County Lines
A Literary Journal

[These rules and guidelines can also be downloaded as a PDF here.]

County Lines: a Literary Journal is published annually by the Carolina Piedmont Writers Guild, showcasing a curated collection of the finest poetry, prose, and interior art/photography by creators of all ages from all over North Carolina Piedmont, the United States, and beyond.

Writers, poets, and artists whose works are accepted for publication will receive one complimentary copy of the journal.

General Restrictions

• Submitters can be of any age or from any location worldwide.

• All works must be your own, original creations.

• NO AI-generated prose, poetry, or art will be considered.

• Work may not contain erotica, violence, hate, political editorial, or excessive profanity.

Specific Restrictions

Prose

• Prose submissions must be 3,000 words or fewer (excluding title, byline, and word-count.)

• Include your title, name, publication/marketing/pen name (if applicable) and word-count at the top of your document.

• Prose may be fiction, non-fiction, memoir, or essay.

• Prose submissions may be formatted as .docx, .doc, or .odt documents.
  We are unable to accept any other file formats.

• Each prose piece must be submitted as a separate document.

Poetry

• Poetry submissions must be 30 lines or fewer (excluding title, byline, and line-count.)

• Include your title, name, publication/marketing/pen name (if applicable) and line-count at the top of your document.

• Poetry submissions may be formatted as .docx, .doc, or .odt documents.
  We are unable to accept any other file formats.

• Each poem must be submitted as a separate document.

Interior Artwork

• Artwork submissions may be formatted as .jpg, .jpeg, or .png images.
  We are unable to accept any other file formats.

• Artwork submissions may be photographs, or scans of your original paintings, collages, quilting squares, sculptures, woodwork projects, etc.

• To ensure printability, please send the highest-resolution version of your images

How to Submit Your Work

1. 1. 1. Compose an email with the following:

         1. • Your name

            • The name under which you prefer to be published (if applicable)

            • The title(s) of the works you are submitting

            • Your phone number

            • Your mailing address

            • Your email address

            • A short bio (no more than 70 words) written in the third-person point of view

      2. Attach your work to the email:

         1. • You may attach ONE piece of prose per email.

            • You may attach UP TO three poems (each as a separate document) per email.

            • You may attach UP TO three pieces of artwork per email.

      3. Ensure the subject line reads County Lines Submission

      4. Email your submission to CPWG.CountyLines@gmail.com

      5. Multiple submissions (via a separate email for each) are permitted.

Hints and Tips

Literary editors and judges tend to view prose and poetry submissions more favorably when they are properly formatted—mainly because this makes them easier to read, and judges have to read a lot of submissions. To this end, please …

• keep in mind that it is considered most professional to format prose in a 12-point serif font (such as Garamond or Times New Roman) with lines double-spaced. Poetry should be single-spaced, but should still be presented in a 12-point serif font.

• consider filenames of your work that include your last name and a shortened title. Examples of poetry and prose submitted by Lewis Carroll (carroll-poem-jabberwocky.docx), Virginia Woolf (woolf-prose-haunted-house.docx), Samuel Clemens (pen name example, twain-prose-celebrated-jumping-frog.docx), and Leonardo da Vinci (art example, da-vinci-art-mona-list.jpg).

• consider following a standard format for your manuscript. Author William Shunn provides an excellent resource that demonstrates standard manuscript formatting: prose and poetry.  (NOTE: Shunn's example combines poems in one document. Our submissions process requires each poem to be a separate document.)

Please be aware that images, if accepted, will be printed in the interior of the book and therefore will appear in black-and-white. Images may also be cropped (if necessary) to fit on a portrait-oriented page. Therefore, high-contrast images or images already in portrait orientation are most likely to be accepted.

Rights

By submitting a work for consideration, you implicitly grant one-time publication rights to the Carolina Piedmont Writers Guild in the event the work is accepted for inclusion.