Submissions

Publishers Weekly

April 2012 Front Cover

JournalStone was established on April 26, 2009, in the San Francisco bay area, and officially became a company the following July. Like many Web sites today, JournalStone began as a Blog – a Web site established to promote a novel. Soon, the site was receiving 1,000 hits a day with a few hundred unique visitors. (View JournalStone’s current ranking on Alexa.com.) JournalStone’s founders dabbled in several ventures before settling comfortably into the publishing world.

JournalStone is now a small press publishing company, focusing on Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror in both the adult and young adult markets. We publish in multiple book formats and market our authors on a global level. In addition to showcasing new authors, JournalStone publishes a yearly anthology of collected short stories, and we host an annual contest for Horror Novels. We are also active with major writer’s groups (including the HWA) and produce a monthly newsletter with exposure to several thousand people. Our online presence and marketing effort is constantly expanding and recently we began our own forum. The company’s main goal is to publish quality novels that will showcase an author’s work and promote that work utilizing our evolving presence.

We do not charge any fees to any and all of our published authors or for any submissions.

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Summary of Benefits

JournalStone offers a wide variety of publishing benefits that will ensure your novel, once completed, will be a polished product of which you can be proud.

Our staff will work directly with you, offering a wide variety of benefits, including a listing on major Internet sites, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. We publish works in soft cover, as well as hard cover, and we distribute all of our books electronically.

Our staff works with the cover design and any range of editorial benefits, giving your novel the best possible chance at achieving not only literary recognition, but commercial success as well.

We also offer cooperative advertising opportunities. Please visit our advertising partners and check out our current or future advertisements.

Hellnotes, HorrorNews, Horror News Network, InnsMouth Free Press, Cemetery Dance Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Pissed Off Geeks.com, Library Journal, Dark Discover Magazine, Horror World, Nameless Magazine,

Core Publishing Benefits

1-on-1 personal support is guaranteed throughout the publishing process. We will care about your book as if we were the author.

Advances up to several thousands of dollars have been paid for select works.

Custom Cover design and layout by our staff of professional artists.

Interior layout and page design by our professional staff.

Free editorial benefits by our professional staff of qualified editors.

ISBN assignment and Copyright Registration for all published novels.

Registration with Library of Congress and major book distribution services including Ingram’s buying catalog.

Digital formatting and distribution of e-book, including distribution with OverDrive (The leading electronic distribution channel for libraries.

200 eBook and 10 free trade paperback copies listed on LibraryThing.com; 20 free trade paperback copies listed on GoodReads.com, ensuring your book has ample opportunity for reviews. While we cannot guarantee a favorable review, we have found this practice to be extremely helpful in marketing new authors.

Authors receive 10 free copies directly, for gifts to family and friends.

Social media consultation and suggestions on how you as an author can best promote your newly published novel.

Featured promotion for your book on our Web site, JournalStone.com, and our eBook store, Journal-Store.com.

Proofreading and Revision benefits:

Manuscripts which have received professional third-party editing will still receive benefits. Our proofreaders will review your manuscript for oversights that may occur, including misspellings, missing words, and errors in cross-references. In addition, our proofreaders will look for improper margins, word breaks, heading consistency, incorrect indents and word spacing as part of our interior layout design process.

Basic Editorial Benefits:

Copy-editing - One of our experienced editors will correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation and capitalization.

Style editing - In addition to reviewing your manuscript for any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, one of our editorial specialists will make suggestions to improve your sentence structure and word choice.

Advanced Editorial Benefits:

Sometimes referred to as book doctoring – If your manuscript needs attention beyond core editorial benefits, one of our editors will review the text for other stylistic concerns, such as content, plot, and pace.

Expertise and Care

We will put the finishing touches on your manuscript.

We are dedicated to providing the highest quality of product possible, and we, therefore, have hired only the best editors. We only staff experienced editors with advanced degrees. All have their own published work, in newspapers, magazines, or their own novels.

The bottom line is this: We will invest in you and your novel, fulfilling our mutual goal of combined success. We offer a partnership in the artistic accomplishment you have achieved, and we will work hand-in-hand with you, striving for a final product of which we may all be proud.

Guidelines for all submissions:

1. JournalStone currently accepts manuscripts with these themes: Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Paranormal in the Young Adult and Adult markets. We reserve the right to consider the subject matter and how best to utilize it. JournalStone does not practice censorship of any author’s work.

2. Submissions are free. We do not charge any fees to authors. If we approve your submission for publication, we will make the investment in you and your product.

3. Tell us the word count, genre, and a brief synopsis of the plot. Submissions without this information cannot be reviewed. Submit all materials via MS Word or PDF file. Do not paste your text in the body of the email. Please use 11 pt. Times New Roman font or larger, with single line spacing and 1 inch margins.

4. Submit the first 10,000 – 15,000 words, or to the nearest chapter ending. We publish works of 70,000 words or more. For short story submissions, please see our various contest guidelines.

5. We consider the quality of the editing in our review process. Please, fully proof read and edit manuscripts prior to submission.

6. Do not submit a work-in-progress. We only accept completed works. We do not currently accept short story collections (anthologies) from new authors.

7. Allow two to three months for a response to your submission. We may respond more quickly, but we cannot guarantee timing.

8. Please, do not send follow up e-mails. We will notify you when we place your work in the queue, and will contact you when we have completed our review.

9. Inform us if this is a previously published work. If you have self-published the same work, we would like to know the details about your effort. You may include website links in your email, to direct us.

10. We do not currently accept submissions by mail. Please send an electronic file only to Joel Kirkpatrick, at this email address: Joel@JournalStone.com with the subject: Submission – (title)

What happens when you submit to JournalStone?

JournalStone will review your submission and decide whether we can publish it. Often, authors receive comments about their text, prior to any approval, with suggestions for improvements, or clarifications in the story. While this does not guarantee a firm acceptance, it can certainly help, and can ease the next few steps.

If your work is approved for publication, our president, Christopher C. Payne, will contact you with a contract for your review. Upon acceptance of that agreement, we will begin to move your manuscript through the editing and development channels. This part of the process can take a few, to several months. You will be involved the entire way.

Once editing and development is complete, your new book will be printed in proof form, and it will be reviewed again for any additional work. You will get a chance to see it, too! When approved in that first printed form – your book is ready for the release! JournalStone will begin to distribute and promote your book, to make the world aware of it.

*These are general guidelines to the publishing benefits provided; the contract serves as the final agreement, between JournalStone (publisher) and all authors, for work undertaken.

Thank you.If you are an author, we want to hear from you, and about your current projects. We look forward to meeting your publishing needs!

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