Submission Guidelines
The CommonLine Project accepts unsolicited submissions on a rolling basis. The guidelines are simple. If you feel like you don’t need to read this entire page, please do not submit.
Open to Submissions: February 1st - Dec 15th
Spring Deadline: (Closed) March 15th for publication: April 1st
Summer Deadline: (Closed) June 15th for publication: July st
Autumn Deadline: September 15th for publication: October 1st
Winter Deadline: December 15th for publication: January 4th
Hiatus: December 15th - February 1st
1. Send poetry (no more than three in the body of an e-mail). If you've conducted an interesting interview, would like to suggest someone for an interview, or just have an idea for our interview section - we would like to hear about it. We accept simultaneous submissions but must be notified if accepted elsewhere. The CommonLine Project also considers previously published work but please tell us where the work was originally published so we can give credit.
2. The CommonLine Project only accepts electronic submissions. We do not open attachments. Please paste all submissions in the body of an e-mail. Submissions with attachments will be unopened and deleted. Include a short bio (100 words or less) if you wish.
3. Please title your submission appropriately in the subject line (Example: “Poetry Submission - John Smith”, or "Interview Submission - John Smith").
4. We respond to all appropriately formatted submissions. The Project does not give personal criticism and/or explanations on all submissions. Response time varies but is never more than 3 months. If you do not hear from us within 3 months it's safe to assume we've passed on your work. Please do not query us to ask the status of your submission.
About Editing
We lightly edit some submissions. Editors assume that you expect your writing to be edited. If you wish to approve of edits before publication please say so in your submission, otherwise we will freely edit your work. If we ever need to edit writing heavily we will contact the writer first.
About Formatting
If the content of your work relies on special formatting we will make our best effort to accommodate it. However, HTML is a blunt instrument and some or all of it may be lost.
A Couple Notes, About a Few Things
Everyone writes poetry. And yes, everyone means everyone. If you can’t figure out what that means, it means that we receive a lot of writing that doesn't fit our needs. That we get a lot of what is called "blind submissions" and that we read a lot of poems about pets. So the point is, send us something different, raw, interesting and new. That is what we are after, not to mention, that is what you are after; if these things seem “crazy” to you, do not submit. Also, poetry who's subject matter centers on the experience, or day to day lives of working people or the working poor in a fashion that the common person can understand will be given priority. Please note that we also have a proclivity for shorter poems.
6. Direct all submissions / hate mail here: Common-line@hotmail.com.
