The Appalachia Book Company is a non-profit literary publisher and media company dedicated to empowering the voices of central Appalachia. We seek to preserve and promote the rich literary history of our region and to discover and provide opportunities to emerging writers. We publish a chapbook series called Made in Appalachia along with special projects.
We look for writers who hail from central Appalachia, the Appalachia subregion as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission. This subregion includes parts of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. The area is remote, mountainous, and traditionally associated with the coal mining industry.
We also encourage writers with stories based in central Appalachia to submit.
We embrace our local dialect. We won't stumble over phrases like "If you don't care to" or "I'd reckon" or "rurnt." If you have a story with mamaws and papaws settin' under a paw paw tree, we get it. That said, we do not ask our writers to perform their Appalachian heritage. There is no Appalachian identity or subject matter that we are specifically looking for.
We pay our writers and publish in print.
Appalachia Book Company, in partnership with Muskingham County Arts Council, is accepting submissions from writers with connections to Appalachian Ohio for our Made In Appalachia series. We believe the Ohio side of Appalachia is too often left out of the literary conversation about this region, and we're looking to change that.
About the Series
Made In Appalachia is a prose chapbook series from Appalachia Book Company dedicated to short-form nonfiction and fiction rooted in the landscapes, communities, and lived experiences of the Appalachian region. We publish voice-driven work that is specific, honest, and alive on the page — writing that knows its place without having to announce it.
You don't need to write about Appalachia. You just need to write from it.
What We're Looking For
We publish prose chapbooks of 3,000–15,000 words. We welcome:
- Personal essays and creative nonfiction
- Short fiction and flash fiction collections
- Hybrid and experimental prose
We're drawn to work that is grounded in place without being nostalgic, that holds complexity without explaining it away, and that trusts the reader. We are not looking for work that exoticizes or speaks about Appalachian communities from the outside.
Submission Guidelines
- Manuscripts should be 5,000–15,000 words
- Submit as a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file
- Include a brief statement with your connection to Appalachian Ohio
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome; please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere
- Previously unpublished work only
- Reading period: June 23 – August 15, 2026
- No submission fee
A word on voice: Writers do not need to perform regional identity on the page. Authentic connection shows in the details, not the declaration.