Amble Press is an imprint of Bywater Books. Both presses are based in Ann Arbor Michigan. Bywater Books focuses on publishing lesbian-and feminist-themed fiction and narrative nonfiction. They are currently closed to submissions.

Amble Press publishes fiction and narrative nonfiction from people who identify as a writer of color, as well as “those writing across the broader queer spectrum.” So far they have published eight books, including two by the managing Editor and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Michael Nava. You can see what they’ve published so far here.

Amble Press is currently actively seeking submissions in the following subgenres:

• Contemporary General Fiction
• Crime Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers
• Historical Fiction
• Action/Adventure
• Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Cli-Fi/Spec Fiction/Steampunk
• Graphic Novels
• Young Adult/New Adult
• Romance
• Narrative nonfiction
• Memoirs/Biographies

They focus on publishing underrepresented writers and are actively seeking unpublished full-length manuscripts (between 45,000 – 100,000 words) and graphic novels between 48 and 100 pages.

This is what Micheal Nava has to say about the imprint’s goals: “Amble Press will celebrate and amplify our community’s diverse voices, and the unique and compelling stories they have to tell. As the forces of reaction are empowered at the highest levels of society, the arrival of Amble Press could not be more timely and more necessary. Amble Press is committed to publishing books that are bold, entertaining, and of enduring value.”

All submissions should be made by email. They have an additional list of tips here and guidelines here.

They don’t have much information about the press on the site itself, outside of staff which are listed here. Their website’s initial copyright date is 2017. There is no information about distribution or sales that I could find.

The covers are mostly well designed and for the most part easy to navigate.

To learn more or to submit, go 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.

The Adriatic is published four times a year online, and each themed issue includes original artwork by an in-house artist. Previous themes include “ocean,” “home,” “mind & body,” and “pride.”

Right now through August 22, The Adriatic is seeking sci-fi themed poems. Poems may be written in any language, as long as an English translation is included.

Poets may submit up to three poems, three pages or fewer each. All poems must respond to the current theme: “sci-fi.” To create opportunities for unpublished poets, The Adriatic reads submissions blind.

The Adriatic accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They don’t accept simultaneous submissions, and they don’t accept previously published work. Poets may submit only once during each submission period.

The Adriatic only accepts submissions that adhere to the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you would like to learn more or submit to The Adriatic, please visit their website here and 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.

These magazines publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and they all pay writers. Not all of them are open throughout the month. – S. Kalekar

Diabolical Plots
They publish science fiction, fantasy and horror. Feel free to mix in other genres with these (like a fantasy mystery or a science fiction romance). All stories must have a speculative element. See the list of tropes/elements they particularly like, and also of the hard sells. They accept translations, as well. They’ll also open for a food-themed issue in October.
Deadline: 14 August 2021
Length: Up to 3,500 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here.

Westerly
­­­­­This literary magazine “has always sought to provide a Western Australian-based voice, although its contributors and subject matter have never been geographically exclusive. It covers literature and culture throughout the world, but maintains a special emphasis on Australia, particularly Western Australia, and the Asian region.” They publish short stories, poetry, memoir and creative nonfiction, essays and literary criticism. Non-subscribers will be asked to take magazine subscription as part payment for their work. Scholarly articles are accepted year-round.
Deadline: 20 August 2021
Length: Up to 3,500 words for fiction and creative nonfiction; up to five poems; up to 5,000 words for essays; 500-700 words for reviews
Pay: AUD200 for short stories and articles, AUD120-150 for poetry, AUD120 for visual art/intro essay and online pieces, AUD100 for reviews
Details here.

Vautrin
This is a print magazine that publishes gritty, urban fiction, crime/mystery fiction, and stories about ghosts and the supernatural – or a mix of any of these genres. They also publish essays – their guidelines say, “We’re interested in essays that talk about contemporary crime fiction, or essays that walk the path between, say, 19th century fiction and fiction in the here and now.”
Deadline: 1 September 2021
Length: Up to 6,000 words for fiction (no flash fiction); up to 5,000 words for essays
Pay: $130 for fiction over 2,000 words, $65 for fiction under 2,000 words, $50 for literary essays
Details here.

Uncanny Magazine
This award-winning speculative fiction magazine is open for short fiction submissions. Their guidelines say, “We want intricate, experimental stories … with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs. Uncanny believes there’s still plenty of room in the genre for tales that make you feel.” Please note, they are only accepting short stories in this submission window; do not submit poetry.
Deadline: 1 September 2021
Length: 750-6,000 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal).

The Puritan
This Canadian literary magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction – interviews, essays (accepts pitches), and reviews – and poetry from all over the world. They accept a limited number of fee-free submissions every month. They’re also currently looking for Editors in Residence for their blog, The Town Crier – this is a month-long virtual position and offers CAD200.
Deadline: 25 September 2021 for fall issue; reads year-round
Length: Up to 10,000 words for fiction, up to 4 poems; various for non-fiction (see guidelines)
Pay: CAD200 per essay; CAD150 for fiction; CAD100 per interview or review; CAD25 per poem (or page, capped at CAD80)
Details here.
(Another literary magazine open for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry is Mud Season Review. They seek “deeply human work that will teach us something about life, but also about the craft of writing or visual art, and work that is original in its approach and that in some way moves us”. Pay is $50. Though the deadline is 31 August 2021, submissions may close early if volume demands.)

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.

By Colin Newton

It’s perfectly understandable. An author, hot on the high of getting their work published and their online presence in shape, might start to keep a tally of how many clicks to affiliate links they’re registering. And while their click count goes up, their sales do not, at least not as much.

“I’m perplexed,” this theoretical author might say to their theoretical editor, using a very literary word. “I have tons of people clicking my link on social media X to visit purchasing site Y, but my sales aren’t skyrocketing. What’s going on?”

What’s going on is that there is a list of things editors and publishers wished authors knew. Some of them have to do with composition, some of them have to do with sales, but all of them are the kinds of boring things that can get forgotten in the excitement of writing, editing and publishing a new book. Think of these less as critiques and more as a cheat sheet of things to remember when you’re working on your book and getting it to press.

Regarding clicks and buys, while it can be a nice ego boost to watch clicks, they don’t necessarily translate into buys (think about everything you’ve clicked on but didn’t buy, or everything right now that’s parked, unpurchased, on your Amazon wish list).

And not to destroy anyone’s faith in humankind, but just because someone says they’re going to buy your book doesn’t mean they’re actually going to buy it. All those people who told you they are going to order your book as soon as it’s available—whether they said it in-person, online or via messenger pigeon—might not follow through. In other words, don’t trust their words. Trust the actual number of books sold.

Be careful about numbers though. A single purchase can dramatically improve your rank on a best seller list. Two purchases of a book will make it jump ahead of books that only had one purchase—and books with no purchases too.

This might sound obvious, but books cost money. They cost money to print and they cost money to ship. Before an author gets their cut of the sale of a book, the distributor and the publisher get theirs to cover those costs. And remember, authors get a percentage of the publishing house’s percentage, so don’t be surprised if your royalties aren’t quite as fat as you think they should be.

Also, those royalties take time. The book that sells today is the book you’ll get paid for later this year.

It’s important to keep in mind that, no matter how unique your book is, there is another book that is similar to it. That doesn’t mean your concept is unoriginal. It means that people who like to read certain books might like to read yours too. When an editor asks you for an example of a similar book, they’re not trying to diminish or pigeonhole your work. All right, they are trying to pigeonhole it a little, but just enough to help sell a few copies to the right readers.

Advertising isn’t a dirty word. You’re an author, not an adman, and you don’t have to show up with a three-step plan to launch the book. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be informed. If you learn a little about how a book in your genre is typically promoted and sold, that gives you an idea of how the publisher will be working on promotion and how you might be expected to help out.

If you’re still working on the manuscript, remember that character names are important. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry is named Tom, Dick and Harry. Do a little research—research is another word that’s not dirty—especially if you’re writing a character from a particular era or culture. Names and voices go a long way toward defining characters, so don’t be afraid to take time and have fun creating them.

On the other hand, don’t have too much fun. Your character’s name should not look like you’ve slammed your head against your keyboard. You might be writing a dark fantasy epic, and your elven twilight archer might be a member of the coveted Council of the Daughters of Thorn. But if her name takes longer to figure out than her resume, she’s going to end up being called “Debbie.”

And finally, before you send any house a copy of your manuscript, double-check the submission format guidelines. That helps the novel not appear in an editor’s inbox looking like a screenplay, a high school essay or a dinner menu. It usually takes two minutes to read the guidelines, and if you’ve been composing your manuscript in an industry standard format, it won’t take much longer than that to make sure it’s in ideal shape when you submit it to any editorial team.

If you can remember all that and put up with an editor’s constant tweaking, then editors in return swear to always get back to you on time, to never ignore your questions in the hope they will fix themselves, and to never give you vague or offbeat editorial feedback like “can you make this smoother” or “is this spelled right?” or “just give me more.” Speaking as an erstwhile editor, that’s a promise. Probably.

Bio: Colin Newton is a writer (and sometimes editor) from Los Angeles whose short fiction has appeared in the Ignatian Literary Magazine, Red Planet Magazine and The Fabulist Words & Art. He is an upcoming Rose Library fellow at Emory University. He currently blogs about media, monsters and metaphysics at IdolsAndRealities.wordpress.com.