Copyright © 2010

The Lives You Touch Publications

All rights reserved.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines


  1. 1.Manuscripts must be submitted in print via US mail.  Please include two (2) identical printed copies of your manuscript.  The font color used for all text throughout the manuscript, introduction letter, and biography should be black.  Upon our initial review your manuscript, we may request that you send us a copy of the manuscript as an email attachment.   We can accept .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .cwx, and .pages ‘08 and prior attachments.  The subject line of the email should include your name, the title of the manuscript, and the word MANUSCRIPT.  The electronic and printed manuscripts must be identical.


  3. Please send manuscripts to:


        Address:

        The Lives You Touch Publications

        Attn: Manuscripts

        P.O. Box 276

        Gwynedd Valley, PA  19437-0276


       email:

        publications (at) thelivesyoutouch(dot) com


  1. 2.Please submit manuscripts on standard 8.5 x 11 inch plain white paper in a large manilla envelope.  Authors residing outside of the U.S. may use paper of similar dimensions e.g. A4 paper.  Manuscripts should be formatted to the standards of our chapbook pages.  Manuscripts should not be stapled or bound together by any means.  Manuscripts should be printed single sided only.


  3. The standard formatting for our chapbook poetry pages is:

  4. BulletText should be formatted in Georgia or Times Roman 10 point regular font

  5. BulletPoem titles should be 12 point bold font, up to 38 characters in length, including spaces.  Please do not title your poems with all capital letters.  Titles may be all italics or may include italics.

  6. BulletEpigraphs and the like are printed in a 9 point italics font.

  7. BulletPoem lines up to 45 characters in length per line, including spaces.

  8. BulletChapbook pages consist of a maximum length of 45 lines.  Consequently, poems should not exceed 90 lines, (2 pages), including the title and white space, (blank lines).

  9. BulletPoem strophes should be separated by one (1) line space only.

  10. BulletFor poems greater than 45 lines, please indicate your preferred page break.

  11. BulletPoems should be one per page, left margin justified, unless the poem lines are centered.

  12. BulletQuotes should be indicated using standard English quotation formatting or as italics.

  13. BulletUniquely formatted poems should be printed as you intend but should also be followed by an instruction page that specifically defines the special formatting required.


  15. The standard formatting for our chapbook prose pages is:

  16. BulletText should be formatted in Georgia or Times Roman 10 point regular font.

  17. BulletProse titles should be 12 point bold font, up to 38 characters in length, including spaces.  Please do not title your prose with all capital letters.  Titles may be all italics or may include italics.

  18. BulletProse lines up to 45 characters in length per line, including spaces.

  19. BulletChapbook pages consist of a maximum length of 45 lines.  Consequently, prose should not exceed 32 chapbook pages of 405 words per page, (roughly 12,500 words) including the title, subtitles, and white space, (blank lines).

  20. BulletProse paragraphs strophes should be separated by one (1) line space only and should not be indented.

  21. BulletProse paragraphs should be left margin justified.

  22. BulletQuotes should be indicated using standard English quotation formatting or as italics.

  23. BulletUniquely formatted prose should be printed as you intend but should also be followed by an instruction page that specifically defines the special formatting required.


  25. 3.There should be a single space between the title and the first line of the poem or prose paragraph unless the title has a subtitle, dedication, or any other line that precedes the body of the poem.  Subtitles should be formatted in 8 point font, e. g.:


        Look out

               for Justin


        A sigh.

        Friend are you there?

        Have too many years passed?

        Forgive my time away. I’ve brought

        My son.


  1. 4.The first page of each copy of the manuscript should be the title page.  This includes the title of the manuscript, your name as you would like it to appear throughout the chapbook, your USPS mailing address, your contact telephone number and email address.  Each page after the title page of the manuscript should contain a header that includes the title of the chapbook on the left, your name in the center, and the manuscript page number on the right.  The second page of the manuscript should be the Table of Contents.


  1. 5.An Acknowledgments page must follow the Table of Contents.  This page identifies any poems or prose in your manuscript that were previously published, the name of the publication each poem was published in, the publication issue number or month, and the page number.


  1. 6.Please include two (2) copies of an introduction letter in addition to your manuscript that relates any information that you feel will help us to understand your writing and the motivation/inspiration for your poetry or work.  Please also include two (2) copies of a biography to be used in composing the author information of the chapbook.


  1. 7.Poetry manuscripts should contain poems of a similar theme, e. g. love, death, the environment, social issues, (this is just an example, not specifically what we are looking for).  Manuscripts should not include an eclectic assortment of poems on varied topics or themes.  While manuscripts do not have to follow the theme of Touch: The Journal of Healing, The Lives You Touch Publications promotes authors who write of growth, inspiration, and the search for truth and meaning in the human experience.


  1. Prose manuscripts do not have to follow the theme of Touch: The Journal of Healing, but The Lives You Touch Publications promotes authors who write of growth, inspiration, and the search for truth and meaning in the human experience.


  1. 8.Poetry manuscripts should contain between 30 and 40 poems from which we will select a group of 20 poems that we believe will read well together.  We will not read manuscripts that contain more than 40 poems.


  1. Prose manuscripts should contain a total combined word count not in excess of 12,500 words or 32 pages at 405 words per page, whichever is less.


  1. 9.We do not provide critiques of manuscripts submitted to us.


  1. 10.Poetry manuscripts should contain a majority of previously unpublished poems, but a certain number of previously published poems is encouraged.  A ratio of 3:1 unpublished/published poems is ideal, but a ratio of up to 2:1 may work as well, particularly if the poems have not been recently published.


  1. Prose manuscripts should contain no previously published work.


  1. 11.Submission of manuscripts, whether by invitation or in response to an open call for submissions, is not a guarantee of acceptance for publication by The Lives You Touch Publications.


  1. 12.We do not provide critiques of manuscripts submitted to us.


  1. 13.We base our decision to accept a manuscript for publication on many factors.  We endeavor to reply to an author with our decision within three (3) months from the date of receipt of a manuscript.  Inquiries as to the status of a manuscript, other than verification of receipt, should not be addressed to us until after this period of time.


  1. 14.Manuscripts received outside of our reading period will be discarded or marked “Return To Sender” for return at the senders expense via the USPS at the discretion of The Lives You Touch Publications.












Amended 2/1/10

Amended 1/6/10

The Lives You Touch Publications 2010 - 2011 Chapbook Series manuscript submissions period closed on February 27, 2010.