If a publisher has closed to submissions unexpectedly, please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com.

Please read the full review, which we link to in the publish name, and carefully consider fit before submitting work. I can not stress enough that you should only submit to presses that are a good fit for your work, and that you should carefully read and follow submissions guidelines before submitting that work. Over the past year we had several presses ask to be de-listed because they were deluged by submissions, even after moving to this format. Still more presses have had to temporarily close to submissions because of an influx of inappropriate submissions.

Epic
Epic focuses on publishing Young Adult (YA) and New Adult (NA) fiction. They are part of Entwined Publishing, which used to be called The Totally Entwined Group, up till the end of September. You can learn more about Entwined Publishing here. I really encourage you to read that review also for larger context about the company. Epic is technically a brand new imprint, at least in terms of its name and branding. But back when Entwined Publishing was called The Totally Entwined Group, they had a YA and NA focused imprint for many years, called Finch. The aesthetics and focus of the Epic imprint very much seems different. If what they end up actually publishing is different, we will see.

Turner Books
Turner publishes books in a wide range of categories and formats—fiction and nonfiction. They publish mainly in print but have electronic options as well. They are a major independent publishing house that has a number of imprints. They publish everything from mystery to self-help books. I include their current wishlist as part of the full review.

Wisdom Publications
Wisdom Publications is an established small press focused on publishing books about Buddhism, including works in translation, academic works, works focused on mindfulness, Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as children’s books. They are distributed by Simon & Schuster and their books are widely available in print in North America. They accept unsolicited submissions from authors and agents but only on topics directly related to Buddhism. Authors should have relevant professional, academic, or Dharma-teaching credentials. Please do not submit to them if this is not the case for you. If you meet their qualification needs, I very much encourage you to spend time on their website, verifying that they publish the kind of work you are interested in.

BenBella
BenBella is a niche publishing company run by Glenn Yeffeth. Yeffeth has a marketing background but he is also a lover of books. They have a good distributor and are a marketing-oriented company. The editors receive high praise for their ability to edit books. They only publish works of nonfiction. Many of their books have been number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The books they publish cover a range of topics, including cookbooks for herbivores, self-help books, and books about pop culture. By focusing on niche topics they are able to successfully market books to the right audiences. If your nonfiction topic appeals to a wide audience and covers a broad topic, it is most likely not for BenBella. They are interested in books by entrepreneurs, celebrities, and by individuals that are knowledgeable about specific events or ideas.

Sheltering Tree Media
Sheltering Tree Media is a small company mostly focused on podcasts and book publishing. They are founded in 2021 and are run by Evelyn Rainey. They are based out of Florida, and were originally focused on book publishing, mostly just the founding editor’s work, but they’ve since expanded beyond that scope significantly. In the last year or so they have starting working in the the podcast space and they plan to also expand into games in 2025. They describe their mission as “to share stories of faith through the use of various media tools such as books (e-books, paperback, and hardcover), audio and video podcasts, photography, videography, and game designs.”

Strange Attractor
Strange Attractor is an independent publishing house based in London, founded in 2003. They are run by Mark Pilkington and Jamie Sutcliffe, who bring independent contractors to help with some components of the publication. They have a well designed and easy to navigate website. Their books are widely available online as well as distributed internationally through The MIT Press, via Penguin Random House. You can learn more about the press here.

Entrepreneur Press
Entrepreneur Press is part of Entrepreneur Media that focuses publishing books with “actionable solutions to help you excel in all your business”. The books they publish fall into three categories: Starting a business, running a business, and growing that business. They have been around for the last 40 years and now publish print, digital, and audio books. They publish a number of well-known series including the No B.S. Books. You can get a feel for what they’ve published here.

Afterglow Books
Afterglow Books is a new imprint of Harlequin. Their tagline for Afterglow Books is “From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way.” This is how the editors describe what the new imprint is seeking: “Depth, relatability and sizzling spice, too: these characters are determined to live their best lives — and find the romance that makes them feel seen, unapologetically. In the pages of Afterglow Books, characters from all walks of life, all types of diverse identities, will pursue their dreams and discover love isn’t far behind. Because everyone deserves a happily ever after that’s true to who they are.”


Second Sky
Second Sky is a brand new Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint of Bookouture, which is an established digital publisher of commercial fiction, and an imprint of Hachette UK. We don’t review publishers till they have been been actively publishing for a year, but we make exceptions for imprints, as there is already an established parent company attached.

Cypress Review is helmed in Philadelphia, but they accept writing from around the world. So far they’ve published one issue, featuring writing from thirteen contributors. Their core mission is to use their journal to make the world a bit of a better place: “We believe creativity brings more empathy and kindness to this world. We hope to spread that with our little magazine.”

Cypress Review accepts poetry submissions for every issue. They also cycle through calls for fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as photography and artwork, but they do not accept all these categories during every submission period.

Now through December 9^th, Cypress Review is seeking poetry, fiction, photography, and artwork. They are not currently accepting creative nonfiction. They accept submissions from both new and established authors.

Poets may submit up to five poems, totaling five pages or fewer. Authors of fiction may submit up to five pieces, totaling five double-spaced pages or fewer. Authors should submit in only one category during each submission window. Submitting authors can expect a response within four months.

Cypress Review hopes to publish a print journal in the future, and they also hope to hold contests.

Cypress Review only accepts submissions online, not via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions, but they do not accept previously published work.

Cypress Review 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 Cypress Review, please visit their website here. 

Before I sent out my first book-length manuscript for publication, I’d spent a total of two days learning about the publishing industry. Pretty much everything I knew came from a weekend workshop: a beginner’s guide to getting published, taught by the former president/publisher at Penguin Canada. I followed the steps she suggested, and, to my amazement, I got not one, but two offers of publication.

The problem was, the workshop had focused on getting a book deal, not assessing or negotiating offers. I didn’t have an agent, didn’t know writers who had published with either press, and didn’t know what, besides a royalty rate, made one publishing contract superior to another. So what to do?

First, I looked online at the books in the first publisher’s catalogue, noting the whimsical and vibrant book jacket designs. That weekend, I attended a writers’ festival at which the other publisher had a booth. I examined their wares: serious-looking books with sombre covers.

You probably know where this is going: I chose the press with the prettier books.

Here’s what I wish I’d known:

• You should judge a press by more than its covers. Independent presses vary dramatically in their economic stability, the quality of their books, the kind of relationship they have with authors, and more. My joy and wonder at getting published made me careless about scrutinizing details, and it was just dumb luck that I ended up in good hands. The publisher with the alluring book covers was, at that point, relatively new on the scene, but they soon developed a stellar reputation. Still, I wouldn’t recommend to anyone signing a contract without prudently investigating the publisher’s background and business practices. These days, with financially fragile, incompetent, and/or sometimes downright fraudulent independent presses scattered generously among the reputable ones, it’s more important than ever to get to know the company with whom you’re going into business.

• You can reach out to agents, even for a small-audience book. I’d learned at the guide-to-getting-published workshop that short stories are not marketable enough to interest large presses. Thus, I decided to pitch my collection of linked stories set in rural Alberta to independent Canadian presses whom I could (and did) query directly. However, as I learned from an agent at a conference a year later, once I had two offers on the table, I could have approached agents. Sure, an agent might not have wanted to sign with me for a book of short stories, but I certainly could have hired one to look over the contracts and broker the deal. Doing that would have ensured that the contract I signed was solid, would have schooled me about the criteria for a good book deal, and—maybe most importantly—would have launched a business relationship with an agent. Instead, it took me almost six years and two more books until I signed with a literary agency.

• Location matters. The press who published my book was headquartered on the west coast of Canada, thousands of kilometres away from me. Their hard-working team of marketers helped me set up a book tour in western Canada and put in countless hours to get reviews and to promote the book online. But they didn’t have a representative in Toronto, where I lived, and, at that point, new on the scene, I had no connections of my own to readings series, local bookstores, or nearby regional festivals. I still would have chosen the western publisher over the other possibility, but I would have researched the marketing angles available in my backyard and worked more actively with my publisher to set up events closer to home. Already working on a novel set in Toronto, I should have been much more assertive about getting known as a writer in my hometown.

In short, I had a terrific experience with my first publisher. But, if I had taken more than two days to gather industry knowledge, and then used that information to delve into the business side of my writing career with more vigour and more agency, my career would have sped forward more efficiently. I guess the silver lining is that my own mistakes helped to inform my latest book, The Canadian Guide to Creative Writing and Publishing, which gives writers the insider knowledge I wish I’d had.

Now, along with writing, I teach creative writing, spending the bulk of the classes helping writers hone their creative thinking and editing skills. But if their goal is getting traditionally published, I encourage them not to wait—as I did— until they have manuscripts ready before learning how the publishing industry works.

Bio: Patricia Westerhof’s most recent book is The Canadian Guide to Creative Writing and Publishing. She’s also the author of two books of fiction, The Dove in Bathurst Station and Catch Me When I Fall. She teaches creative writing at University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. Find out more about her at www.patriciawesterhof.com.