The Submission

You are a poet. Across the desk sits an editor with a secret taste you cannot see. Build a four-line poem from the fragments in your drawer and submit it. Crack five editors of rising prestige — from a man named David to The Empyrean Review (allegedly) — before your morale runs out.

Every fragment leans on four axes

The chips on each card show its strongest leanings. Your poem's average across the four lines is what the editor judges.

How to get in (it's easier than it looks)

Each editor only truly cares about a few axes. Every rejection hands you their margin notes — exactly which way to push each one (→), and which you've already nailed (✓). Get every note to a ✓ and you're accepted. It's a checklist, not a mystery. The notes also build a running decode sheet in the Dossier on the right. (David, the first editor, accepts literally everyone — he's just happy you came.)

Strategy

• Probe cheaply. Your first poem to a new editor is a question, not your masterpiece.
• Read the dossier before committing your best lines.
• Clichés (the red cards) are poison to almost everyone — except a certain David, who finds them so relatable.
• A Revise & Resubmit is a gift: you keep your poem and get a clearer hint. Swap a line or two.
• Win in the fewest submissions for a better Best Run.