As a way of celebrating 2015, we have created a list of the top twelve literary journals we reviewed this year. We are not covering literary journals that we did not review or mention in a list this year. If one of your favorites is missing that is most likely why. Also, we never review a literary journal that charges submission fees.

This list contains a mix of journals, some are well known, others are not. This collection of journals focuses on promoting journals that are publishing consistently good work, even if the journal themselves might be more off the beaten path. These are journals that publish good writing and publication in them will help build your career.

Not all of the journals listed below are currently open to submissions, but those who are not tend to be re-opening to submissions in January. To read the full review of the journal (which includes the website link for the journal) click on the name.

The list is in no particular order.
1. After The Pause
After the Pause is an electronic literary journal that publishes one issue per season. They are always open to submissions. They publish each issue on the electronic magazine site Issuu. They publish poetry, flash fiction, and visual art. They plan to publish their first yearly print anthology in January 2016. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

2. Bitter Oleander
Since 1974, The Bitter Oleander has been publishing uncommon writing—poetry and fiction that unhinges the door of imagination. Beyond the contrivances of culture and habit, the Bitter Oleander brings readers and authors from around the world face to face with one another and their uncovered selves. Their pages host the lofty music of linguistic rhythm and the unforeseeable theatrics of deeply image-driven verse. They publish unheard of writers, often-heard writers, and all writers in-between, but they don’t publish writing we’ve all heard before—easy truisms and worn-out wording. They’re looking for honesty and invention in any form and style. To get a sense of their taste, you can read their featured work online.To learn more about them, read our full review here.

3. Up The Staircase
Up the Staircase is an online journal open to submissions of poetry, reviews, and interviews.They publish four issues a year. They pair the poems they publish with well chosen art and also sometimes with audio recordings of the poet reading their poem. Their website is easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

4. SOFTBLOW
SOFTBLOW is an online literary journal based out of Singapore that publishes only English language poetry. They publish work by three poets every month. SOFTBLOW usually publishes 3-5 poems per poet, and they are placed on the same page, underneath the author’s biography. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

5. Cease, Cows
Cease, Cows is an online journal of flash fiction launched in 2013. They aim to publish honest writing that unveils the animality within humanity, and strange writing that invites us to transcend it. They like prose that beats in sync with the cultural pulse and exposes its absurdist constructs. They publish fiction in any style, but especially appreciate magical realism and work that’s speculative, utopian, dystopian, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, experimental, and bizarre. With the tagline, “Life is short, and so is our fiction,” they call for concentrated submissions—potent and effective. To get a sense of what they publish, you can read past issues online. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

6. Cream City Review
Hailing from “The Cream City”—Milwaukee, Wisconsin—Cream City Review is a print journal dedicated to publishing poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, visual art, comics, contemporary literary reviews, and author interviews. Founded in 1975, Cream City Review offers both new and established writers a stable and enduring home for their work. Publishing poet laureates alongside literary unknowns, they aim to create a haven for authors to seek the limits of the contemporary literary frontier. Lively and arresting, the work in Cream City Review questions boundaries and dismantles the borders between form and content, redefining “literature.” To learn more about them, read our full review here.

7. The Gravity of The Thing
The Gravity of the Thing is an online literary magazine devoted to publishing original fiction, narrative nonfiction, and poetry. Their journal aims to present everyday objects in uncommon ways, to defamiliarize the reader with the ordinary, making it new and strange. They want their readers to be taken on a journey, to experience transformation that brings them someplace new. They like work that is aware of its form and uses structure to express its personality. Playing with possibilities of craft, each issue includes a selection of six word stories. You can read these micro narratives online, along with flash fiction and nonfiction, and featured poetry and prose.To learn more about them, read our full review here.

8. The Journal
Founded in 1973, The Journal is a longstanding print and online publication produced by Ohio State University. Debuting emerging writers alongside established authors like Mary Jo Bang, Brenda Hillman, and Linda Bierds, The Journal contributes substantially to the literary culture in its home state and beyond. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

9. Alaska Quarterly Review
Alaska Quarterly Review, hailed by many as one of the nation’s top literary journals, has made an indelible impression on our culture by publishing fresh, cutting-edge literary art. It all started 30 years ago when editor Ronald Spatz, wanting to revitalize the literary culture of Alaska, launched the magazine, housing Alaskan voices with both new and well-known writers of the lower 48. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

10. Image
Image, a print and online quarterly, publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction inspired by religious faith. They are a respected, competitive, and established journal that consistently publishes good work. To learn more about them, read our full reviewhere.

11.A Quiet Courage
A Quiet Courage is an online literary journal. In their own words they focus on publishing “compelling, poignant, memorable, and well-written microfiction and poetry in 100 words or less.” The title of the piece is not counted towards the overall word count. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

12. One Story
One Story publishes one short story every three weeks. They have a print and e-versions of the story that they publish. They have published a number of respected and best selling authors including Elizabeth Gilbert, B.J. Novak, Stephen O’Connor, and Aimee Bender. One Story pays all their contributors $500 per story and they also offer 25 contributor copies. To learn more about them, read our full review here.

Below are the top publishers that we have reviewed in 2015. All of these publishers are open to 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 twelve publishers.

There are reviews of some great publishers forthcoming in the next few weeks, so subscribers should keep their eyes peeled.

The list is in no particular order.

1. Evernight
Evernight is an ebook publisher of romance and erotica novels. They also publish print versions of some books. They publish a lot of books and have a relatively high acceptance rate. However most authors that are published by them seem to have had an overall good experience. A number of the books they have published have been on the Amazon Bestseller list. To learn more read our full review here.

2. Black & White Publishing
Black & White Publishing was founded in 1995 and is now one of the largest Scottish publishers. They currently have over 200 books in print. They are based in Scotland but they are open to publishing work by authors of any nationality or current geographic location. To learn more read our full review here.

3. Black Inc.
Black Inc. Books is a respected independent publisher based out of Australia. Their books are distributed through Penguin Australia. Even though they are based in Australia, they publish authors from all over the world. To learn more read our full review here.

4. Avon Impulse
Avon Romance is a romance imprint of HarperCollins. Avon Impulse is their digital first imprint and they publish primarily new authors because of this. If your book does well in terms of digital sales and it is over 25,000 words in length it will receive a print run and receive good distribution. Books that receive a print run are officially published by Avon Romance for the print edition (and not Impulse). To learn more read our full review here.

5. Hard Case Crime
Hard Case Crime is a well respected and established niche publisher of hard boiled crime novels. The publisher has been featured in a number of respected publications including Time Magazine and The Stranger. To learn more read our full review here.

6. Pajama Press
Pajama Press is a publisher of books for children and young adults. They focus on publishing literary works. They publish books that fall into a wide range of categories including: picture books, board books for the very young, middle-grade novels, young adult novels, and non-fiction for all juvenile categories. To learn more read our full review here.

7. Crimson Romance
Crimson Romance is an imprint of Adams Media, a large established publisher. Crimson Romance is a digital-first romance line that is open to submissions in five popular subgenres: romantic suspense, contemporary, paranormal, historical, and spicy romance. They recently started accepting LGBTQIA+ adult romances that feature a strong emotional/romantic journey between two partners. Romances where both partners are male are particularly encouraged. To learn more read our full review here.

8. The Poisoned Pencil
Their editor Ellen Larson has over 25 years of experience. They publish traditional and cross genre mysteries aimed at young adults. They publish print and eBook editions. They are able to offer their authors a $1,000 advance. They encourage teen authors to submit.To learn more read our full review here.

9. Peachtree Publishers
Peachtree Publishers is a well respected independent publisher with good distribution. They are based out of Atlanta Georgia and they specialize in publishing children’s books, young adult books, self help titles for parents and educators and guides to the American south. They also publish books on gardening and cookbooks, but usually only with a southern focus. To learn more read our full review here.

10. Witness Impulse
WITNESS Impulse is a digital first imprint of Harper Collins. They publish a wide variety of mystery novels, including digital editions by some of the most famous mystery writers of all time, including my personal favorite Agatha Christie. However, they also publish new and emerging authors. It is important to note that usually publish print editions of their books. However they always publish the digital version first. To learn more read our full review here.

11. Bloomsbury Spark
Bloomsbury Spark is a digital imprint of the large established publisher Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury UK was responsible for publishing Harry Potter. Bloomsbury US has also published many bestsellers both in terms of fiction and non-fiction. However Bloomsbury US does not accept unsolicited submissions from authors. Bloomsbury Spark does. To learn more read our full review here.

12. DAW
DAW is an imprint of Penguin that is open to manuscript submissions from authors without an agent. This is unusual and a great opportunity. DAW is a highly respected publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy. DAW has published authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Roger Zelazny. DAW has published many bestselling books and they have published Hugo award winning books. So they are respected and popular. To learn more read our full review here.

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