisions.
Submission Guidelines
Poetry
Submit 3 to 7 poems in a single document, totaling no more than 15 pages (.doc or .docx preferred). Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial font. Format one poem per page unless part of a sequence. Indicate stanza breaks if a poem spans multiple pages.
Prose
We accept one to two nonfiction or fiction pieces up to 3,000 words each. For flash or experimental works (under 1,000 words), submit up to three pieces. Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial font. Double space all prose pieces. Note: If a piece relies on non-standard font and/or spacing, please submit it to the Hybrid category.
Visual Art
Submit 3 to 10 pieces in any medium—illustration, photography, digital collage, mixed media, painting, sculpture, etc. Upload high-quality images (min 1500px, .jpg/.png/.tiff).
Hybrid
We welcome work that crosses or blends forms such as prose/poetry hybrids, lyric essays with embedded images, comics, sound pieces, etc. You may submit one larger hybrid work up to 3,000 words, 5 shorter pieces (provided they total no more than the limits above), or up to 10 images. Please provide a brief description of your mixed-genre piece.
AI Policy
We do not accept AI-generated content. Submissions must be original, human-made, and free of AI assistance.
Simultaneous & Previously Published Work
We accept simultaneous submissions because we believe that powerful work deserves more than a single appearance. Too often, published pieces reach only a limited audience before slipping into obscurity. At Rawhead, we’re committed to giving exceptional writing and art a second life where it can continue to resonate, provoke, and endure. Please ensure that you credit the original publication in your submission note, retain the rights to your previously published work, and wait at least 6 months after its publication before submitting again.
Cover Letters
Include a third-person bio, previous publications (if applicable), and any personal sites or social media handles you’d like us to share.
Ethical Standards
We do not accept work that promotes hate or dehumanization. That includes racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any form of bigotry.
Response Time
For this series, we aim to respond to submissions within 3 months, though we will often reply much sooner.
Rights & Reprinting
By accepting publication, authors grant Rawhead First Serial Rights, Non-Exclusive Reprint Rights, Electronic Rights, Archival Rights, and Non-Exclusive Anthology Rights. Authors retain all other rights.
Additional Info
Follow us on Instagram @rawheadjournal and Bluesky @rawheadjournal.bsky.social.
Please consider donating to our journal here: Support Rawhead on Ko-fi.
Check out our sister journal, The Glacier, and read the latest issue.
Rawhead is OPEN to submissions of Poetry, Visual Art, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Hybrid works.
Submissions will be considered for Issue 04 & may also be considered for Issues 05 of Rawhead.
Pease review our submissions guidlines before sending us your work. Thank you!
Editor’s Spotlight
Rawhead will select at least one outstanding artist and one standout writer each regular issue to receive a $100 award. Each accepted piece will be considered for this prize.
Free to Submit
We believe financial reasons should never be a barrier to sharing creative work and are fully committed to always offering free submissions.
We do, however, offer paid submission options in the form of Supporter, Expedited, and Priority response submissions. Expedited submissions will receive a guaranteed response within one week ($10) or two weeks ($5). Priority subs will hear from us within 72 hours ($15).
Note: Submitting work gets expensive quickly, so we've lowered our expedited fees to make a fast turnaround more gentle on your budget. Your words and artwork deserve thoughtful and timely consideration without added financial stress. Our team is ready to review your submissions with the same care as always!
Rawhead is actively seeking funding to help support operational costs, produce print issues, offer payment to each contributor, and expand our reach. If you'd like to help us reach those goals, please consider selecting a paid submission option or donating to our journal here: Support Rawhead on Ko-fi
Donations are appreciated but do not influence our editorial decisions.
Submission Guidelines
Poetry
Submit 3 to 7 poems in a single document, totaling no more than 15 pages (.doc or .docx is preferred). Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial fonts. Format one poem per page unless part of a sequence. Indicate stanza breaks if a poem spans multiple pages.
Prose
We accept one to two fiction and nonfiction pieces up to 3,000 words each. For flash or experimental works (under 1,000 words), submit up to three pieces. Double space all prose pieces. Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial fonts. Note: If submitting a piece that relies on non-standard font and/or spacing, please submit it to the Hybrid category.
Visual Art
Submit 3 to 10 pieces in any medium—illustration, photography, digital collage, mixed media, painting, sculpture, etc. Upload high-quality images (min 1500px, .jpg/.png/.tiff).
Hybrid
We welcome work that crosses or blends forms such as prose/poetry hybrids, lyric essays with embedded images, comics, sound pieces, etc. You may submit one larger hybrid work up to 3,000 words, 5 shorter pieces (provided they total no more than the limits above), or up to 10 images. Please provide a brief description of your mixed-genre piece.
We do not accept AI-generated content. Submissions must be original, human-made, and free of AI assistance.
AI Policy
We do not accept AI-generated content. Submissions must be original, human-made, and free of AI assistance.
Simultaneous & Previously Published Work
We accept simultaneous submissions because we believe that powerful work deserves more than a single appearance. Too often, published pieces reach only a limited audience before slipping into obscurity. At Rawhead, we’re committed to giving exceptional writing and art a second life where it can continue to resonate, provoke, and endure. Please ensure that you credit the original publication in your submission note, retain the rights to your previously published work, and wait at least 6 months after its publication before submitting again.
Cover Letters
Include a third-person bio, previous publications (if applicable), and any personal sites or social media handles you’d like us to share.
Ethical Standards
We do not accept work that promotes hate or dehumanization. That includes racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any form of bigotry.
Response Time
We aim to respond to submissions within a 3-6 months, though often will reply much sooner.
Rights & Reprinting
By accepting publication, authors grant Rawhead First Serial Rights, Non-Exclusive Reprint Rights, Electronic Rights, Archival Rights, and Non-Exclusive Anthology Rights. Authors retain all other rights.
Additional Info
Follow us on Instagram @rawheadjournal and Bluesky @rawheadjournal.bsky.social.
Please consider donating to our journal here: Support Rawhead on Ko-fi.
Check out our sister journal, The Glacier, and read the latest issue.