Free State Review is the print literary journal of the nonprofit book publisher Galileo Press. Each 90 to 110 page issue offers varied amounts of poetry and prose, and a few recurring beats such as our Remembering portfolio, one minute plays, and book reviews and author doings written as poems. 

We want to publish every submission sent to us, and fail at this effort 93 % of the time. Here's how you can help: be literal, transitive, and associative all at once. Think and feel harmony more than melody. Be genuine. Read your piece aloud before sending it. We favor endings that don't shut down the poem or story. Yes, we like strong and textured characters, but not ones who are living in a 'character-driven' piece blithely overwhelming the plot they find themselves in. Try to swim without drowning. Our style creed: totally limited omniscience.

Experimentalists: if you want to push the reader away, go ahead, but remember to do something generous and honest to invite her back. Poets: you don't have to die to write a poem about death. Strange is not always better. Simple and clear are not always memorable. Imagination or experience? Hmmm. Try taking this way, smells of seawater. Or that way, has metal parts, or this way, pools.

The goal of our 'current issue with feedback options' isn't to teach you how to write. You've already mastered that. Often it's just a process of synching your beats with ours. An issue is worth a thousand words. We'll be as clear as possible with a sample copy and a few notes to settle your writing into what we're looking for.