For the Half Day Moon Press digital chapbook series, one hand is open, in the sense that poets and artists are for the most part given free rein in coming up with a cohesive work that is in line with their vision. Meanwhile, the other hand is closed as only solicited manuscripts are considered by arrangement. Allowing free reign takes its cue from Odysseus' son Telemachos when he says:
Mother, why do you grudge our own dear minstrel
joy of song wherever his heart may lead?
. . . Men like best
a song that rings like morning on the ear.
(trans. Fitzgerald)
For Half Day Moon Journal, one hand is open, in the sense that unsolicited submissions are welcome from both seasoned and newer poets alike. Meanwhile, the other hand is closed as a more traditional editing style is exercised and the featured visual artist’s works are solicited by arrangement. As of now, the journal is published annually and the reading window runs through the months of May and June. (Submissions for the journal sent outside of this reading window will not be considered.) Send up to 10 poems to halfdaymoonpressinfo@gmail.com with "SUBMISSION" in the subject line. Paste your poems in the body of the email. For poems with special formatting, send an attached screenshot to show what was intended. Simultaneous submissions are strongly discouraged and poems should not have been previously published. Allow up to three weeks for a response. As no rejection messages will be sent, after three weeks you are free to send your work elsewhere. However, it is hoped that you will send new work in subsequent reading windows.
Copyright reverts to the creator after publication in an issue of Half Day Moon Journal. However, acceptance of material to the journal also includes giving its publisher the right to showcase sample work from an issue in blog or social media posts. The customary courtesy of citing Half Day Moon Journal as the first publisher of a work is expected if the work is republished elsewhere.
For each e-chapbook title and journal issue released, Half Day Moon Press arranges for tree saplings to be planted in Anatolia in coordination with the NGO TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion). Thus far, Half Moon Press has had saplings planted in the following locations: 15 in Sivas Karşıyaka Memorial Forest; 6 in the Uzunbağ Memorial Forest in Divriği, Sivas; 6 in Beşpınar, Bayburt; 3 in Antalya (province) . . . .
Joseph S. Aversano
(Menlo Park, CA / Ankara, TR)