March 30, 2020

Emergency Funds for Writers

These are 16 emergency funds for writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, and for translators, freelance writers and journalists. Most have geographic restrictions; many are for US writers or creators, and a few don’t specify if there are any citizenship or residency requirements. Some have deadlines, some are on an ongoing basis, and a few…

March 26, 2020

Inanna: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Inanna Publications and Education Inc is a Canadian feminist press that was founded in 1978 and is open to international submissions, they publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and essay collections. Some of what they publish is academic, but much of what they publish is not. If you are curious as to how they define the…

Dark Sire: Now Seeking Submissions

A new online and print quarterly of fantasy, gothic horror, and psychological realism, Dark Sire is seeking poetry and short fiction for their fourth issue. Dark Sire doesn’t shy away from taboo topics; instead, they actively promote uncensored dark writing by both emerging and established authors. To get a sense of their style, you can…

Tips for Being a Writer During the Health Crisis

By Brandie June I won’t lie, the world is a bit of a scary place right now. Anytime I turn on the news or go to the store, I’m reminded that there is a big health crisis that we all have to deal with right now, and it means a lot of changes. Over just…

March 23, 2020

31 Manuscript Publishers with Geographic Restrictions

All of the presses on this list meet all but one of our guiding principles. All of these presses only accept work from writers with a specific geographic region or nationality. Because of that, we have never reviewed these presses, but they are still good presses. This is our update of the initial list, which…

The Importance of Reading Debut Novels

A debut novel is the first novel published by a writer. When one is attempting to find an agent and publisher for their own first novel, it is very important to read debut novels by other writers to see what is being published now. Older, established novelists like Margret Atwood and John Irving are going…

March 19, 2020

Open Books: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

UPDATED August 14th, 2023, We’ve since had reader feedback that Open Books has been having long, often confusing or misleading exchanges with authors in terms of potentially acquiring books, without going into details about what their contract involves. UPDATED MARCH 19TH, 12:30 pm: We just received feedback from an anonymous source that this publisher requires…

Yellow Arrow Journal: Now Seeking Submissions

Yellow Arrow is a nontraditional publisher producing a hand-bound journal of poetry, creative nonfiction, and book reviews written by authors who identify as women. They see creativity as an act of service and a path toward communal empathy. With that in mind, they aim to spotlight and inspire underrepresented authors. They encourage authors who identify…

The Importance of Trope Awareness

Over the last decade, the word trope has come to be used to describe commonly recurring motifs, clichés, and rhetorical devices in a wide range of creative works. Once you become aware of tropes, and how they’re used (and misused), they can become a useful tool in your writer’s toolkit. Tropes: in characters and stories…

March 16, 2020

30 Non-Fiction Publishers Open to Direct Submissions

The following publishers all focus on publishing non-fiction books. Most focus in on one or two aspect of non-fiction, such as history books, memoir, or cookbooks. Some are more broad in their interests. All of them are open to unsolicited submissions directly from authors. No agent required. Almost all of these publishers open to proposals,…