They are open to proposals for books or gift products for adults, students and children. They focus particularly on the following areas: art and design, architecture, fashion and beauty, film, photography, practical art including painting and drawing, music and popular culture, nature and popular science.

They look at all proposals that are submitted to them, but they only follow through if they are interested. So do not send them a follow up email if you do not receive a response.

To get a good idea of what they publish go here. To learn a little more more about their querying process go here, and scroll down.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2020 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.

They’re especially interested in writing that offers a transnational perspective or comments on the global narrative. They want to read writing by everyone, from everywhere, and they aim to showcase marginalized voices.

Cicada is published year-round, on a rolling basis. Submitting authors can expect a response within two months.

Poets may submit three to five poems, totaling ten pages or fewer. Authors of fiction may submit one short story, 5,000 words or fewer. Cicada welcomes flash fiction, as well as experimental styles. Authors of nonfiction may submit one essay, 3,500 words or fewer. Cicada publishes a wide range of nonfiction, from personal essays to original reporting. Cicada also welcomes English translations of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from any language.

The editors of Cicada have taken care to give specific stylistic guidelines for each genre. It’s a good idea to read these guidelines, along with writing published in Cicada, before submitting.

They also state “Please read the journal before submitting, in order to get a sense of what we publish and what we’re looking for. We are not interested in texts that engage in exotic tourism of Asia.”

Cicada accepts submissions via email, not by post or through an online submission manager. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work; however, they do consider excerpts of forthcoming publications.

Cicada 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 Cicada, 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.

When I first started writing my poetry collection, it didn’t occur to me to publish it traditionally. From the moment I decided I was going put it out there, I wanted to do it myself. I’d seen countless people saying their experience with self-publishing was a breeze. 

I’m a do-it-yourself baker, party planner, and gardener — surely do-it-your-self publishing was right up my alley. Oh, how wrong I was. It’s not impossible and can be very effective when done right, but make no mistake, there is much more to self-publishing than you may think.

I self-published my first poetry collection on February 16th and learned a lot throughout the process I’d like to share with you. In this article, I’ll share what worked well, what I would change, and what else you should consider before deciding if self-publishing is for you. 

Formatting/Typesetting Your Manuscript 

When I first started, I collected my poems in Microsoft Word (MS). With so many different versions of MS, I never knew if what I was using was as up-to-date as whatever the industry standard was. On top of that, there are many people (and platforms) who don’t use MS at all. Their preference is Google Docs or Pages (Apple). 

The easiest solution to this, for me, was to create a free Reedsy (Book Editor) account. There are three built-in options: Front Matter, Body, and Back Matter. 

The Front Matter sections include options for copyright, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, foreword, preface, and acknowledgment. Second, the Body allows you to separate your manuscript into parts and chapters. Finally, the Back Matter has space for your ‘About the Author’ blurb and a separate ‘Also By’ section. 

What I liked best about using Reedsy, was seeing my words in print. Anytime you want to, you can export your book to a .epub, .mobi, or PDF file. I did that various times throughout the editing and formatting process to make sure my poems were formatted the way I intended. 

It seems like a no-brainer, but I’m just going to put it out there. Before you embark on your self-publishing journey (or any publishing journey), have a completed manuscript. This is the very first misstep I took on this journey, which resulted in pushing what could have taken a couple of months to over half a year. 

Designing Your Cover Art

My favorite part of self-publishing was complete and total creative freedom. I had an image in my mind of exactly how I wanted my cover to look. 

Before I decided to publish with Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon), I used Canva to design my book cover. To be clear, Kindle does offer an option to design a cover with their cover creator. 

I chose a completely custom cover from scratch. Using Canva, you can choose your fonts, various shapes and details, and an image of your own, or stock images  from Unsplash or Pexels. 

While I love my cover as is, what I would have enjoyed even more would have been a smoother, more seamless transition, from eBook cover to physical book cover. Because I didn’t use Kindle’s cover creator, I had to format my cover to match their dimensions — which I may or may not still be working on.

Publishing Your eBook

When it comes to eBooks, what is the first retailer that comes to mind? For me, it’s Amazon’s Kindle. 

There are many other free eBook publishers out there. The 5 most popular are Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Barnes & Noble Press, Smashwords, Apple iBooks, and Kobo Writing Life. Before publishing and distributing your title, read the fine print regarding pricing requirements and distributing via different retailers. 

For example, through Kindle’s program, you have the option to enroll your title in KDP Select. What this means is your book will be free to anyone who has a Kindle Unlimited membership. You’re able to earn a higher royalty in some countries by enrolling in KDP Select, but you are committed to a 90-day time frame, and you agree to exclusively list your book with Amazon during this time. 

Takeaways

This is a high-level overview focusing on three essential decisions you need to make when self-publishing. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before making a decision:

• Are you a do-it-yourself person?
• Is your manuscript completed and polished?
• How do you plan to format your book?
• Where will you create your cover? 
• What retailer will you list it with to sell?

Another part we didn’t talk about when it comes to self-publishing is marketing. Marketing as a self-published author is a whole other challenge in itself. 

Marketing is something I’m currently working through, and truthfully, it makes the technical side of your self-publishing journey look like a breeze. For now, I’ll leave you with this — self-publishing isn’t for everyone, but when it is done right, it can be a great experience. 

Bio: Holly Garcia is a poet, aspiring novelist, and the author of a self-published poetry collection, All The Ways I Loved You, available now on Amazon. Her words can be found on Authors Publish, The Breakdown UK, and upcoming in InSPIre The Mind. Keep in touch here.