Submission Opportunities
Poetry Chapbooks
Chapbook Open Call Submission Guidelines
Charlotte Lit Press welcomes submissions of poetry chapbook manuscripts from writers of all backgrounds to be considered for publication in our chapbook series. We’re open to a broad range of styles—lyric, narrative, formal, and prose poetry, as well as hybrid forms such as haibun. We appreciate manuscripts that tend a topical or thematic thread and contain rich layers of meaning, along with evocative imagery, finely tuned sonics, well-managed associative leaps, and clarity of thought. And we agree heartily with poet Molly Peacock, who writes in her craft book How to Read a Poem and Start a Poetry Circle:
Poetry is really the fusion of three arts: music, storytelling, and painting. The line displays the poem’s music, the sentence displays its thoughts, and the image displays the vision of the poet.
Publication and Promotion Details
- Submissions via Submittable only from April 1–30, 2026, or until we reach our submissions cap.
- Open to current U.S. residents and U.S. citizens living abroad, age 18 and over.
- We plan to publish two or more manuscripts from the spring reading period for publication in late 2026. We reserve the right to publisher fewer or no manuscripts this year, if the submissions we receive are not a good fit for Charlotte Lit Press.
- We’ll respond to each submission no later than September 1, 2026.
- Authors of selected manuscripts will receive a publication contract outlining rights, royalties, and our editing and publication preparation process. Authors will receive five free author copies and can purchase additional copies at 50 percent of the cover price.
- Selected manuscripts will be published in a 5.5” by 8.5” perfect-bound format; authors will have the opportunity to collaborate on cover design.
- Charlotte Lit will promote its Charlotte Lit Press publications via weekly newsletters and social media. Chapbook authors may be invited to read from their collections at a group reading event.
Submittable Submission Guidelines
We accept entries only via our Submittable page, which goes live when the submission period is open.
After filling out the title field, you’ll upload two documents:
1. An unpublished manuscript (individual poems may have been previously published in journals or anthologies) of 18-36 pages of poems with name and other identifying information removed (though this is not a contest, our first reading and selection rounds will be anonymous) in either pdf, doc, or docx format.
- Use a standard readable font in 12pt. type; single or 1.15-line spacing; double spacing between stanzas
- Title on first page, followed by a Table of Contents page listing poems in order, with page numbers. When artistically relevant, you may also include a 1–2-page Notes section at end of manuscript.
- Start each poem at the top of a new page. (For multi-page poems, please mark stanza break/no stanza break as necessary for clarity.) All pages should be numbered.
- Manuscripts should be written primarily in English.
- No translations except those of author’s own work.
2. A standard cover letter, including your bio, contact information, and acknowledgment of journals in which individual poems from your manuscript appear. (This document won’t be seen until after the selection committee’s first round of reading.)
Simultaneous submissions acceptable, but please notify us immediately using Submittable’s “Withdraw” feature if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
A submission fee of $10 is payable through Submittable. Waivers available for anyone who cannot afford the submission fee.
Questions? Please contact Kathie Collins: editor@charlottelit.org.
Litmosphere: Journal of Charlotte Lit
Charlotte Lit Press showcases poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art in Litmosphere: Journal of Charlotte Lit, a semi-annual, open-submission, paying publication. All work must be submitted through Charlotte Lit’s Submittable page during the month of January (for our Spring issue) or July (for our Fall issue). Note that we close at 300 submissions, and usually reach that well before the end of the month. For full guidelines and the submission link, visit our Litmosphere site.
