The articles are in no particular order. Click on a title to read the whole article, or skim the synopsis first to get a feeling for the article.

3 Free Writing Retreats

Writing retreats are a great way to get a lot accomplished in a short period of time. Most free writing retreats charge an application fee, not these three – they are entirely fee free.

How to Cope With Being Unsupported as a Writer

A great article by Chantelle Atkins on how to stay strong when your family and friends do not support your dream of being a writer.

52 Poetry Manuscript Publishers Who Do Not Charge Reading Fees

Unlike most of our list articles, we have never published full reviews of most of these publishers. However most traditional poetry publishers charge reading fees. This article is the most extensive list of fee free poetry manuscript publishers out there.

How to Write a Story That Gets Published

This article explores how to win the attention of readers and publishers.

Writing is My Job

Every writer, at some point in their career, has heard the words, “Writing isn’t a real job.”  How wrong they are.

How to Submit Your Manuscript For Publication

This article breaks down the practical elements of manuscript submission. A must read for anyone who is serious about submitting but hasn’t started yet.

The Top 25 Publishers For New Authors

This list contains publishers in a wide varieties of genres that are interested in accepting unsolicited submissions from authors without a track record.

The Six Month Novel Writing Plan

A new mother with full time job, successfully develops a plan to write and edit a novel in six months.

Thirty Literary Journals that Pay

Because it is always great to be paid for creative writing.

Five Reasons to Attend a Writer’s Conference

Writer’s conferences usually cost money to attend, which is why many writers avoid them. However, they often offer a lot more to aspiring authors than they charge to get in the door.

Why Writers Need to be Readers

A creative writing professor discusses the utmost importance of reading.

If a literary journal you admire is not on this list it is probably for one of the following reasons:

1. We didn’t review that literary journal this year.
2. We have never reviewed that literary journal.
3. They charge reading fees for submissions. We never review journals that don’t accept free submissions.

This year we reviewed over 50 literary journals, all of which we liked, and from those 50 journals we have picked these 12. Credit is owed to the wonderful Ella Peary who wrote most of these reviews.  Click on the name of the journal to read our review and visit their website.

Not all of the literary journals are currently open to submissions, but most are.

The list is in no particular order.

Banshee
A new Irish print literary journal that is off to a great start.

Escape Pod
An audio science fiction journal that publishes a lot of great work.

LitMag
This brand new literary journal pays very well.

Lady.
This literary magazine only publishes work by female authors. They publish a lot of good, compelling work.

Long Exposure
A literary journal that incorporates and explores visual art.

Poetry Magazine
The most prestigious and established poetry only literary journal.

Clarkesworld Magazine
This science fiction journal is well established and they pay well.

HORSETHIEF
A beautiful electronic journal that dabbles in print.

Door is a Jar
This journal prefers emerging voices.

Guernica
This literary journal has its finger on the present.

Valparaiso Poetry Review
A wonderful journal that publishes both the emerging and the established.

This year we were excited about most of the publishers we reviewed. We reviewed a larger proportion of excellent publishers than in previous years. That made curating this list more difficult than ever.

Below are the top publishers that we have reviewed in 2016. All of these publishers consider pitch or manuscript submissions from authors without an agent or previous publishing experience.

Not all are open to manuscripts or pitches at this time, but many are. We reviewed so many good publishers this year that it was hard to whittle the list down to just ten publishers.

If you are curious about the best manuscript publishers we reviewed in 2015 you can read that article here.

The list is in no particular order.

To read our full review of the publisher click on the name.

Kensington Publishing

This large independent publisher is based out of New York. They publish a wide variety of mainstream fiction and non-fiction, with a particular focus on romance. They publish an average of 600 books a year, so they accept a lot more submissions than most independent publishers. To get a good feeling for what they have previously published this is a good place to start. As far as I can tell they are interested in most genres except hard science fiction. They publish a particularly large range of romance, from Amish romance to LGBTQ.

Angry Robot

Angry Robot is a respected science fiction and fantasy publisher that occasionally dips into related genres (such as urban fantasy, steampunk, and horror). Angry Robot was originally funded by HarperCollins. They are now part of Watkins Media Ltd. They offer advances and good royalty rates. The contract they offer covers print, e-book, and audio book rights.

Turner Books

Turner publishes books in a wide range of categories and formats—fiction and non-fiction. They publish mainly in print but have electronic options as well. They are a major independent publishing house that has a number of imprints.

Arthur A. Levine Books