Editorial Feedback: Poetry Chapbooks

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.

We will provide you with honest editorial engagement and specific, workshop-style critique. We focus on an editorial conversation rooted in close reading, line edits, and a genuine investment in your work. 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 — $150 — 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 Meeting — $200 — Along with the complete editorial letter, you will get a private, 30-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 & Line Edits — $250 —  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, 30-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 — $350 — You'll receive everything included in the $250 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 Editorial Chapbook 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.