Stone Pier Press is a niche publisher that describes themselves as “an environmental publishing company with a food focus.” They are a San Francisco based non-profit focused towards a climate-friendly food system. They say they do this by “publishing good books about good food and producing solutions-oriented news and tips. Much of our focus is on how to grow, eat, and dispose of food in a way that’s good for the planet.”

They are partnered with the established publisher Chelsea Green to distribute their books. We’ve reviewed Chelsea Green here. Chelsea Green has come under fire for publishing medical misinformation, as well as other issues with you can learn about here. Of course this sort of information does seem outside of Stone Pier Press’s focus and mission, but it is still worth knowing before proceeding.

The three primary categories of work they publish are children’s books, cookbooks, and gardening books. You can visit their catalog here. Although on their submissions page they say “We are accepting books in the following categories: narrative nonfiction, memoirs, guidebooks, biographies, young adult fiction, and literary fiction. We will consider cookbooks as well.”

Of course all of these categories have to be tied to the environment. They are not interested in work that does not directly intersect with the environment.

At this time it is important to note that they are not accepting children’s books, which is a note at the end of their submission guidelines:

Entries should include the first two chapters of a manuscript plus a cover letter introducing yourself and whether or not you’ve been published. They are only interested in electronic submissions, which must be made via email.

To learn more, visit their website here.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.

Route 7 Review is an online journal published by Utah Tech University. The journal is named after the highway that connects Southern Utah with the nearest international airport. Route 7 Review, like its namesake highway, aims to create global connections by publishing writing from around the world: “ Our mission is to bring unity and understanding of the people, cultures, and experiences all around us, starting right where we are.” You can read all nine archived issues online to get a sense of the wide variety of writing they publish.

Route 7 Review has been published annually since 2013. Each of the most recent editions contains work from around 40 to 50 contributors. The journal also includes audio recordings of each published piece.

Now through November 15, Route 7 Review is accepting submissions for their tenth annual issue. They aim to respond to all submissions by December 15.

Poets may submit three to five poems, totaling 10 pages or fewer. Authors of fiction and nonfiction may submit one piece, 5,000 words or fewer. Authors may send only one submission per genre during each reading period.

Route 7 Review accepts submissions online using Submittable, not via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.

Route 7 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 Route 7 Review, 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.

You need a literary agent. Literary agents are great. Many authors rely on them. However, they are hard to find and they can’t always find a publisher for your book. I know several authors who got their book published with a good publisher after their agent failed to get that same book published.

In fact a lot of smaller publishers, including most established and respected ones, accept unsolicited manuscripts directly from authors. Not only that but most larger traditional publishers have at least one imprint or digital first branch that is open to unsolicited submissions.

When I wrote fiction I used to think it was about finding the right agent, now I know that I would submit my work to a few of my favorite publishers directly before trying to find an agent, even though my work would end up in the slush pile.

The second myth, Big Five or bust, is actually related to the first myth. Many believe that one of the big five publishers (which are in the process of becoming four) need to accept their book in order for the book to sell well, so that the book can find its rightful place in brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries.

This is not true. This is why knowing who your publisher’s distributor is, is so important. In fact many smaller publishers have the same distributors as the Big Five publishers.

Most publishing companies that have a good distributor are very upfront about it. If you go into a book store or a library regularly you will probably have a good idea of which publishers have good distribution, because you see them on the shelves.

An incomplete manuscript can be accepted is only a myth when it comes to fiction. Many nonfiction research based books are accepted before completion. When it comes to fiction, almost all successful legitimate publishers that I know of require that the manuscript is complete on submission. So, even if they request just the first three chapters, the rest of your book should already be finished.

Having a legitimate publisher means that you don’t have to self-promote. This might have been true at one point, but it has not been true for a long time. Ten years ago I took a class with a New York Times bestselling author. He told me the best thing he did for his first book was independently hire a publicist, even though his book was published by a major (big five) publisher way back in the late 90’s.

Most publishers that you can submit to directly want to know your marketing plan (or your author platform) before accepting your book for publication. They want to know that you are committed to promoting your work. That you know who your potential audience is and you are willing to connect with them. This does not mean the publisher is less legitimate or that they won’t help with marketing. They just need to know that you are serious about supporting your own book.

You have to pay a traditional publisher. If you have a traditional publisher, you do not pay them anything. They pay you. However, over the past few years many traditional and established publishing houses such Harlequin, Thomas Nelson, and Hay House have partnered with companies such as Authors Solutions Inc. to create self-publishing branches associated with these presses. Sometimes if the traditional branches of these presses have contests, the contests are even redirected to the self-publishing branch. This can confuse a lot of people.

For example in India, Penguin/Random House, one of the big five and one of the best known publishers in the world, runs a company called Partridge. However, Partridge is purely a vanity publisher. They charge all their writers.

It is no wonder that myth is becoming more substantial, not less.

Self-publishing is easy. There is truth to this myth. With a little time and minimal effort, any person can publish their book with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). However, that does not mean that anyone will buy or read that book. The majority of self-published books sell under 10 copies. Like traditional publishing, self-publishing requires a lot of work if you want to be successful, it is just a different kind of work. 

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 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.