Welcome to submissions for Under the Gum Tree, a digital + print literary magazine. Please scroll down to submit for the appropriate category. Thank you!
Under the Gum Tree Submission Guidelines
First and foremost, when submitting keep in mind that UTGT publishes creative nonfiction - not poetry, not fiction and not straight journalism. We want your personal stories, your true stories, honestly told without shame. The best life stories reveal universal truths about what it means to be human, all kinds of human.
- Please don’t email with questions until you have familiarized yourself with these guidelines and the details on our submit page. Sorry, but we can’t answer emails that ask us to “please send more information about what you’re looking for.” Also, please don’t email us asking whether we have read your submission or if we’re going to publish it. If we decide to publish your piece, you will hear from us. Promise.
- Under the Gum Tree does not accept queries. Only complete manuscripts sent digitally will be considered. We accept digital submissions only (see below).
- Simultaneous submissions and work previously published on your own blog or website are both okay. We do not want submissions of work that has been previously published by someone other than yourself. Under the Gum Tree contributors retain all the rights to their own work.
- Under the Gum Tree does not compensate contributors yet, but we are working towards it. Please consider buying a digital subscription.
- We are actively seeking work by under-represented writers.
- With the submission fee, you receive the current issue (digital- a $7.99 value!) FREE. The tiny bit extra goes towards sending complimentary print copies to our contributors.
- Do not include any identifying information (name, contact information, email, location, etc.) in the file that you submit. Doing so will mean your submission is automatically declined.
- We generally accept submissions for departments and features year-round, but occasionally close when our plate is too full.
- Your manuscript should be formatted in a standard serif or sans serif font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Garamond, Times New Roman), 12 pt font size, and double-spaced.
- We do not accept unsolicited submissions of artwork/photography.
- Please submit only one piece at a time.
- Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will not be eligible for consideration.
We consider submissions (2,000 words or less) for the following departments:
Flash: Every issue includes a flash feature, which is a short-short piece of creative nonfiction, under 750 words.
Sound Track: Music sets the tone of a gathering. It changes a mood from depressed to uplifted. This department is for stories on interacting with music and how it interacts with us. Is there a specific song, group or artist that has had a significant impact on your life? Have you had a meaningful live-music experience? Are you a musician who also writes about how music affects the human experience?
24 Frames per Second: This department is for stories on film, perhaps one of the more powerful storytelling mediums. Is there a specific film that has changed you in some way—caused you to think differently or see the world from a new perspective? Are you consistently moved by the work of one particular actor or director?
Those Who Wander: Tolkien famously wrote, “Not all those who wander are lost.” And surely, as writers, we are often inspired by our journeys or the travels of others (and we know, some wanderers ARE lost). Whether travels are from one neighborhood to another, one state to another, one country to another; on vacation or a pilgrimage, for family or for work, so many of these changes in our physical locations trigger meaningful reactions in us and the way we view the world around us. This department is for stories about travel and the individual ways moving around this globe affects us.
Stomping Ground: So much of who we are depends on the relationships in our life, blood or otherwise. This department is for stories about family—and we use that term liberally, because isn't the friend you've had since you were 8, almost 9, years old, more like a sister?
Fork and Spoon: Much of life revolves around food. This department is for stories, and even recipes, on how food, cooking, eating and drinking affect life. The dinner table means different things to each of us—it can be a comfortable place that facilitates intimate communion, but to someone else it might be an awkward place of forced conversation. These food interactions shape us more than we know.