Articles by Emily Harstone

Emily Harstone is the pen name of a published writer. Her work has been published in ten countries, four continents, by over fifty different journals. She is a professional submissions adviser and editor. If she owned a dog it would be named Wystan.

A Quick Start Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Publishing

Writing for children and young adults is very different than writing for adults. Audience expectations are different. Picture books, for example, have completely different sub-genres than adult books. Whereas adult books have genres like science fiction and fantasy, picture books have sub-genres like fairy tale, alphabet, and bedtime books. There is a whole body of…
Special Issue Themed Calls for Submissions

Ten Manuscript Publishers Open to Submissions in April 2026

This list focuses on ten publishers that we are excited about that are open to submissions this month. Some are only open for a short period of time, others will be open the whole month and beyond. At least four of these are presses we have not covered previously. Please note that if a publisher…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Manuscript Publishers

Grendel Press

Grendel Press’s tagline is that they are “dedicated to publishing the finest works in dark fantasy, horror, and dark romance”. You can learn more about the press here. They are named after the antagonist in Beowulf. They say “By choosing this name, we pay homage to the complexity of Grendel’s character and the questions his…
Fantasy Horror Romance

Affinity Rainbow Publications

This small press focuses on publishing lesbian and women’s fiction, mostly within the context of the romance genre. They do not publish work outside of these genres. They publish in two formats: eBooks and print on demand. You can go to their shop to see how many books they’ve published over the years, but the…
Manuscript Publishers Romance Women's Fiction

Modern Artist Press

This small Northern Virginia based press was founded in 2023. The press makes it clear that they are women owned and are committed to amplifying the work of writers and artists who are “women, nonbinary; Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/x, Arab, Asian; LGBTQ+; neurodivergent, disabled; multinational, multicultural, multidisciplinary; and those defining and redefining their identities”. They state,…
Literary Fiction Manuscript Publishers

27 Literary Fiction Publishers that Accept Direct Submissions – No Agent Required

Literary fiction is one of the harder genres to get published in without an agent. There are smaller presses that specialize in it, but unfortunately more and more of those presses are now charging reading fees. However, there are still good options for authors who are unagented and averse to paying reading fees. The manuscript…
Special Issue

42 Publishers that Accept Direct Submissions of Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction is generally defined as a genre of fiction where the setting is not in the world as we know it because of supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. Three genres are covered by this umbrella term: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. This term is also used to cover work that doesn’t fit exactly in…
Special Issue

84 Specialized Manuscript Publishers Open to Submissions

All of the presses on this list meet all of our guiding principles, but some of them have such a specific focus that we cannot justify writing a full review and sending it to our full list of subscribers. Some of them we have full reviews on. There is no particular organization to this list….
Special Issue

Ten Manuscript Publishers Open to Submissions in March 2026

This list focuses on ten publishers that we are excited about that are open to submissions this month. Some are only open for a short period of time, others will be open the whole month and beyond. At least four of these are presses we have not covered previously.  Please note that if a publisher…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Six Manuscript Publishers

The Martello: Now Seeking Submissions

This Dublin-based literary journal is open to submissions through the 16th of March. They state their goal on their home page as: “We aim to collect and protect the works of artists, from Ireland and beyond.” You can get a good feel for what they publish by reading their most recent issue here. They publish…
Fiction Flash Issue Six Hundred Sixty Six Literary Journals Poetry Print

Cool Springs Press: Open to Manuscript Submissions

Cool Springs Press was founded in Nashville more than 30 years ago. They initially only focused on gardening in Tennessee and the region surrounding it. However they were successful and started to expand even before they were acquired by The Quarto Publishing Group. Quarto incorporated its existing line of DIY focused book into Cool Springs…
Completely ready unscheduled article Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

White City Press: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

White City Press is focused on publishing mysteries across a range of sub-genres. They are currently open to cross-genre mysteries (for example scifi/mystery) as long as mystery is the key element. They are also open to mysteries aimed at young adult and new adult readers, as well as mysteries with protagonists over the age of…
Completely ready unscheduled article Manuscript Publishers Mystery

Harlequin Romantic Suspense: Open to Manuscript Submissions

Harlequin Romantic Suspense is an imprint of Harlequin Romance, which is an imprint of Harper Collins. We have also reviewed a number of their other imprints previously, including Afterglow Books, Carina Press, Mills & Boon, Love Inspired & Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Historical, Harlequin Heartwarming, Harlequin Medical Romance, and Harlequin Intrigue. All of the different…
Manuscript Publishers Mystery Romance Westerns

Lit Fox Books: Open to Manuscript Submissions

Lit Fox Books is a small, Austin-based press founded by Lisa Mottolo. They do offer editing services on poetry manuscripts only. You can learn more about that here. I do know how important and hard it is to fund a small press, and I’m glad they are trying to find meaningful ways to do that…
Manuscript Publishers Memoir Non Fiction

Marble Press: Accepting Manuscript Queries

Marble Press was founded in 2022. It started out with two imprints — Marble Books, which focuses on picture books and middle grade books, and Bulooga Books, which publishes books for “our youngest readers”. In 2026, Marble Press expanded its list with the launch of Taltos Books, an imprint born from its acquisition of CamCat…
Children's Books Manuscript Publishers Translated work

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