Cemetery Gates Media was founded in 2015 by longtime friends John Brhel and Joe Sullivan and focuses on publishing fantasy and supernatural fiction. Cemetery Gates Media is based in Binghamton, New York.
They have published a number of anthologies that seemed to do well, and they have paid all contributors. The anthologies reflect a wide range of work.
At first they were solely focused on publishing their own work outside of anthologies, but that changed in late 2020 when they launched the Debut Horror Novel Series.
Cemetery Gates Media has excellent covers but they do not mention a print distributor, which usually means they do not have one.
They are currently seeking submissions for 40k+ word manuscripts from authors who’ve never published a novel. Unfortunately they do not list a deadline for submissions, but they opened to submissions on May 1st. They say that they will continue to read submissions till they sign a contract.
Their goal is to release one novel per year in this series. So far they have mostly met this goal. The first two books in the series are as follows.
#1 – Beulah by Christi Nogle (Published Jan 25, 2022)
#2 The Briars by Stephanie Parent (Publishd in May 2023)
#3 The Ghosts of Blaubart Mansion by Ivy Grimes (Published April 2025)
It is worth learning more about these books if you are serious about submitting, because the editors are seeking something along the same lines.
Authors can not submit if they have published a full length manuscript in the past but are still eligible if they have published novellas and short story collections. The manuscript must be previously published.
They are offering a $500 signing bonus + $500 advance upon publication. As for the royalties, 60% go to the author on physical and electronic editions of the book.
In earlier editions of this call they stressed that all authors must have two paid writing credits. It is still mentioned that you must have two writing credits (no mention of payment), but only briefly. Please do not submit to them unless you have two writing credits.
To learn more about their formatting requests go here or to learn more about this particular call for submission, go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2022 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
