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.

6 Common Publishing Myths

As a writer who receives multiple 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 one…
Issue Three Hundred Ninety Special Feature

7 Exciting New Literary Journals

In the last 6 months the following journals opened their metaphorical doors for the first time. A number of magazines on this particular list have specific focuses and areas of interest. It is great to submit to new journals as the editors tend to have more energy and enthusiasm. They also tend to be more…
Special Issue

Gill Books: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Gill Books is one of Ireland’s leading publishers of content in terms of both the Primary and Secondary schools market, but they also publish nonfiction for adults. They accept proposals for adult nonfiction and children’s books. They are a division of Gill Education and are based out of Dublin. They have good distribution within Ireland,…
Children's Books Issue Three Hundred Eighty Nine Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

How Often Should You Expect Literary Rejection?

Various readers have emailed me over the years asking about how often they should expect to be rejected. They phrase it different ways. Sometimes they ask if a ratio of four rejections to every one acceptance is good. Sometimes they ask if one acceptance a year is good. The one single factor that affects your…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Nine Special Feature Special Issue

Beacon Press: Now Accepting Queries

Last Updated: Jan 30th, 2025 Beacon Press is an established publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. However they are only open to direct submissions of nonfiction proposals. Works of fiction, poetry, and self help, will not be considered. Most of what they publish is general nonfiction and they are not currently accepting submissions of purely…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Eight Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

How to Evaluate a Publisher for Your Book

When you’re finally ready to submit your book for publication, it can be overwhelming. There are so many publishers out there. There is so much information about some of them and so little about others. How can you check the legitimacy of a publisher if you don’t know much about the industry? Even if a…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Eight Special Feature

Announcing the Second Recipient of the Authors Publish Fund for Literary Journals

Earlier this month we made an announcement of a new fund for literary journals. You can learn all about this fund here. We selected the recipient of the fund using a random number generator. We are happy to announce that Arsenika is the second receipt of our fund and will receive 150 (US) dollars. Arsenika…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Eight Special Feature The Authors Publish Fund for Literary Journals

18 Major Book 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 18 publishers, however, are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. They are all respected publishers…
Special Issue

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Updated March 2025 Founded in 1911 and located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is an independent publisher of religious books. They have a large range, including academic books and reference works in theology, biblical studies, and religious history to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural criticism, as well as literature….
Children's Books Issue Three Hundred Eighty Seven Manuscript Publishers

The Problem with Mass Submissions

I’ve touched on this issue before in all my books on submitting, both in terms of literary journals and manuscript publishers, but I’ve never focused an entire article on it before. Mass submitting is a term used to describe when an author, or a company working on an author’s behalf, submits their work to a…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Seven Special Feature

27 Publishers with Excellent Distribution That Accept Unsolicited Submissions

All of the publishers on this list sell many copies of physical books. All of them have books that are available not just at stores near you, but at libraries as well, because they have good distributors. If you want your novel or book to have a good chance of being placed on bookshelves and…
Special Issue

404 Ink: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

From now through the 31st of October, 404 Ink, an Edinburgh based publisher, is open to direct submissions of full length manuscripts of fiction, nonfiction, short stories, and poetry. They are a small press that has different reading periods every year, so if you are reading this after 2020, please check their website for the…
Fiction Issue Three Hundred Eighty Six Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction Poetry

Moxy: Now Seeking Submissions

Moxy is a UK based literary journal founded in 2018, with a focus on creative nonfiction. They have a beautiful and easy to navigate website. They publish criticism, essays, travel writing, and personal essays as well as art and cartoons. They were inspired in part by the autofiction movement, although much of what they publish…
Creative Non Fiction Issue Three Hundred Eighty Six

13 Literary Journals that Focus on Nature and the Environment

Most literary journals, unless they have a very focused mission, or are genre journals, are open to publishing poems, prose, and nonfiction featuring nature. Most writers that focus on the natural world do not have an issue finding homes for their work in general interest literary journals. Still, there are a number of journals that…
Special Issue

Vinspire Publishing: Open Call for Manuscript Queries

Updated February 27th, 2025: Appears to be defunct. No longer has a functioning websiteVinspire Publishing was founded in 2004. They were originally called Vintage Romance Publishing, because they started only published historical romance. When they expanded their line in 2010 to include a wide range of genres including books for children, they renamed themselves. Although…
Issue Three Hundred Eighty Five Manuscript Publishers Romance

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