Nourish primarily publishes cookbooks. Their cookbooks run the gamut from “The Witch’s Feast: A Kitchen Grimore”, to “The Thrifty Veggie” and “Modern Mediterranean”. They generally have excellent covers. They also publish a number of books that are more lifestyle focused where food and health still play a serious role. I encourage you to spend some time with their catalogue to figure out if your work is a good fit.

They ask that your query be about 10 pages and include the following:

1. A short author biography. This will include:
   –        Your credentials for writing a book on this particular topic
   –        Details of any published or self-published books you have authored
2. Your proposal (1–2 pages max). This will outline:
   –        Your subject matter
   –        Your audience
   –        The main competition for the book
   –        The individual qualities of the book that will make it stand out in the market
3. A sample chapter or excerpt (10 pages max). If possible, please include a table of contents within your sample chapter.

Submissions must be in English and in 12-point type. They do not specify the font. All submissions must be made by email or post. They try and respond within 12 weeks.

It’s also important to note that they promote their “self publishing” imprint Swift Publishing at the end of their submissions page. This is actually a pay to play imprint, that I think belongs under the vanity umbrella. Self publishing under most definitions of the term is when an author uses a print on demand service and/or an eBook publisher like KDP or Ingram Spark to publish work they found editors for and cover artists for themselves.

Having a vanity imprint is becoming almost standard now, and as long as you are not re-directed from Nourish to Swift,  after submitting, it is not a real issue. If you are re-directed, please send me an email at support@authorspublish.com.

To learn more, please visit their submission guidelines.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2023 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.

Each edition of Mystic Owl features writing from around thirty contributors. In addition to poetry and fiction, they also sometimes publish interviews with authors. Their latest edition features interviews with Ross Gay and Mort Castle. Mystic Owl publishes two issues each year.

Now through September 13, Mystic Owl is seeking submissions for their Halloween themed issue, scheduled for publication in October: “Send us your work about monsters, talking pumpkins, becoming best friends with a sleep paralysis demon, your childhood nightmares, or whatever your tell-tale heart desires.”

Poets may submit up to three Halloween themed poems, three pages or fewer each. Authors of fiction may submit Halloween themed stories, 100 to 3,000 words. If the stories are under 1,000 words, you may submit two.

Mystic Owl accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously work, including writing published on social media. They also do not accept writing by AI.

Mystic Owl 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 Mystic Owl Magazine, 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.

Have you ever forgotten food in the oven? That’s the perfect recipe to burn anything to a crisp. Cooking and writing are both about taking ingredients (or ideas) and coming up with something delightful – but burning works somewhat differently when writing: you have to think about your craft for too long to end up burned out. Fortunately, you can fix that issue, unlike your long-lost lasagna.

Here’s how to understand burnout and the way to tackle it, so you can go back to typing.

The Dreadful Feeling of Having to Write

Sitting down to write should always be a joyful occasion, though sometimes an old cliche rings true: writing feels like having too much of a good thing. At that point, staring at a screen becomes unpleasant, and what once was the gate to creating new worlds and grounding ideas becomes a chore you force yourself to put up with.

Does that sound like you? It’s a mental ailment that, sometimes, comes with physical manifestations: headaches and stomach pain are common burnout symptoms. Anguish, anxiety, and stress are also common visitors to the burned-out writer’s house.

You can kick those intruders out to write worry-free. Here’s how.

Three-Step Guide to Beat Burnout

1. Shuffle the Deck

Any gambler will tell you Lady Luck can smile at you and then slap you without a second thought. Luck plays a small part in writing, though Inspiration is always looming around, acting the same way as her cousin Luck.

Sometimes, burnout comes from a lack of inspiration – or what feels that way. If you’ve been working on a project for way too long, up to the point you can’t stand it anymore, you’re scaring inspiration away, so to speak.

You have to shuffle the deck and deal new cards to fix that: forget about your project for a second and come up with something new to work with. Open a blank document, crack your knuckles, and start a new story that has nothing to do with your previous project. Let words come sailing out of the calm sea that once was your troubled mind.

2. Plan or Play?

Do you still dread having to write? Your latest project may not be the culprit. It may have something to do with how you write. Are you planning or playing too much?

For those that love to play, it’s time to plan ahead. Burnout often comes from sitting down in front of a screen for too long and not getting enough results. Discipline your way into getting them: set down a timer for an hour and write, write, write: box with words until you hear the bell.

Are you planning too much? Sit back, kick back, and relax: have fun with writing! Forget about your self-imposed deadlines or daily word requirements. Write whatever and when the mind calls it quits, do something else.

3. Take a Real Break

Here’s another old cliche: time heals all wounds – and, as far as I know, it works for burnout too! That means it’s time to take a break if everything else fails. It shouldn’t be a 20-minute siesta or something similar. You need to stop typing for a week, at least.

How will taking a break help you with the anxiety and anguish of burnout? It’s simple! Burning out means you’ve been writing for too long: your mind can’t take it anymore. Resting for a long time will allow your burnout to heal, your ideas to become clear, and you to feel that writing itch again.

Don’t scratch that itch ahead of time! A week-long break should be a week long. Otherwise, you may get back earlier while the iron’s still hot – and burn yourself in the process!

Bonus Track: Switch It up to See What Happens

Writers on the clock can’t take time off, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put up a fight against burnout. You’ll have to bob and weave instead of charging against the problem: grab your notebook or computer and work elsewhere. The change of scenery will help your mind to relax, allowing your words to flow once more.

You can write at the park, at a coffee shop, or anywhere else that you want to. Do you want to stay inside your house? Write in a different room. Juan Carlos Onetti, an Uruguayan writer, did everything (including eating, writing, resting, meeting friends, and more) from his bed. Does that sound like something cool to do? Grab your favorite pillow and finish your project!

Is Writing Worth the Trouble?

Confusing burnout with feelings of worthlessness is easier than it sounds. You feel tired of writing because reading what you just typed feels like torture – and you sense it’s only a matter of time before you stop writing altogether.

First of all, don’t stop writing! As I’ve explained above, taking part in this craft allows you to create new worlds and polish your best ideas.

Second, it’s important to understand it might take a long time before you like what you write, and it might take longer for others to feel the same way: Onetti, the already-mentioned bed-loving Uruguayan, published his first short story in his 20s, published his first novel sometime around his 30s, and his best work came to him decades later.

You should remember you can have too much of a good thing! Do you know what burnout and feelings of worthlessness have in common? They may both arise from doing too much in too little time. You can manage your expectations and workload to feel better.

Can a Writer Write Whenever and Forever?

Writing is somewhat like building muscle. You’ll grow by leaps and bounds when you’re a beginner – and sooner rather than later, a plateau will hit you harder than the heaviest weight you ever lifted. It’s normal!

Yes, it’s normal, and you can work your way around those issues. Dealing with fatigue when working out requires taking breaks, massages, and being smart about your programming (i.e., don’t go all out every day unless you want to injure yourself).

Writing works the same way: you need to be consistent – and you need to write smart. Find your pace. Does writing 1000 words per day make you hate your craft the day after? Scale back to 500. Is that too much? Take a break and wander for a week.

Not all those that wander are lost – and some come back from wandering to write amazing stories!

Bio: JM Albandoz is a freelance writer turned storyteller. He’s working on publishing his short story anthology soon.