SUBS OPEN – DEADLINE: OCT. 15, 11:59PM PT

Submission Guidelines

Please read our guidelines carefully and consider looking at our past issues before submitting your work.

Submission Deadline

The submission window for Issue No. 04 is September 1 – October 15, 2023. 

All work must be submitted by October 15 @ 11:59 p.m. PT.

Issue No. 04 Theme: Fresh Hell

The theme for our fourth issue, Fresh Hell, comes from a famous quotation attributed to wisecracking American satirist Dorothy Parker:

[Parker’s] way of looking at life was incurably pessimistic. Confronted by the unknown, she immediately prepared for the worst. Ordinary occurrences—the doorbell or a ringing telephone—made her wonder “What fresh hell is this?”

Marion Meade, Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? (1988)

The phrase “fresh hell” embodies the intersection of humor and despair in the face of life’s twists and turns. We invite you to respond to this theme by responding to the tumultuous and unpredictable facets of human experience—personal, social, cultural, global, or otherwise.

This might mean delving into intimate encounters with life’s daily challenges. Or dissecting the absurdities of our world, casting a light on its more comically tragic elements. Maybe you have a pessimistic satirical take on life’s inherent chaos. Or perhaps your work explores personal growth our of the depths of fresh hells.

As always, these are merely suggestions to get you thinking about the theme. Indeed, we always appreciate thematic angles we haven’t considered!

Publication Details

Arboreal is published four times per year: February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15.

Submitting Your Work

We only accept submissions via Submittable.

Please submit all writing in .docx files. Work submitted in PDF or other file formats will be declined without review.

We accept unpublished works of poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art.

For us, unpublished means the work has not appeared in an edited online or print publication—including self-published.

This does not include works shared on your personal social media accounts or personal websites. That is, if you have shared the work on Instagram or Twitter or your own portfolio website, etc., we will still consider your submission.

No Artificial Intelligence (AI) Content

We do not accept any writing or visual art that was created—entirely or partially—with AI software.

While we often consider AI and the content created with it fascinating and even impressive, Arboreal is not the venue for such things. Our publication is meant to be an outlet for human creativity only.

Simultaneous Submissions

We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. We value your success, whether that involves our publication or any others.

You do not need to inform us if you are submitting your work to other publications simultaneously. We simply ask that you notify us as soon as possible if your submission(s) will be published elsewhere.

Submission Fees

We do not require a fee to submit your work.

Expedited Response ($)

While no fee is required to submit your work for consideration, you can opt to pay a $3 fee to expedite our response. If you choose to pay this expedited response fee, we will inform you of our decision within 10 business days of submission.

Compensation

As a nascent, self-funded publication, we are unable to offer any form of payment to our contributors at this time. Nor are we able to offer free or discounted print copies to contributors.

We know…it’s not ideal.

That said, we will do everything we can to promote the hell out of your work and your personal brand on social media, email, and any other channels at our disposal.

Our contributors’ success is our success, and vice versa.

Rights

If we select your work for publication, Arboreal will retain worldwide First Serial Rights and worldwide First Electronic Rights.

That is, once your work is published in Arboreal, the copyright immediately reverts to you.

We also reserve the right to keep your work on our website and include it in promotional materials in perpetuity.

You can read the full agreements our selected contributors must eSign before publication here:

Poetry

  • Please limit poetry submissions to 4 poems.
  • We do not accept translations.
  • All poems should be included in a single document, each poem starting on a separate page.
  • Document specifications:
    • Single-spaced
    • Standard, readable typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Georgia)
    • 12pt font

File Name Format

Please use the following format for naming your file:

LastName_FirstName_Poetry.docx

Brooks_Gwendolyn_Poetry.docx

SUBMIT POETRY

Fiction

  • Please limit fiction submissions to a single short story of no more than 4,000 words.
  • We do not accept translations, book excerpts, or plays.
  • Document specifications:
    • Double-spaced
    • Standard, readable typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Georgia)
    • 12pt font

File Name Format

Please use the following format for naming your file:

LastName_FirstName_Title.docx

Kincaid_Jamaica_Girl.docx

SUBMIT FICTION

Nonfiction

  • Please limit nonfiction submissions to a single essay of no more than 4,000 words.
  • We do not accept book reviews or book excerpts.
  • Document specifications:
    • Double-spaced
    • Standard, readable typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Georgia)
    • 12pt font

File Name Format

Please use the following format for naming your file:

LastName_FirstName_Title.docx

Didion_Joan_InBed.docx

SUBMIT NONFICTION

Visual Art

  • Please limit art submissions to 5 images.
  • Images should be high-resolution.
  • Please be sure your images are aligned and cropped properly. That is, if you are submitting a photo of a physical work, it should be flat, aligned, and cropped so no background is visible. For more information, please take a look at this guide on how to digitize artwork.

File Name Format

Please use the following format for naming your files:

LastName_FirstName_Title.jpeg

Klimt_Gustav_TheKiss.jpeg

SUBMIT ART