Trollbreath publishes four issues per year, which are available online to paid subscribers at the beginning of each quarter. Then every Friday throughout the quarter one new story is released for free to the public, until all writing in the issue is publicly available. So far they’ve published one issue featuring writing from 17 contributors.

Trollbreath holds two submission periods each year: from April 1-30^th for their September and December issues, and from October 1-31^st for their March and June issues. Submitting authors can expect a response within two months. They are also open year-round for nonfiction pitches.

Authors of fiction may submit one short story at a time, 1,500 to 7,500 words (though Trollbreath prefers stories between 4,000 and 5,000 words, so stories in that range are more likely to be published). Trollbreath does accept reprints of short stories that were not previously available online, but they do not accept reprints of stories that are publicly available for free, such as stories published on blogs, free webzines, and podcasts. They pay authors of fiction 4 cents per word for original writing, and ½ cent per word for reprints.

Poets may submit up to three poems in the genre of speculative fiction.  Trollbreath does not accept previously published poems. They pay $25 per poem.

Trollbreath also accepts pitches for nonfiction articles about speculative fiction, written for both writers and readers: “We are interested in reviews of all types (movies, novels, video games, writing tools, cons), interviews, constructive criticisms of the movie/publishing/television/media industry, discussion of a current scientific advance, and so on.” They accept nonfiction articles up to 2,500 words, and they pay $40 per published piece.

Trollbreath accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They do not accept simultaneous submissions, and they do not accept writing created with AI.

Trollbreath only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Trollbreath, please visit their website here. 

But then that baby turned five, and began school, and I had a little more time and space—and so, I began to write again. In Julie’s class, I wrote a short story about a woman in her thirties, an academic medievalist, who is struggling in the wake of a miscarriage and her father’s death. I read several scholarly articles to familiarize myself with my protagonist’s world, including one about the twelfth-century nun and mystic Hildegard of Bingen—which mentioned that Hildegard might have been enclosed in a monastery cell with an anchoress, a woman who chose to have herself locked up in a small stone room for her entire life, in an act of radical piety. Imagine being a girl in such a weird and scary situation, I thought. And then, that’s a great idea for a book. Or a short story, at least. And I wrote that short story.

I kept adding to both stories, sketching scenes, wondering what to do with them next—and then, I became pregnant with our second child. I took a break from Julie’s class, and I turned to writing poems, as they felt more accessible during those busy years (in fact, I would go on to publish a chapbook of poetry in 2021).

And then, we paused. Covid. Despite the all-encompassing fear and anxiety around us, not to mention the stress of navigating remote school with a first-grader and a sixth-grader, I decided on a whim one evening to reread those short stories from years ago. Hey, these don’t suck, I thought to myself. But they’re not done.

What if they belong together?

In that moment, it seemed so obvious. My two stories were one novel about two women, hundreds of years apart. In 2021, I joined a Zoom-based advanced novel writing group offered by the musician and writer Nerissa Nields called “Weeding and Pruning.” With feedback and encouragement from the other writers in the group, I wove the stories together, and they began to mirror and support one another, in a dance of revision.

In late 2022, I began to submit my novel to literary agents, and small presses that didn’t require an agent. Prior to become a freelance book editor, I had worked in publishing for about ten years, so I knew I wanted to go with a traditional publisher, and that I could work well within its structures and timelines. But, I also knew that, as a debut author in my forties living outside New York City with a modest social media presence, I might not be the most appealing client for an agent or one of the Big 5 publishers.

In total, I submitted to forty-five agents and fifteen small presses. By June of 2023, I had received requests for my full manuscript from two agents and two small publishers. While the agents and other press were reviewing it, Anne McGrath at Monkfish Book Publishing Company wrote a very enthusiastic email, expressing her interest in acquiring it. From her description of her reaction to the manuscript, I could tell that Anne “got” what I was trying to do with the book, and so I let the other interested parties know that I would be signing with Monkfish. This isn’t to say Ordinary Devotion breezed through production; I did three rounds of extensive editing and revision with Anne.

Now, the cover has been designed, page proofs have been reviewed, ARCs have been sent out (Ordinary Devotion has received a very good review from Kirkus!), and I’m looking forward to my publication date of November 5. Sometimes I berate myself for taking so long to get this book published. On the other hand, I’m confident that Ordinary Devotion is as good as I could possibly make it. I lived with it for a decade, and now I’m ready to send it out into the world.

Bio: Kristen Holt-Browning’s poetry chapbook, The Only Animal Awake in the House, was published by Moonstone Press. Her work has appeared in journals including Hayden’s Ferry Review, Hunger Mountain, and Little Patuxent Review. She was awarded a Hortus Arboretum Residency for Literary Artists in 2024. Ordinary Devotion is her first novel. You can learn more about Kristen here, and preorder Ordinary Devotion here.