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.

24 Respected Literary Journals and Magazines

The literary journals and magazines on this list reject the vast majority of what is submitted to them. Sometimes established authors’ works are rejected for years, decades even, before they receive an acceptance. But these literary journals are respected and trusted. Most have a large readership and good distribution in libraries and bookstores. Many of…
Special Issue

Mirror World: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Update July 22, 2025: On July 21st Mirror world sent out the following email to their subscribers, announcing that they are closing their doors at the end of the year, as well as alluding to an incident on FB, I don’t know the details of. I have cut and pasted the email below. We were…
Fantasy Issue Five Hundred Forty One Manuscript Publishers Romance Science Fiction

Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers this October

This list of publishers meet our guiding principles, but are only open to free submissions from historically underrepresented writers or focus on publishing content produced by historically underrepresented writers. Some of these publications are open to a wide range of writers including writers of color, gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ writers, and those living with disabilities….
Issue Five Hundred Forty One

50 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 also…
Special Issue

Love Inspired & Love Inspired Suspense: Now Open to Manuscript Queries

Love Inspired is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on the Christian romance market. They describe themselves as publishing “Contemporary inspirational romances that feature Christian characters facing the many challenges of life and love in today’s world. You can see the catalogue for this imprint here. Love Inspired Suspense is an imprint of Harlequin that…
Christian Issue Five Hundred Forty Romance

Agent Scams: Increasingly Widespread

Over the summer and in the past few months, it has been increasingly common for legitimate agent websites to look a little like this: The Book Group website, screenshot taken October 2nd, 2023. In the past there has always been an issue with fake literary agents charging money (you can read more about that here),…
Issue Five Hundred Forty

Annick Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

One of the top children’s book publishers in Canada, Annick Press got a strong start early on by publishing Robert Munsch, back when they were based out of co-founder Anne Millyard’s basement (you can learn more about that here). Annick is currently accepting submissions of picture books, middle grade fiction, YA fiction, and nonfiction for…
Children's Books Issue Five Hundred Thirty Nine Manuscript Publishers Young Adult

24 Approachable Literary Journals

If you are just starting to submit your work to literary journals, or perhaps you just want to avoid rejection, this list is for you. All of the literary journals in this list accept between 20 and 80% of what is submitted to them, and a few have a higher acceptance rate. So the odds…
Special Issue

Afterglow Books: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Afterglow Books is a new imprint of Harlequin. You can read our review of Harlequin, and their digital imprint Carina, if you want to learn more about the company as a whole. Their tagline for Afterglow books is “From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives…
Issue Five Hundred Thirty Eight Manuscript Publishers Romance

Three Types of Publishing: What You Need to Know

First off, I’m going to be clear, this is not a piece written by someone who is unbiased. I’ve spent the last 10 years reviewing traditional presses, and receiving hundreds of emails a year from authors who’ve worked with vanity presses and traditional presses, and those that have self-published. This has helped shape me as…
Issue Five Hundred Thirty Eight Special Feature

Victory Belt Publishing: Now Accepting Book Proposals

Updated July 31st, 2024. While their website is still active they don’t appear to be actively publishing or promoting books anymore. I would not submit. Victory Belt Publishing is distributed by Penguin Random House, and is one of the biggest publishers in terms of the Ketogenic and Paleo diets, and have published a number of…
Cookbooks Issue Five Hundred Thirty Seven Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

63 Manuscript Publishers with Geographic Restrictions

We generally only review presses that accept work without geographic limitations on who can submit, but this list includes many publishers who do have geographic requirements. We have never fully reviewed most of these presses because of their geographic limitations, but they are still good presses. Most of the presses on this list accept work…
Special Issue

Gibson House Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Updated February 8th, 2024: They did not publish any books in 2023, and have yet to publish any books in 2024, so I’m not sure if they are still active. Gibson House Press is an independent publisher that publishes 1-2 books a year. They have good covers, and a clear easy to navigate website. Although…
Fiction Issue Five Hundred Thirty Six Manuscript Publishers

Why and Where You Should Start Submitting Your Writing This September

 “I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged… I had poems which were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.” — Erica Jong Starting to submit your work to literary journals is a hard task. Before…
Special Issue

Nourish: Now Accepting Book Proposals

Nourish is an imprint of Watkins Publishing, which was established in 1893. It is a UK based press with good distribution through Penguin Random House. Nourish focuses on publishing work related to “food and drink”, whereas Watkins as a whole focuses on ” mind, body & spirit”. Watkins Publishing is not currently open to submissions…
Cookbooks Issue Five Hundred Thirty Five Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

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