Forever is the romance imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Grand Central Publishing is an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, one of the big five publishers.

Forever Yours is the digital sister of Forever, they focus on publishing unagented authors, and often publish authors without a publication history. They publish eBooks, but they an option to print on demand any book over 50,000 words in length.

Forever Yours is a way to get your foot in the door of a major publisher. They also give you the advantages most eBook only publishers don’t, thorough editing, and a marketing team,

Their website is well organized and easy to navigate. I personally don’t love reading all that red on white text, but I don’t generally read romance novels, so I am not the target audience.

They do not offer advances. Their royalties are 25% of net. They try to respond to all submissions within 6-8 weeks of receiving a submission.

Forever Yours accepts romance submissions from all subgenres, including but not limited to: contemporary romance, new adult, category romance stories, romantic suspense, western, historical, inspirational, paranormal, time-travel, and erotica.

To submit to them send them an email that includes a query letter, a detailed synopsis of your novel, and your completed manuscript formatted to be a RTF file.

They accept novellas as well as novels. The shortest works they publish are 12,000 words, the longest are 100,000.

To learn more visit their website here. To read their detailed submission guidelines go here.

Since 2005, Fairy Tale Review has sought fiction and nonfiction stories, essays, and translations. The journal is edited through the University of Arizona’s Department of English and published by Wayne State University Press.

Submissions must be related to the fairy tale canon. If there is a specific theme, it will be announced when the submission window opens via Submittable here. The theme for the 2017 issue is as follows:

For the coming issue, we are most interested in fairy tales that challenge the current political climate, fairy tales that resist outdated norms or binaries, fairy tales that reconfigure the faults of older stories, and fairy tales that expose abuses of power. Fairy tales with, as Kate Bernheimer has suggested, “radical strategies of survival. Ways to get out alive.”

Fairy tales that resist domination. Fairy tales that protest annihilation.

In addition to fiction, Fairy Tale Review accepts translations or short scholarly essays (400 word max) here. 

There are no reading fees.

Accepted contributors are unpaid, but are provided with two complimentary copies of the issue in which their work appears. Back issues of Fairy Tale Review are available in PDF format here and print copies are available through the Wayne State University Press.

MFA students at the University of Arizona maintain the Fairy Tale Review webpage. A down side of the otherwise user-friendly site is the generalized information on the FAQ page and no specific information on submission requirements. But what the FAQ page lacks in detail, the contributors page makes up for in spades. This page is an networking goldmine with past and current contributors’ professional websites, if available.

For more information, the editors invite correspondence at ftreditorial@gmail.com

Erica Secor earned her Ed.M. in English Education from SUNY Buffalo. She lives with her husband and dogs in South Carolina. When she is not teaching college English, she writes horror and non-fiction. Erica welcomes connections via @TheDavisGirl or LinkedIn.

I was guilty of one of the biggest mistakes many writers commit when querying their work with literary agents or editors – forgetting that literary agents, like many other professionals, are busy people. They also have clients far more important than the newbie, querying writer. In fact I was lucky to have even received a response from the agent. As writers we focus our time and efforts on drafting the perfect query letter that showcases our work and professionalism. The professional relationship continues long after the agent requests a partial or full manuscript or chooses to represent the author.

Jessica Faust of Bookends Literary Agency posted on her blog an incident of one writer threatening to send his manuscript to another agent if she didn’t respond within a given time period – she gladly allowed him to do so.

Threatening an agent or editor in the hopes of garnering a quicker response doesn’t work. I learned that the hard way – when Ms. Rutherford politely informed me that she also had other clients to promote, clients who had far more publishing experience than I did. She also sent me a form rejection.

Since then I have researched the common pet peeves that agents have. I am an avid follower of literary agents’ blogs and a fan of their pages. While agents and indie publishing house editors encourage writers to promote their work on social media platforms, there are a few things they prefer remain private. Rejections are one example. Posting about your rejection from an industry professional on social media is a definite no. Mentioning the agent or editor in your post or trashing them will only harm your writing career. Some agents do request links to social media sites and also go through your posts. The only exception to mentioning an agent or editor on social media is during a live Question and Answer session or a pitch war – in which case they may reply with a request for a partial and submission guidelines. Stalking an agent is also on the list of definite no’s.

Sending back a rude response to an agent or editor who rejected your work will only damage your reputation. A general rule in the querying world is to not respond at all to rejections. Industry professionals know each other and often talk to each other at conferences or events and, share their experiences with writers and querying writers. They also talk to their clients – the publishers. Publishers and editors do not want to work with someone who is difficult. If advice on improving the manuscript accompanied the rejection – appreciate it and use it. Remember many agents and editors have been in the publishing business for years and they have a pretty good idea of what sells and what doesn’t.

Agents and editors are people with different tastes and expectations, which is reflected in their requests. One may request a partial manuscript in the font courier new, while another may request you only pay attention to line spacing. A few may even request a hard copy. Each individual request must be respected. It’s no use complaining to an agent or editor that another agent or editor had no problem with your formatting. Instead writers should be prepared for requests that may require a full bio, links to websites or social media platforms or, a detailed resume.

Another rule when querying your manuscript is to only query one manuscript at a time. If you are querying multiple agents or publishers, you will have to let each one know – especially the agent or editor that requests your manuscript. It is also polite to let other agents or editors know if you have received an offer of representation or publication. Remember the publishing world is a thriving industry that requires professional and hardworking writers who are willing to learn and grow.