Most of what they publish is between 70,000 and 150,000 words. They do not list a distributor on their website but they appear to have a lot of community support and many of their works get great blurbs.

Unlike most publishers they are not interested in queries. They have very specific outlines for what information they are seeking, in terms of personal information, which they make clear here. The editor also includes a complete list of tropes they are very much over, so that is also worth reviewing. It’s on the same page, you just have to scan down.

Do not submit unless you feel like your work is a good fit.

They ask that you submit your whole manuscript, and a short synopsis of the work when you submit.

To get a better feel for what they’ve published in the past, 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 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.

Now through May 2nd, Jaden Magazine is seeking poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction for their upcoming edition. Jaden isn’t themed; they accept writing on a wide variety of topics. Authors may submit up to three pieces in any genre. Poets may submit poems of 80 lines or fewer. Authors of fiction may submit flashes, 1,000 words or fewer each. Authors of creative nonfiction may submit essays, 3,000 words or fewer.

Small Leaf Press—Jaden’s parent publication—is also seeking submissions. They’re looking for short stories, 1,000 to 3,000 words, for their quarterly anthology themed “In Touch With Nature.” The deadline is May 2nd. Small Leaf Press pays authors published in the anthology. Additional details here.

Jaden and Small Leaf Press accept submissions online, not via email or by post. Jaden accepts simultaneous submissions but asks that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. Small Leaf Press does not accept simultaneous submissions for their anthology.

Jaden and Small Leaf Press only accept 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 Jaden—or to the Small Leaf Press short story anthology—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.

This article should also serve as inspiration for younger writers who have not had much success with publishing. Sometimes success comes later. One of the authors on this list published their first book after working on it for 33 years.

1. Harriet Doerr was an author whose debut novel, Stones for Ibarra, was published when she was 74.  Stones for Ibarra went on to win the National Book Award. It is a modern classic. It is also a personal favorite of mine.

2. Raymond Chandler started publishing short stories in pulp magazines in his forties, but it wasn’t until he was 51 when his first book, The Big Sleep, came out.

3. Elizabeth Jolley an English author who settled in Australia, started writing early on, but her first collection, Five Acre Virgin and Other Stories, was not published till she was 53. She went on to publish 20 other books and win many awards.

4. Richard Adams published the classic Watership Down when he was 52. He went on to publish over 20 other books after that.

5. Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn, a powerful novel about Vietnam, worked on his manuscript for 33 years. Matterhorn was finally  published when he was in his sixties.

6. Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of The Little House on the Prairie series did not start writing her series till she was in her sixties.

7. Frank McCourt,the famous and bestselling author of Angela’s Ashes, published his first book at the age of 66.

8. Daniel Defoe published his first novel, the influential Robinson Crusoe, at age 59.

9. Charles Bukowski worked at the post office and published the occasional poem and short story when he was younger, but it wasn’t till he was 51, when his first novel, Post Office, was published.

10. Bram Stoker, who is now best known for writing Dracula,  published his first novel when he was 50. He published Dracula 7 years later.

11. Annie Proulx, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Shipping News didn’t publish her first first novel Postcards till she was 57.

12. Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s short stories were published widely in magazines but it wasn’t till she was 57 that her first book Everglades: River of Grass was published.  The first sentence of that book now welcomes visitors to the Everglades National Park.

Bio: Emily Harstone is the pen name of an author whose work has been published internationally by a number of respected journals. She is a professional submissions adviser and spends much of her time researching manuscript publishers. You can follow her on Facebook here.