At CentraLit, we are focused on the small towns of Southern/Central Illinois. If you are an artist who lives in or grew up around the cornfields or had to explain where your hometown is by how far away from St. Louis it sits, this may be the magazine for you!
CentraLit accepts submissions on a rolling basis. We may occasionally put out a targeted prompt or contest, but we are always open to anything written by people with ties to Illinois or stories about our beloved home state.
We accept poetry, fiction, personal essays, and artwork that has not been previously published. All accepted work will be published online, and will be considered for publication in our annual print issue. If you have questions regarding submitting, please click the hyperlink to view Lauren’s helpful guide Submitting Your Work For Publication: Do’s and Don’t’s, or email centralitmag@yahoo.com.
When sending your submission, please email it to centralitmag@yahoo.com with subject line “SUBMISSION – [YOUR NAME]” to prevent it getting lost. Please include a cover letter in the body of your email.
Please review the following guidelines prior to submitting your work.
Poetry Guidelines
No more than 5 poems per submissions. We are open to serial work, please note if work is part of a series and we may ask for the remaining pieces upon approval.
Please send all poems as a single .docx or .pdf file
Flash Fiction Guidelines
Max 750 words
Do not submit more than 2 flash fiction pieces at a time
Please send all flash fiction pieces as a single .docx or .pdf file
Artwork/Photography Guidelines
Please submit only original artwork in its final form with a high quality image file
Include the title of the work, your name, media used, or other notes as applicable as part of your cover letter
Fiction Guidelines
Max 3000 words
Do not submit more than 2 stories at a time
Please send all submissions as separate .docx or .pdf files
Personal Essay Guidelines
Max 2500 words
Do not submit more than 2 essays at a time. We do consider serial work. Please note if works are part of a series and more may be requested upon approval.
Please send all essay submissions as separate .docx or .pdf files
By submitting your work to us, you are granting us the first rights to release your work; please include in your submission if you are submitting simultaneously, and let us know if you are accepted elsewhere. While you retain the rights to your work, we reserve the right to share all pieces accepted for publication, in order to promote them and the magazine.
CentraLit 