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 with works 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.

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

How to Submit Your Work

one submission = email + attached work(s)
(limited to one category: prose, poetry, or art)

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

• Ensure the subject line reads County Lines Submission

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

• Attach your work(s) (see detail below) to the email as a .docx or .doc file(s) (prose or poetry) or a .jpg file(s) (art).

• At the top of your email, please list the following:

  • Your name and the name under which you prefer to be published

  • Your contact information: email address, mailing address, and phone number; and, if applicable, your website

  • The title or titles of your works

  • A bio of no more than 70 words, written in third-person point of view

Detail: The Attached Work(s)

Filenames of your work should include your last name and a shortened title. Examples of submissions by Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Clemens (pen name example), and Leonardo da Vinci (art example):

carroll-poem-jabberwocky.docx
woolf-prose-haunted-house.docx
twain-prose-celebrated-jumping-frog.docx
da-vinci-art-mona-list.jpg

Prose submissions may contain only 1 work of prose of no more than 3,000 words (excluding title).

Poetry submissions may contain up to 3 poems (each in a separate .docx or .doc document) of no more than 30 lines each, excluding title and stanza-separating empty lines. Restated: up to 3 poems, each no longer than 30 lines, each attached as a separate document, to 1 submission email.

Art submissions may contain up to 3 separate .jpg images.

Formatting the content of your work …

• WRITTEN WORKS: Author William Shunn provides an excellent resource that demonstrates standard manuscript formatting: prose and poetry.

• ARTWORK: portrait orientation and high-quality images are best.

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.

All proceeds from the Carolina Prize contest help fund the Carolina Piedmont Writers Guild’s efforts to promote and support the activities and endeavors of the Guild.