submission guidelines :

Please note our updated submission guidelines!

As of November 2nd, 2008 we are closed to submissions until our next reading period. We will resume reading submissions on February 1st, 2009. All submissions sent outside of our reading period are ineligible for publication, and will not receive a response.

*new* Beginning on February 1st, all prose submissions must include a word count in the cover letter. Fiction and creative non-fiction submissions must also be no longer than 1500 words. Longer pieces require a query letter. (Please include title, word count, and a basic synopsis in your query.) All prose submissions that fail to meet these guidelines are ineligible for publication, and will not receive a response.

We ask that writers submit only once per reading period, unless specifically invited to send more work.

Please follow all submission guidelines carefully!

We only accept electronic submissions at this time.

Beginning Febrary 1st: We ask that any writer who has previously published work in blossombones wait one year before submitting again.

We now accept attachments in the form of MS Word / .doc files. If you choose to send an attachment, please put all poems in ONE document and label with your name and the genre (see below). If you prefer, you can also paste your work into the body of the email.

Make our lives easier by including your last name and the genre to which you are submitting within the subject line of the email (i.e. Culbertson: Fiction Submission). Please include a brief cover letter that includes previous publications, how you heard about blossombones, and something interesting about yourself (don't worry, nothing fancy). Contact information must be included within the email, including first and last name, address, and email address. We accept simultaneous submissions, but only if mentioned in your cover letter and only if we are notified as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere. We do not accept previously published work unless solicited. You may submit to multiple genres during a single reading period; however, we do ask that you only send one submission per genre during a single reading period. It gets awfully confusing otherwise, folks!

For more information regarding our editorial tastes, read this.

POETRY: Send all poetry submissions to : susan.blossombones {at} gmail {dot} com

Include the titles of each of your poetry submissions within your cover letter. Please send no more than five poems.

HYBRID: Send all hybrid submissions to : susan.blossombones {at} gmail {dot} com

Include the titles of your hybrid piece(s) within your cover letter. Please send no more than three hybrid pieces (limit 750 words per piece).

FICTION: Send all fiction submissions to : melissa.blossombones {at} gmail {dot} com

Include the titles of each of your fiction submissions within your cover letter. Please send no more than two fiction pieces (limit 1500 words per piece).

CREATIVE NON-FICTION: Send all creative non-fiction submissions submissions to : melissa.blossombones {at} gmail {dot} com

Include the titles of each piece within your cover letter. Please send no more than two creative non-fiction pieces (limit 1500 words per piece).

Response time varies, but expect a response from us within three or four months, at most. If you do not receive a response after four months, please send us an email with your contact information and the titles of the work submitted. Rights revert back to the author upon publication. We ask that blossombones be given acknowledgement if a piece that appeared on our site is published in another work.

A NOTE ABOUT OUR WORD LIMITS: While we've posted some limits we'd like writers to follow as a general rule, please feel free to query about sending longer pieces...we're pretty open minded about submissions and will consider publishing work outside these guidelines if it happens to fit our theme and aesthetic.