Updated June 2022: They have announced their permanent closure.
UPDATED October 30th, 2019: Fireside Fiction has severed without announcment or explantion a number of author contracts. You can read more about it here. I would not recommend submitting to them at this time.
Fireside Fiction is the publisher of novels and novellas as well as a popular and respected magazine that we have reviewed previously as part of a larger article on speculative fiction. They are open to submissions of novels and novellas for the month of August. They are generally open to submissions just once a year. So it is important to submit during this time.
They are open to books of any genre. What they have published in the past has been all over the map, but most is what I would describe as literary genre books. The genres they have published in the past include fantasy, speculative fiction, and mystery.
The books they publish have wonderful covers and also tend to be marketed well. They are often reviewed by established outlets such as NPR and Publishers Weekly. They do not offer advances, but they do pay royalties. Given that they have a good reputation and their company motto is “Fireside has two goals: to find and publish great stories regardless of genre, and to pay our writers and artists well,” I would think that the royalties would be good.
They ask that work submitted be between 20,000-120,000 words in length. They also ask that you submit a query letter with the title, genre, length, a short pitch of the concept, as well as a short bio. Finally they want a synopsis, up to 2,000 words, that consists of a detailed outline of your story, including any major plot twists and includes the ending.
They particularly want “to see work from underrepresented voices including POC, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ voices”. Also, they believe strongly that “any story you want to tell is a valid story, regardless of whether it centers issues related to being part of a marginalized group”.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed as long as you withdraw if you receive an acceptance elsewhere. They will try and respond to all submissions by the end of October 2018. All the books they accept during this period will be published in 2019.
To learn more, please visit their website here.
