Blood Tree Literature is dedicated to showcasing evocative writing that takes linguistic risks  to push the boundaries of conventional language and genre. We favor lyrical pieces that do not withhold depth or resonance. With that in mind, submit to us your best, the box under your bed marked UNSHARABLE, the orphan poem or black sheep fiction. Send us your experimentals; be vulnerable, be calculated. 

We publish issues online twice a year, in summer and winter, including a yearly themed contest. Our Issue 17 themed contest is... to be revealed in March!

General Guidelines:

• Maximum word count per piece: 2500. We like to keep it flash-y.
• Maximum pieces of fiction per submission: 1
• Maximum pieces of nonfiction per submission: 1
• Maximum amount of poems per submission: 3
• Maximum amount of hybrid pieces per submission: 3
• Abusive or derogatory submissions are not allowed — not now, not ever. BTL is a pro-choice, trans-inclusive, anti-racist publication. AI-generated works are strictly prohibited. You will be asked to include any relevant trigger warnings in the cover letter of your submission.
• Mixed-media submissions or pieces that include images/audiovisual elements must be fully owned by the submitting author; pieces utilizing unlicensed images/audiovisual elements will be rejected for copyright liability.
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed under the condition that you withdraw your work immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
• Please do not submit more than once per genre until you’ve heard back on your pending submission. If you have not received a response on your submission within three months, please query us via email to bloodtreelit@yahoo.com.
• We do not read manuscripts or translations at this time, and currently only read works written in English. We only read reprints if the piece(s) were previously published in a now-defunct publication — please indicate in your submission if that is the case and attribute the publication of first appearance.

Per piece accepted, we pay $10 for poetry, $15 for fiction and nonfiction, and $20 for hybrid pieces; all are in USD and processed through PayPal. Published work is also eligible to be nominated for annual awards like Best of the Net, the Pushcart Prize, and more.

Contributors release one-time electronic rights of their accepted piece(s) to Blood Tree Literature and  the right to electronically archive the work as a part of the issue in  which it first appeared. Contributors retain copyright for their  accepted work and may publish that work elsewhere after six months has  passed since the BTL publication date. View a sample acceptance agreement on our website's Submissions page.

Regarding Contributor Books:

If applicable, in your submission you may also include information for  your recently published book with a link to where it can be purchased. Should your submitted piece(s) be accepted, we will include the provided book on our  Contributor Books page. Likewise, if you are a previous contributor to BTL, you can notify us of new book publications for inclusion via our email: bloodtreelit@yahoo.com.

If you’d like to submit a review of a BTL Contributor Book, please find those specific guidelines in the Book Reviews submissions category below. There is no fee to submit Contributor Book Reviews. We offer a $15 USD honorarium for reviews accepted for publication.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR SUBMISSIONS OF MULTIPLE PIECES:

If you would like to withdraw only a single piece or portion of your submission of multiple pieces, please send a message through Submittable and/or email us at bloodtreelit@yahoo.com to do so. Do NOT mark your entire submission as Withdrawn unless every included piece has become unavailable, or else we will miss out on the pieces you still want us to consider!