Tin House is an established and respected small press. They used to be responsible for one of the most respected and established literary journals, although that closed a few years ago. They still run residencies, workshops, and bookstore in Portland, Oregon. They still publish a wide variety of respected and admired books, including some bestsellers. They publish fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and poetry. This includes essay and short story collections, as well as novels. They also are open to graphic nonfiction and graphic novels.

They are not currently open to submissions, but will be open to submissions of debut novels and graphic novels starting Saturday May 6th through 7th. Because this is such a small window of time, we have to review them the ahead of the window.

They have excellent distribution, have published some of my favorite books in the last decade, and publish books with appealing covers. They recently brought on one of my favorite writers, Hanif Abdurraqib, as their Editor-at-Large, and he acquires three nonfiction books  a year for them.

This is what Abdurraqib has said about what he’s searching for:

“My world was built reading writers who wrote, relentlessly, away from the comfortable center and into the so-called ‘margins,’ where one could be a little more free, a little more playful, a lot braver. Punk writers who scrawled things in zines, aspiring rappers who filled notebooks that few people would ever read, and so on. This is the work that renews me and that challenges my own writing.”⁠

Since September 2021, they have started hosting open reading periods again. They host three brief fee-free submission periods a year, in the hopes of finding more previously underrepresented writers including “—but not limited to—those who are Black, Indigenous, POC, disabled, neurodivergent, trans and LGBTQIA+, debuting after 40, and without an MFA.”

In order to submit you must not currently have an agent, and you cannot have previously traditionally published a book in any genre (although chapbooks are permissible).

After taking a year off their reading schedule for 2025 is:

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.

Solarpunk Magazine
They publish solarpunk fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Nonfiction/essay submissions are accepted year-round; fiction and poetry are open periodically.
Deadline: 14 January 2023
Length: 1,500-7,500 words for fiction; 1,000-2,000 words for essays; up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $75/essay, $40/poem
Details here.

Old Moon
This magazine publishes “weird sword-and-sorcery fiction set in a historical paranormal setting or a secondary-world, with a focus on well-rounded characters driving strange action.” They have extensive guidelines, please read them before submitting your work.
Deadline: 30 January 2023
Length: 1,000-6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.

Nashville Review
This magazine is associated with Vanderbilt University. They publish fiction (including flash and novel excerpts), creative nonfiction (across the spectrum, including memoir excerpts, essays, imaginative meditations), poetry, translations, and art. They accept submissions of art and comics year-round, and other genres are accepted in January, May, and September. Submissions may close earlier than scheduled if the cap is reached.
Deadline: 31 January 2023, or until filled
Length: Up to 8,000 words for prose, up to 3 poems
Pay: $25 for poetry, $100 for prose
Details here.

Ghoulish Tales
This is a new horror magazine. They want ““fun horror that aims to celebrate all things spooky.”
Note that we said fun, not funny. Comedic stories are definitely allowed, but it’s not all we’re looking to receive. We want stories that remind us why we love the horror genre.” They also accept nonfiction on the horror genre. This team used to publish Dark Moon Digest earlier, which has now been discontinued.
Deadline: 15 February 2023
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction; up to 3,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: $0.07/word (may increase, depending on Kickstarter stretch goals met)
Details here.

There are some other magazines open for a short period in January, including:

— Cosmic Horror Monthly, open till 7^th January – for fiction of 1,000-5,000 words, they want cosmic horror, Lovecraftian, and weird stories, and pay $0.03/word; for nonfiction, they want essays that explore the state of horror as well as the philosophies that are often found in cosmic horror, existentialism, nihilism, etc. Details here.

— Wyngraf is open till 7^th January 2023 – they accept cozy fantasy stories of 3,000-8,000 words, and pay one and a half cents per word. Details here.

— Hammock is a new literary journal “focussed on writing from South Asia and beyond. This is a submission call for their first issue– short stories, narrative nonfiction and personal essays.” They accept submissions of 1,500-6,000 words, and pitches. They pay $50-150, and the deadline is 7 January 2023. Details in the Twitter thread here

— Augur Magazine is open for speculative fiction from all writers till 7^th January, and from Canadian underrepresented writers till 15^th January 2023; they pay CAD60/poem and CAD0.11/word for fiction of up to 5,000 words. Details here and here.

— One Story publishes one piece of literary fiction per issue. For this reading period, they will open submissions via Submittable on 15th January, and will close submissions when the cap is reached. They also accept translations. Regarding reprints, if a story has been published in print outside of North America, it will be considered. Pay is $500 for stories of 3,000-8,000 words. Details here.)

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

They really support international authors and have published a number of books in translation. All of the books I saw had a visual aspect, although some were aimed at older kids (up to the age of 14).

They are open to donations, and have done Kickstarters in the past, which is not unheard of for a small press, but also isn’t expected either.

They don’t have detailed submission guidelines. Please spend an extended period of time with their catalogue here, and with their mission statement here before considering submitting. This is a very small press, the kind that often ends up closing to unsolicited submissions permanently, if they get too many submissions that indicate a lack of research or appreciation of fit.

At the time of this update they are closed to submissions. To learn more, 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.

Presence is published three times a year in print. They also publish selections from the journal online. Each issue, around 110 to 130 pages, contains articles about haiku craft and reviews of haiku books, in addition to poems. Submitting authors can read selections from Presence online to get a sense of what they publish.

Presence holds three submission windows each year: December 15 through January 31 for their March issue, April 15 through May 31 for their July issue, and August 15 through September 30 for their November issue.

Now through January 31 they are seeking submissions for their 75^th issue, scheduled for publication in March.

Authors may submit up to ten poems in any of the following forms: haiku, tanka, senryu, haibun, or related. Presence does not accept poetry written in other forms. Authors should submit only once per submission period.

Presence also accepts essays about the practice of crafting Haiku, as well as reviews of Haiku books.

Presence accepts submissions via email and by post. Postal submissions should include a self-addressed stamped envelope to facilitate a reply. Presence does not accept simultaneous submissions, and they do not accept previously published work.

Presence 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 Presence, please visit their website here.

Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.

Marketing one’s books can at times appear to be a daunting task. Like most authors I have a well-developed plan which includes good use of social media, a solid website from which I also blog, make an occasional presentation and promote my books by writing articles for various magazines. But over the past two years I have developed an additional strategy – all due to my wife!

As an Xmas gift I received two sweatshirts, both with slogans on the front. One reads “Ask Me About My Book” and the other, “Careful or you’ll end up in next novel.”  At first, I just thought they were whimsical and wore them in the house. But then one day while I was shopping with my wife in Costco, and I was wearing my “Ask Me” shirt, a lady came up to me and asked if I was a writer. Briefly I explained, “Yes, I was,” and I asked her, “Are you a reader?” When she nodded, I gave her my business card. As we were loading the car, another lady seemed to be staring at me and walked over as if she knew me. “That’s a cute sweatshirt” she said, “are you a writer?” Again, I asked if she was a reader and answering in the affirmative, I gave her a business card.

But that evening as I reflected on the day, I realized that had missed a potential marketing opportunity. Yes, I had given away two business cards, but what if I had given each of those ladies a signed copy of my book. Maybe they would have read it and recommended it to their friends. How in fact, I thought, could I get to their friends? I needed people to buy my books, so I decided on two things. Firstly, I would always carry a few books in my car that I would have at the ready for any marketing opportunity. I decided I would give them away. But with one condition! It became clear to me that I had multiple opportunities, daily, weekly, to build up a client reader base, without having to do very much. Simply by giving away a signed copy of any of my books the market would come to me. Secondly, it was clear that I needed to ask more than the one question. After “are you a reader?” I should also ask, “do you belong to a book club?” If the person responded in the affirmative, then I would give them a free book on condition that they took it their club as a possible read. I also would offer to meet with their club either physically if it was local, or via Zoom. Book clubs love to meet with authors!

As I started my marketing campaign, I began to learn even better ways to improve my home-made marketing system, which I now call my Pyramid Book Scheme.

It all started with Big O Tires. I took my car into the local shop and the owner, Eric, saw my sweatshirt.

“So, you’re a writer,” he asked.

“Yes, I am,” I replied. “Are you a reader?”

“Yes, I love to read.”

Within minutes I knew what kinds of books he enjoyed best and then popped the question.

“And are you a member of a book club?”

“Absolutely. We meet every month, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“Can you wait for second while I retrieve something from my car?”
A minute later he was holding a signed copy of one of my books.

“But how much is it?” he asked.

Learning that it was free, his face broke into a huge smile. And when I mentioned his taking to his book club he was thrilled.

“No problem. I’m sure they will read it and be delighted to have you join us.”

“But I have another question.”

“How many people in your book club might know people in other book clubs?”

“There are eight or nine of us usually,” he answered, “but I would imagine there are at least two people who have other connections, socially or through church.”

“Then pass on the good news,” I urged, “I will give them a free signed copy if they will present it to those other clubs or groups.”

“Well, this is amazing,” said Eric, “I will certainly do that. But what about my daughter?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, she is a voracious reader also and is also a member of a book club.”

“Hang on a minute,” I replied and scurried out to my car and retrieved another copy.

“What’s her name?” I asked and inscribed it to her.

Through that one connection I was soon contacted by seven book clubs and two other ladies’ social groups who wanted me to talk to them about why and what do I write.

It’s easier than you think. This is armchair marketing! I am not only selling books every month, but I am also building a base of readers who are eagerly waiting for my next novel.

I understand that writers in general are not great social animals and are often shy about contacting or simply striking up a conversation with people who are usually strangers. But sometimes we have to. Last year, wearing one on my sweatshirts, I had to visit my dentist. Five or six young ladies were working in an administrative pool, and one of them called out to me, “are you a writer?” And so, it began! By the time I had my teeth cleaned I had signed and donated two books and was later connected to four books clubs.

I now get phone calls from people I don’t know but are asking for copies of my books so they can later take it to their clubs. Just by initially giving away a few books I have been invited to speak to church groups, multiple Rotary clubs, Red Hat groups, and Soroptimists. The latter which are mainly men, were asked by their wives who were readers to contact me. At each of these presentations while I do sell books, my focus is on expanding my market, and so I always ask that second question, “How many of you are connected to a book club or any other kind of club?” And so, I collect names and contact information, offer to give away free copies and continue to build my pyramid.

Bio: Michael Barrington, an international writer, lives near San Francisco. His first book, The Bishop Wears no Drawers, is a memoir. The Baron of Bengal Street, his fourth novel, will be published January 2023. His short stories and articles have appeared in many publications in the USA & UK. www.mbwriter.net.