September & October 2019
Vol IV No V
Not your ordinary poetry magazine!
If good coffee (or just the concept of coffee), great books, sharp wit, and great authors excite you, we are for you!
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Published bi-monthly
Better Than Starbucks 2019 Sonnet Contest
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Winning poets receive:
First Place $100.
Second Place $50.
Third Place $25.
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Submissions open October 1st and close December 1st, 2019.
Winners will be announced and published on January 1st, 2020.
We will also publish up to seven honorable mention sonnets.
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No entry fee and no simultaneous submissions please.
Prize payment via Paypal only.
​
This contest is for a metrical sonnet.
Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or slant-rhymed.
Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly identifiable.
We'll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter.
Some metrical variation is fine, but don't forget the volta!
As always, we do accept previously published work.
Please let us know where the poem was previously published.
If previously published, make sure you have the rights to it. Most publications do not keep the rights to poetry. We do not, we retain the right to use them in anthologies or promotional material as we see fit in the future, but we do not retain any copyright to your work.
​
Submit up to two sonnets.
Please include your entry in the body of your email, put Sonnet Contest into the subject line of your email, and send to betterthanstarbucks2@gmail.com
Any possible loss of formatting in email transmission will be corrected if your sonnet is chosen as a winner or for publication, as you will be asked to proof before publication, but you are welcome to mention special formatting in your submission.
Please include a third person bio of 30 (max 40) words.
An introduction is welcome but not required.
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You will receive an acknowledgement of your entry within 24 hours. This is the only communication you will receive unless one or both of your sonnets are selected for publication, either as winners or honorable mentions, or for subsequent publication.
Unlike general submissions to the journal, we do not respond further to contest entries unless they are selected as winners, honorable mentions, or for subsequent publication.
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We look forward to reading your entries!
​
All entries are eligible for publication in Better Than Starbucks. By submitting your work you grant us the non-exclusive right to publish it. Copyright remains with the author/poet.
Judges are Better Than Starbucks editors.
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​
This contest is not open to employees of Better Than Starbucks (or their family members).
The sponsor of this contest wishes to remain anonymous.
Read our 2018 contest winners and runners up here.
More sonnets on the Formal page in our March issue here.
Stay tuned for our 2019 Sonnet Contest this fall!
11:59 pm Saturday December 1st, 2018: Submissions to the contest are now closed.
Thank you for all your wonderful entries — 560 poems!
We look forward to reading them all and selecting the winner as well as honorable mentions. Poets will be contacted in advance. Publication and prize payment will be
made on January 1st, 2019. All submitted sonnets may be considered for publication.
Better Than Starbucks 2018 Sonnet Contest
​
Winning poet receives $100.
​​
​
Submissions open October 1st and close December 1st, 2018.
Winner to be announced and published on January 1st, 2019.
We will also publish at least 4 honorable mention sonnets.
​
No entry fee and no simultaneous submissions please.
Prize payment via Paypal only.
​
This contest is for a metrical sonnet.
Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or slant-rhymed.
Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly identifiable.
We'll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter.
Some metrical variation is fine, but don't forget the volta!
As always, we do accept previously published work.
Please let us know where the poem was previously published.
If previously published, make sure you have the rights to it. Most publications do not keep the rights to poetry. We do not, we retain the right to use them in anthologies or promotional material as we see fit in the future, but we do not retain any copyright to your work.
​
Submit up to two sonnets.
Please include your entry in the body of your email, put Sonnet Contest into the subject line of your email, and send to betterthanstarbucks2@gmail.com
​
​​
We look forward to reading your entries!
​
All entries are eligible for publication in Better Than Starbucks.
Judges are Better Than Starbucks editors.
​
​
This contest is not open to employees of Better Than Starbucks (or their family members).
The sponsor of this contest wishes to remain anonymous.