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.

Kane Miller: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

UPDATED August 2024: They have not been open to unsolicited submissions for over two years now. Their phrasing implies they may reopen someday, but we are removing them from the guide and they will not be added to lists going forward. Kane Miller is an award winning publisher of educational children’s books. In 2019 they…

Big Sky Publishing: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Big Sky Publishing is an Australian based publisher that focuses on publishing nonfiction books for adults. They also publish children’s books, although they are only open to children’s book submissions at certain times. They focus on publishing manuscripts focusing on the following areas: History, Military History, Self-help, Autobiography, Business, Careers, Environment, How to/Practical Guides, Health,…

26 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 of authors who are unagented and are averse to paying reading fees. The…

Plough Publishing Company: Open to Queries

Plough Publishing House was founded in 1920. They are an independent publisher of books on faith, society, and spiritual life. They are primarily based in  Walden, New York, with additional branches in the United Kingdom and Australia. Plough is the publishing house of the Bruderhof, which is according to the site “an international movement of…

14 Myths About Writers

What does it mean to be a writer? People have strong opinions. Many of them are true, many are wrong. There are so many false assumptions, clichés, and myths out there surrounding writers. Some of these myths contain some level of truth, others are nothing but rumors and a singular memorable example. Here are 14…

23 Publishers that Accept Science Fiction or Fantasy Novels

  Most of these publishers are interested in science fiction and/or fantasy. Some publish just one of these genres. Others publish many genres and types of books, science fiction and fantasy just being one genre among many.  Some are small companies, others are imprints of major publishing houses. They are not listed in any particular…

City Owl Press: Accepting Queries

Updated January 2025 In early March 2024,   Strauss at Writer Beware published a blog post about City Owl which you can read here. It’s a complex ongoing situation and one we are monitoring but I wouldn’t submit to City Owl without spending time reading the post and all the comments first. Some of the comments…

Incentive Publications: Now Accepting Manuscript Submissions

World Book, the established publisher of encyclopedias and other works of nonfiction, is the parent company of Incentive Publications. Incentive is open to direct submissions and focuses on publishing work for children. They are only interested in educational books. The books they publish seem designed to use in classrooms, so that’s important to keep in…

Scribble: Now Accepting Submissions

Scribble is a bi-monthly electronic literary journal. They were founded in 2018 and are known for their vibrant and creative covers. Scribble is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). They are always open to submissions of flash fiction and short stories. Even the short stories they publish are not particularly…

Felony Books: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

UPDATED MARCH 2021: They have not published a new book for over a year. I would not submit. Felony Books is a publisher of urban fiction. Urban fiction is also called street lit or street fiction. It’s fiction based in an urban setting and it usually deals with socio-economic realities and leans towards the gritty….

5 Paying Literary Markets to Submit to in April 2020

These outlets pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. There are both genre and literary markets in this list. Translunar Travelers Lounge The editors of this speculative fiction magazine want fun stories. Their guidelines say, “A fun story, at its core, is one that works on the premise that things aren’t all bad; that ultimately, good…

Covid-19 and Publishing

As our long time readers are well aware, we tend to steer clear of any “news” related updates. Once a year I write a general update on the state and changes in the literary world and we publish it in December. I’m sure most, if not all of you, are tired of timely updates about…

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…

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…

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