Before you submit to Goblin Fruit, there are a few things you might
find useful to know; for instance, the submission guidelines. If any
question you have has not been addressed below, feel free to query at
goblin.fruit[at]gmail[dot]com.
What is it we want?
We want poetry that we can call "of the fantastical", poetry that
treats mythic, surreal, fantasy and folkloric themes, or approaches
other themes in a fantastical way. Re-write a fairytale, ponder an old
story, consider history from an unusual perspective -- really, it's up
to you, so long as the fantastical element is there. Since what
qualifies as "the fantastical" is easily debatable, however, here's
what we're not interested in: science fiction poetry (it's not you,
it's us), horror for horror's sake, and poetry that's self-consciously
gothic.
We have no prejudice against traditional poetic forms, rhyme, or
meter. We'd like to stay that way, so please let the form serve the
poem, not the other way around. Prose poems will be harder to sell,
mainly because so many of them straddle the flash fiction line.
How much do we pay?
We pay a flat rate of $5.00 USD on publication for original,
unpublished poems, and $2.50 for solicited reprints. If you'd like to
submit a poem that has been published elsewhere, please query first
with the poem's title, where it was originally published and when. We
purchase first North American serial rights and first Worldwide
Electronic rights for three months; after that rights revert to the
author, although we do request permission to keep the poem in our
archives indefinitely.
When can I submit?
We are accepting submissions during the following times:
April 1st - June 1st
July 1st - September 1st
October 1st - December 1st
January 1st - March 3rd
How can I submit?
Send an e-mail to goblin.fruit[at]gmail[dot]com with your name,
address and the title of your poem. Please put "Poetry Submission" in
the subject line, followed by your poem title. No cover letter or bio
is necessary, but we do appreciate a hello, and won't bite until
thoroughly riled. Include your poem in the body of the e-mail, in plain
text, indicating italics _like this_. We accept up to five submissions
from an author per reading period and no more than three submissions
per e-mail. Simultaneous submissions are okay, as long as you let us
know you've submitted the work somewhere else as well, and give us a
shout if it's accepted before we get back to you.
We try to keep our turn-around time as low as possible. If you haven't
heard back from us within four weeks, please query, as e-mails are
occasionally persnickety creatures with a tendency to go astray.
There are more important things to know about this whole submission thing?
Yes.
If your e-mail address will only accept replies a list of approved senders, approve us in advance; you have our e-mail address. We should not have to request the ability to reply in order to respond to your submission.
When you resubmit, as we hope you will, open up an entirely new message and begin the submission process afresh. Do not reply to our reply with another submission.
