03/09/2023
**Editor in Chief's Statement regarding "I, Zebra" payment concerns**
The initial reason for only offering digital copies to international contributors was that we wouldn't be able to guarantee how fast of a turnaround we could pull off to provide that copy to the authors. We are still researching how exactly we will be handling our international distribution, and did not want anyone to be upset with a lengthy wait to see the book in person. I would love your input if you believe this is something that we over-thought into the ground. I honestly may put up a poll to see how other potential contributors feel about the situation.
I genuinely had not looked at the situation through the lens of exploiting disabled authors because a) everyone on staff is disabled and non of us are taking pay on this book because we mean for it to be a fundraiser and b) I (Liz, EiC, hi!) had written for contributor copy compensation on fundraiser anthologies in the past with no concern because I was excited to have my work seen & was passionate about the charities involved.
-THAT SAID- This is on me. I am competing for a grant currently, and in part of it they ask what I would use funds for. Looking at current pay rates for poetry open for submissions (I'll link my source at the bottom of the comment), I want to offer $15 usd per poem that is chosen for publication. Even if I don't get the grant, I am participating in a paid fellowship this summer & am willing to use the money from that to pay contributing poets. (It was going to go towards investing in the company & paying future authors anyway, but I had not been accepted to the program when I opened submissions & wasn't arrogant enough to count the metaphorical chicken before the egg hatched).
In regards to your poetry magazine, Silver, if it is still accessible online, I would love the link to it because I simply love reading poetry. If you would ever be interested in discussing the nuts and bolts of operating an imprint, I would graciously appreciate hearing about industry experience.
The statement that Oak Paw Publishing's position was unprofessional stung, but I am willing to acknowledge that I am still very much learning. The company was somewhat abruptly brought into existence based on a university project. I am a full time university student, majoring in English, minoring in both entrepreneurship & interdisciplinary educational studies. Most of the staff working with me currently are also university students. Perhaps I was overenthusiastic, but a string of small successes gave me an abundance of confidence & I chose to jump in the pool headfirst.
I would like to genuinely apologize for anyone that the initial decision to only do contributor copies (print in North America, digital elsewhere) caused. It was absolutely not the intent of Oak Paw Publishing, nor I as editor in chief to make any writer, disabled or not, feel as if they were being exploited. That choice was based on personal experience. It is being corrected. I thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention.
https://writingcooperative.com/27-paying-markets-for-poetry-no-submission-fees-15c8093b409d
