November 26, 2019

Schaffner Press: Open to Manuscript Queries

Schaffner is an established press with distribution through IPG. They publish literary fiction, short fiction collections, and crime fiction. They also publish a wide variety of non-fiction including memoir, autobiography, biography, journalistic expose or narrative, true crime, art, culture, pop culture, world history, current events, science, and music. Schaffner Press is owned and managed by…

Monday Night: Now Seeking Submissions

Monday Night is an established online annual focused on publishing writing by emerging authors passed over by mainstream outlets. They’ve been publishing poetry and prose online since 2001. And, they published a print journal until 2014, which is archived in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions such as the New York Public Library. The best…

The Writing Habit I Needed the Most

By Nicole Pyles Call me a bit of a Goldilocks when it comes to writing habits. I’ve tried the word-count-a-day habit, but sometimes I don’t have 500 words in me (or whichever word count a day I’ve decided upon). I’ve tried the 20-minute-a-day habit, but this results in me looking for excuses to not give…

Author Platforms: One Size Does Not Fit All

An “author platform” is your position as a writer, not just in terms of social media, but in terms of real-life connections and associations. More publishers and agents are asking for writers to talk about their author platforms as part of the query letter, and more small presses and agents are approaching authors that already…

November 25, 2019

17 Specialized Manuscript Publishers that Accept Direct Submissions

All of the presses on this list meet all of our guiding principles, but most of them have such a specific focus that we cannot justify writing a full review and sending it to our full list of subscribers. But they are still good publishers. Instead, we have compiled this list of mini reviews. I have…

November 21, 2019

Three Rooms Press: Open to Submissions

Updated March 7th, 2024 Three Rooms Press is an independent press that is inspired by “Diversity, Dada, Punk, and Passion”. They were founded in 1994. They have good distribution and I’ve encountered their books in libraries and bookstores. You can learn more about their history here. They stress that. “Our press is inspired by diversity,…

Lines + Stars: Now Seeking Submissions

An established online literary journal and small press, Lines + Stars was launched in 2006 as a creative outlet for Washington DC. Now housed in both DC and Baltimore, Maryland, Lines + Stars has expanded to include work from national and international authors. They publish poetry and short fiction of all varieties by both emerging…

Writing Partnerships: When Two Heads are Better Than One

By John Dorroh   In the spring of 2014 I found myself at the post-funeral party for a friend’s husband. He was a member of a local band, well loved, and had a great sense of humor. He told his wife to throw a party in his honor a week after he was buried. I…

November 18, 2019

25 Magazines Seeking Book Reviews

These magazines/websites accept book reviews on a variety of topics and genres. Apart from reviews, most of them also accept work in other genres, like fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Many pay writers, from token to pro rates. None charge a submission fee, or they have fee-free options. Here they are, in no particular order. The…

November 14, 2019

CLASH Books: Now Open to Manuscript Submissions

CLASH Books started in 2015, they also publish CLASH Magazine. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. CLASH Books is a small press but they attend major conferences like AWP and they host readings. They also offer wholesale discounts and they have provisional distribution via Ingram Spark. Their submission guidelines are very bare-bones and are as…

Mythridate Magazine: Now Seeking Submissions

A brand-new independent print journal, Mythridate is “an indie magazine for neo-romantics.” With a longing for nostalgic beauty, Mythridate curates a collection of writing to satisfy today’s antique-loving artist. Mythridate is an aesthetically pleasing, full-color print journal. They publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Now through December 1st, Mythridate is seeking submissions for their…

How to Know If You Are Really a Writer

They say that everyone has at least one good book in them. Does that make you a writer? Or is it more than that? Is it something you decide to be, something you learn to be, or something you have always been whether you liked it or not? The following statements are what I believe…

How to Engage Your Readers By Editing for Who, What, Where, When Why, & How

By Wendy S. Delmater As a writer you want your readers fully immersed in your world, as seen through the eyes of a character that they fully identify with. The last, the very last thing you want to do is break the suspension of disbelief.  In this final entry in a series of articles, I’ve…

November 11, 2019

How to Read like a Published Author

I was a reader long before I was a writer. As a child, I fell in love with books like The Balloon Tree, A Wrinkle in Time and Ramona Quimby, Age 8.  That love of books has never left me. When I was a teenager I remember being shocked by the fact that most of…

November 7, 2019

Encircle Publications: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Encircle Publications is a small press that focuses primarily on publishing mainstream fiction and mystery novels. But they also publish some other genres including poetry. They’ve only been around since 2016, but they’ve published a fair number of books at this point. They started out only publishing mystery novels, but one of the owners is…