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.

Albert Whitman & Company: Now Seeking Book Manuscripts

Updated June 29th, 2025: They have declared bankruptcy among serious ongoing issues, you can learn more here. I would not submit at this time. In 2020 they had a serious non payment issues with a number of authors. As authors and agents came forward with these stories, information about other questionable practices came to light….
Children's Books Issue One Hundred Eighty Seven Manuscript Publishers Young Adult

Sterling Publishing: Now Accepting Book Submissions

UPDATED January 10th, 2021, they rebranded as Union Square Press and are no longer open to general submissions Sterling Publishing is owned by Barnes and Noble. They put it for sale a couple of years ago, but then after a period of time pulled it from the market. During this whole period Sterling has continued…
Children's Books Gift Books Issue One Hundred Eighty Six Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

The Truth About Copyright

I am not a copyright lawyer. I would never claim to be. But I am a writer, a writer whose work has been published widely, so I have figured out a thing or two about how copyright does and does not work. This article focuses mainly on copyright in terms of literary journals, but it…
Issue One Hundred Eighty Six Special Feature

Little Pickle Press: Now Accepting Book Submissions

Updated March 27, 2018: Little Pickle Press was acquired by Sourcebooks. No word yet on how this will change submissions etc. But you can learn more here. Little Pickle Press is a publisher in the process of re-branding to become March 4th, INC. They seem to be taking their time at the re-branding because both…
Children's Books issue One Hundred Ninety One Manuscript Publishers Young Adult

Small Beer Press: Now Accepting Book Submissions

Updated February 2024: Due to ongoing health issues they are closed to submissions for the foreseeable future.  Small Beer Press has now been around for over a decade and published some rather well known authors including Ursula K. Le Guin. They publish literary work leaning towards the speculative. Although, to really know what they publish…
Issue One Hundred Eighty Five Manuscript Publishers Speculative Fiction

Fifteen Major Book Publishers Always Open to Submissions

Many publishers open and close their doors to unsolicited submissions on a routine basis. It can sometimes be hard to determine if they are open or shut to submissions and when you should submit. These fifteen publishers featured are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. All of them are…
Special Issue

Kensington Book Publishing: Now Accepting Book Queries

This large independent publisher is based out of New York. They publish a wide variety of mainstream fiction and nonfiction books, with a particular focus on romance. They publish an average of 600 books a year, so they accept a lot more submissions than most independent publishers. They are distributed through Penguin Random House. To…
Historical Fiction Issue One Hundred Eighty Four Manuscript Publishers Mystery Non Fiction Romance Women's Fiction

Free Spirit Publishing: Now Accepting Submissions

Updated March 2025 Free Spirit Publishing is an established publisher with good distribution that is part of the larger company Teacher Created Materials. They publish primarily non-fiction, mostly curriculum based, where they have a number of niche focuses. They also have a new imprint called Shell Materials which focuses on material for educators. They do…
Children's Books Issue One Hundred Eighty Three Manuscript Publishers Non Fiction

The 8 Major Publishing Trends of 2016

I am starting off this article with a disclaimer. This article is not going to tell you what publishing trends are up and coming. I don’t know if books about rock stars are going to be the new YA trend or not. That isn’t my area of expertise, and frankly it is not where my…
Special Issue

The Ten Best Manuscript Publishers: 2016 Edition

There are a lot of publishers out there and it can be overwhelming to find the right ones. We help authors by reviewing one publisher a week. Some of these reviews are glowing, others are deservedly mixed. This year we were excited about most of the publishers we reviewed. We reviewed a larger proportion of…
Issue One Hundred Eighty Eight

Ten Wonderful New Literary Journals

The following is a list of 10 very new literary journals. There are many reasons to seek publication in these journals. In my experience, the benefits can be greater than publishing in a well established journal. When a literary journal is new the editors tend to be a lot more passionate. I have gotten handwritten…
Always open to submissions Creative Non Fiction Fiction Genre Literary Journals Music Paying Market Poetry Special Issue

Lyrical Press: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Updated September 2025 Lyrical Press is an electronic only imprint of Kensington, a large independent publisher. Kensington and Lyrical both publish mainstream novels and seem to put a fair amount of pressure on the author to promote their books. They publish a large number of books per year. Lyrical publishes books in all romance genres…
Issue One Hundred Eighty One Manuscript Publishers Romance Women's Fiction

How to Make Time for Focused Writing

“All writers have this vague hope that the elves will come in the night and finish any stories.” ― Neil Gaiman Time for writing doesn’t make itself. This might seem like a ridiculously obvious statement, yet it is a trap writers fall into all the time, myself included. If you have a good writing habit…
Issue One Hundred Eighty One Special Feature

12 Great Publishers of Literary Non-Fiction

Literary nonfiction is an interesting genre. It can involve anything from a research based essay to a short personal story, to a combination of the two. Literary nonfiction can even have a fictional element, for the sake of the story of course. If you are writing a nonfiction book manuscript, particularly one that is a…
Special Issue

How Publishing Really Works

When I first approached publishing every part of it seemed overwhelming. Like most people I didn’t understand how publishing really worked. This is partially because it is portrayed inaccurately in most novels, for example The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair and I Regret Everything: A Love Story, and movies including The Proposal and Girl…
Special Issue

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