engineidling.net engineidling.net/submissionguidelines

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Special Sub Call!Issue 8’s theme is: CollageOpen: Dec 1, 2025 - Jan. 31, 2026

                                                                             Seeking Poetry and artworks!

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We’re inviting you to take scissors to much of our Archive!

Submitters will have permission to remix a large selection from our online archive (see the “Off Limits” List for limitations). This includes both poetry and visual artworks. We want you to strip our issues for their parts, to tear them down, scramble them and build them back up again in your own way. So let’s make a crazy quilt, a dog’s dinner, a hodgepodge, a jambalaya, a montage, a potpourri, a marriage of disparate parts. Break the mirror into shards and show us our fractured reflection. In other words, collage! Recycle, re-conceptualize, and re-imagine the works that we have available. Get inspired with de /composition. But please keep in mind there must be a purpose, a kind of transformation or becoming, a meaningful something that you yourself are adding to these remixes—something that makes it new. We’re not going to accept anything plagiaristic or low-effort. Overall, we think this will be a fun exercise that’ll hopefully drive engagement, experimental creativity, and community building.

We’re thinking of an aesthetic along the lines of homemade zines. Something a bit messy, perhaps, that shows the marks of its creator. We want your collages (of course), frankenpoems, golden shovels, cut and paste / cut-ups, mash-ups, Oulipo-inspired experiments, language poetry, word games, erasures / blackouts, pastiche, decoupage, mixed media, hybrids, etc. Make up your own rules, constraints, and forms! This will be your laboratory, but you must remember this …

The first and most important rule of this project is to absolutely Respect Your Source Material.

This is an act of creative trust. Our participating contributors have allowed you to use the raw materials of their art in your sandbox, so …

• Do NOT use AI of any kind.

• Do NOT use ANY works from the “Off Limits” List. (This is a list of previous contributors who’re not participating in this project.)

• Carefully cite ALL of your source material under your title.

• Make sure there is some element of transformation to what you are creating from our pieces. It should be something born anew.

• If your remix is rejected by e(i and you go on to submit it to other publishers, you still MUST cite all of your source material.

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Collage-specific Guidelines:

• Mind the “Off Limits” List!

• Send up to 4 pieces.

• Cite your sources under your title.

• Anything visual like hybrid / blackout / erasure / art pieces should be sent as .jpgs.

• Movie / audio / multimedia subs: Please send us a short query note first. We’ll have to figure out how to incorporate those files into our publishing software for online viewing.

• Text works as .docx or .pdf.

• Collaborations are welcome and very much encouraged.

• Include a street address if you’d like free swag sent to you.

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Collage Submissions FAQ:

>> Do I need to cite my sources?
YES 100% absolutely! Cite the author, title, and issue it’s originally from under your title.

>> Can I use AI?
NO! Use your hands and your brain.

>> What is the OFF LIMITS List?
Very important! The authors and artists on the “Off Limits” List have either opted out of this project or we’ve been unable to obtain their permission. Please do NOT attempt to remix works by the contributors on this list.

>> How does this work exactly? Am I supposed to just riff on one piece at a time?
Mash up multiple poems from multiple different authors, add art and your own signatures. One of our EIC’s most favorite forms is the frankenpoem. Be a mad scientist. You’re Dr. Frankenstein. That being said, you could still remix just one piece at a time but you’d have to be very, very careful to make sure something new has come out of it.

>> What if I wanted to add in my own touches, such as my own poetry lines, structure, drawings, images, etc?
Yes, please do!

>> What if I wanted to add in some Public Domain content?
Sure! You’ll still need to cite your sources and provide a link to the items in the public domain. Bonus: All the artwork used in Issues 1 & 2 are from the public domain, so those images are fair game.

>> Can I use WHOLE micro-chapbooks from your summer series?
No, don’t do that.

>> Can I use individual poems from the micro-chapbooks in your summer series?
Yes, as long as the author is not on the “Off Limits” list.

>> What if I—a previous contributor—want to remix some works? Even if it’s my own work?
Yes, please! As long as it has appeared in the engine(idling.

>> What if I—a previous contributor—want to remix some works but have declined to have my own work remixed?
That’s OK too!

>> What if I want to collaborate with someone for this project? What if I want to collab with a previous contributor, or the original creator of the work? What if I want to hook up with multiple collaborators?
Yes, yes, yes, go for it! You can work with anyone you wish. We love teamwork!

>> What if I want to get in touch with the original author / artist?
Let us know via email and we’ll ask them.

>> What if I want to create something “after,” “inspired by,” or “in conversation with” a piece from e(i?
Yes, sounds great! Let us know which piece it refers to.

>> Can I mashup an entire issue—or multiple issues—into a consolidated thing?
Yes, why not make a soup! Just mind the “Off Limits” list.

>> What if I want to make a hybrid poetry / art thing?
Yes, we’d really love that! Send it as a .jpg.

>> How do I send hybrid pieces or blackouts / erasures?
Please send a .jpg for these. Editing text pieces with black rectangles is no fun. Note that erasures and blackouts will be a hard sell unless they have a little extra something special.

>> Who owns the rights to the original works?
The creator owns the rights to their own work. This is why we’ve asked for their permission.

>> Who owns the rights to the remixed works?
If remixing successfully, you’ll be creating something new. So, you—the remixer(s)—will own the NEW piece that has emerged in the process of your remixing. This new thing that you have made is yours, but you still must cite your source material properly and make sure that what you have is not too close to the original. You’ll be walking a thin line. This is why you must be very careful and ensure that you are adding something in the process. Straight up erasures and blackouts will be difficult sells for this project. If you collaborate with someone, you’ll need to share ownership.

>> What if my remix is rejected by e(i? Can I submit it elsewhere?
Yes, you can submit it elsewhere, but you still must continue to cite your source material.

>> Didn’t Tiny Spoon litmag do this thing already?
Yes they did, but not with their larger Archive! Our EIC was in that issue! :)

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This issue will be our first to go to PRINT via Amazon KDP in addition to being free to read online.

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If you are able to do so, we ask that you please report your submissions on Duotrope and / or Chill Subs. We are listed with both sites.