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.

21 Publishers Always Open to Submissions

Some publishers open and close their doors to submissions on a routine basis. It can be hard to determine if they are open or shut to submissions, and when you should submit. The following 20 publishers, however, are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. All of these publishers meet…
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Yale University Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions & Book Proposals

Updated March 2024 Yale University Press (YUP), like most university presses, is open to direct submissions and manuscript proposals. Yale University Press was established in 1909 and you can learn more about their history here. You can see their current catalog here. When you submit to YUP, submit to only one editor. The editors are…
Academic Issue Four Hundred Ninety Five Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

Prestel: Now Accepting Book Proposals

Prestel is an imprint of Penguin Random House that focuses on art, architecture, design, and photography. If you’ve been to more than one major art gallery opening in the past decade in North America, chances are you’ve encountered one of their many exhibit catalogues. Their logo was immediately familiar to me for this reason. The…
Art Book Cookbooks Issue Four Hundred Ninety Four Non Fiction

25 Memoir Publishers That Accept Direct Submissions

Memoir publishers that don’t require an agent to submit are few and far between. However, there are still options out there.  Some are old and respected, others are new and still figuring things out. Not all the publishers on this list are currently open to submissions, but most are. Persea Books Persea Books is an…
Special Issue

Fair Winds Press: Now Accepting Book Proposals

Fair Winds Press is now an imprint of Quarto publishing, which we’ve reviewed here. Fair Winds Press was originally founded in 2001 as part of the Rockport Publishing Group. Fair Winds focuses on providing readers with authoritative and accessible information that helps them live “a healthier life, both physically and spiritually.” This sounds specific but…
Issue Four Hundred Ninety Three Non Fiction

Roxane Gay Books: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Updated February 25th, 2025 Roxane Gay Books is a new imprint of Grove Atlantic. Roxane Gay has written about this new imprint here. Roxane Gay is the award-winning and bestselling author of a number of books, including Hunger and Bad Feminist. She’s a respected essayist, professor of writing, and one of the original co-founders of…
Issue Four Hundred Ninety Two Issue Four Hundred Thirty

Titan Books: Now Accepting Book Proposals

Titan Books is a UK-based publisher. They are part of Titan Entertainment Group, which you can learn more about here. They publish a wide range of nonfiction, fiction, and graphic novels, but most of the fiction and graphic novels they publish is licensed from overseas and they are only open to direct submissions in the…
Graphic Novel Issue Four Hundred Ninety Two Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

34 Publishers Seeking Young Adult Novel Manuscripts

One of my favorite genres to read now is young adult (YA) fiction, even though when I was a teenager, I struggled to find good books. These days the YA genre is profitable, diverse, and covers a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to romance and everything in between. A lot of YA publishers…
Special Issue

Stone Pier Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Updated June 11th, 2026.  After only being open to submissions of books about sustainable gardening, they have reopened to submissions with much wider guidelines saying “We’re a small press with a focus on ecological growing. But we’ve started to accept books that we just want to see published, and think others will enjoy reading as…
Children's Books Cookbooks Fiction Issue Four Hundred Ninety One Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

6 Common Myths About Publishing

As a writer who receives hundreds of emails each week about publishing, there are a number of myths about publishing that I encounter repeatedly. Different writers tell them to me as if they are fact. Some myths are ones I believed when I was starting out. Some contain truth. Many are entirely false. Believing in…
Issue Five Hundred Eighty Eight Issue Four Hundred Ninety One Special Feature

The Top 42 Publishers for New Authors

The writing market can be overwhelming, particularly for new authors who do not have a history of past publication. It is important to note that no legitimate established presses specifically look for unpublished authors. The presses on this list were chosen because they have published a number of debut books before. The publishers on this…
Special Issue

Blackwater Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Updated May 7th, 2026 Blackwater Press is a small press based in West Virginia, with an international team of editors. They were founded in 2021. They also run an editorial consultancy, but when I reached out to the press directly the editors informed me that they did not direct writers submitting to the press to…
Fiction Issue Four Hundred Ninety Literary Fiction Manuscript Publishers Memoir

Opportunities Open to Submissions From Historically Underrepresented Voices 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 Four Hundred Ninety

Cider Mill Press: Now Accepting Manuscript Proposals

UPDATED August 11, 2023. They now appear permently closed to submissions. Cider Mill Press was an independent publisher of cookbooks,  humor books, children’s books and a variety of nonfiction related to alcohol.  In  late 2022 Harper Focus acquired Cider Mill Press. Most of what they publish could be loosely categorized as “gift books”. They are…
Cookbooks Issue Four Hundred Eighty Nine Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

30 Mystery Publishers that Accept Direct Submissions (No Agent Required)

“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” MICKEY SPILLANE Mystery is one of those genres that over the years has managed to accumulate a…
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