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The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade

Ever tried. ever failed. no matter..

Friends, it’s true: the end of the decade approaches. It’s been a difficult, anxiety-provoking, morally compromised decade, but at least it’s been populated by some damn fine literature. We’ll take our silver linings where we can.

So, as is our hallowed duty as a literary and culture website—though with full awareness of the potentially fruitless and endlessly contestable nature of the task—in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the best and most important (these being not always the same) books of the decade that was. We will do this, of course, by means of a variety of lists. We began with the best debut novels , the best short story collections , the best poetry collections , and the best memoirs of the decade , and we have now reached the fifth list in our series: the best essay collections published in English between 2010 and 2019.

The following books were chosen after much debate (and several rounds of voting) by the Literary Hub staff. Tears were spilled, feelings were hurt, books were re-read. And as you’ll shortly see, we had a hard time choosing just ten—so we’ve also included a list of dissenting opinions, and an even longer list of also-rans. As ever, free to add any of your own favorites that we’ve missed in the comments below.

The Top Ten

Oliver sacks, the mind’s eye (2010).

Toward the end of his life, maybe suspecting or sensing that it was coming to a close, Dr. Oliver Sacks tended to focus his efforts on sweeping intellectual projects like On the Move (a memoir), The River of Consciousness (a hybrid intellectual history), and Hallucinations (a book-length meditation on, what else, hallucinations). But in 2010, he gave us one more classic in the style that first made him famous, a form he revolutionized and brought into the contemporary literary canon: the medical case study as essay. In The Mind’s Eye , Sacks focuses on vision, expanding the notion to embrace not only how we see the world, but also how we map that world onto our brains when our eyes are closed and we’re communing with the deeper recesses of consciousness. Relaying histories of patients and public figures, as well as his own history of ocular cancer (the condition that would eventually spread and contribute to his death), Sacks uses vision as a lens through which to see all of what makes us human, what binds us together, and what keeps us painfully apart. The essays that make up this collection are quintessential Sacks: sensitive, searching, with an expertise that conveys scientific information and experimentation in terms we can not only comprehend, but which also expand how we see life carrying on around us. The case studies of “Stereo Sue,” of the concert pianist Lillian Kalir, and of Howard, the mystery novelist who can no longer read, are highlights of the collection, but each essay is a kind of gem, mined and polished by one of the great storytellers of our era.  –Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads Managing Editor

John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead (2011)

The American essay was having a moment at the beginning of the decade, and Pulphead was smack in the middle. Without any hard data, I can tell you that this collection of John Jeremiah Sullivan’s magazine features—published primarily in GQ , but also in The Paris Review , and Harper’s —was the only full book of essays most of my literary friends had read since Slouching Towards Bethlehem , and probably one of the only full books of essays they had even heard of.

Well, we all picked a good one. Every essay in Pulphead is brilliant and entertaining, and illuminates some small corner of the American experience—even if it’s just one house, with Sullivan and an aging writer inside (“Mr. Lytle” is in fact a standout in a collection with no filler; fittingly, it won a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize). But what are they about? Oh, Axl Rose, Christian Rock festivals, living around the filming of One Tree Hill , the Tea Party movement, Michael Jackson, Bunny Wailer, the influence of animals, and by god, the Miz (of Real World/Road Rules Challenge fame).

But as Dan Kois has pointed out , what connects these essays, apart from their general tone and excellence, is “their author’s essential curiosity about the world, his eye for the perfect detail, and his great good humor in revealing both his subjects’ and his own foibles.” They are also extremely well written, drawing much from fictional techniques and sentence craft, their literary pleasures so acute and remarkable that James Wood began his review of the collection in The New Yorker with a quiz: “Are the following sentences the beginnings of essays or of short stories?” (It was not a hard quiz, considering the context.)

It’s hard not to feel, reading this collection, like someone reached into your brain, took out the half-baked stuff you talk about with your friends, researched it, lived it, and represented it to you smarter and better and more thoroughly than you ever could. So read it in awe if you must, but read it.  –Emily Temple, Senior Editor

Aleksandar Hemon, The Book of My Lives (2013)

Such is the sentence-level virtuosity of Aleksandar Hemon—the Bosnian-American writer, essayist, and critic—that throughout his career he has frequently been compared to the granddaddy of borrowed language prose stylists: Vladimir Nabokov. While it is, of course, objectively remarkable that anyone could write so beautifully in a language they learned in their twenties, what I admire most about Hemon’s work is the way in which he infuses every essay and story and novel with both a deep humanity and a controlled (but never subdued) fury. He can also be damn funny. Hemon grew up in Sarajevo and left in 1992 to study in Chicago, where he almost immediately found himself stranded, forced to watch from afar as his beloved home city was subjected to a relentless four-year bombardment, the longest siege of a capital in the history of modern warfare. This extraordinary memoir-in-essays is many things: it’s a love letter to both the family that raised him and the family he built in exile; it’s a rich, joyous, and complex portrait of a place the 90s made synonymous with war and devastation; and it’s an elegy for the wrenching loss of precious things. There’s an essay about coming of age in Sarajevo and another about why he can’t bring himself to leave Chicago. There are stories about relationships forged and maintained on the soccer pitch or over the chessboard, and stories about neighbors and mentors turned monstrous by ethnic prejudice. As a chorus they sing with insight, wry humor, and unimaginable sorrow. I am not exaggerating when I say that the collection’s devastating final piece, “The Aquarium”—which details his infant daughter’s brain tumor and the agonizing months which led up to her death—remains the most painful essay I have ever read.  –Dan Sheehan, Book Marks Editor

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

Of every essay in my relentlessly earmarked copy of Braiding Sweetgrass , Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s gorgeously rendered argument for why and how we should keep going, there’s one that especially hits home: her account of professor-turned-forester Franz Dolp. When Dolp, several decades ago, revisited the farm that he had once shared with his ex-wife, he found a scene of destruction: The farm’s new owners had razed the land where he had tried to build a life. “I sat among the stumps and the swirling red dust and I cried,” he wrote in his journal.

So many in my generation (and younger) feel this kind of helplessness–and considerable rage–at finding ourselves newly adult in a world where those in power seem determined to abandon or destroy everything that human bodies have always needed to survive: air, water, land. Asking any single book to speak to this helplessness feels unfair, somehow; yet, Braiding Sweetgrass does, by weaving descriptions of indigenous tradition with the environmental sciences in order to show what survival has looked like over the course of many millennia. Kimmerer’s essays describe her personal experience as a Potawotami woman, plant ecologist, and teacher alongside stories of the many ways that humans have lived in relationship to other species. Whether describing Dolp’s work–he left the stumps for a life of forest restoration on the Oregon coast–or the work of others in maple sugar harvesting, creating black ash baskets, or planting a Three Sisters garden of corn, beans, and squash, she brings hope. “In ripe ears and swelling fruit, they counsel us that all gifts are multiplied in relationship,” she writes of the Three Sisters, which all sustain one another as they grow. “This is how the world keeps going.”  –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Hilton Als, White Girls (2013)

In a world where we are so often reduced to one essential self, Hilton Als’ breathtaking book of critical essays, White Girls , which meditates on the ways he and other subjects read, project and absorb parts of white femininity, is a radically liberating book. It’s one of the only works of critical thinking that doesn’t ask the reader, its author or anyone he writes about to stoop before the doorframe of complete legibility before entering. Something he also permitted the subjects and readers of his first book, the glorious book-length essay, The Women , a series of riffs and psychological portraits of Dorothy Dean, Owen Dodson, and the author’s own mother, among others. One of the shifts of that book, uncommon at the time, was how it acknowledges the way we inhabit bodies made up of variously gendered influences. To read White Girls now is to experience the utter freedom of this gift and to marvel at Als’ tremendous versatility and intelligence.

He is easily the most diversely talented American critic alive. He can write into genres like pop music and film where being part of an audience is a fantasy happening in the dark. He’s also wired enough to know how the art world builds reputations on the nod of rich white patrons, a significant collision in a time when Jean-Michel Basquiat is America’s most expensive modern artist. Als’ swerving and always moving grip on performance means he’s especially good on describing the effect of art which is volatile and unstable and built on the mingling of made-up concepts and the hard fact of their effect on behavior, such as race. Writing on Flannery O’Connor for instance he alone puts a finger on her “uneasy and unavoidable union between black and white, the sacred and the profane, the shit and the stars.” From Eminem to Richard Pryor, André Leon Talley to Michael Jackson, Als enters the life and work of numerous artists here who turn the fascinations of race and with whiteness into fury and song and describes the complexity of their beauty like his life depended upon it. There are also brief memoirs here that will stop your heart. This is an essential work to understanding American culture.  –John Freeman, Executive Editor

Eula Biss, On Immunity (2014)

We move through the world as if we can protect ourselves from its myriad dangers, exercising what little agency we have in an effort to keep at bay those fears that gather at the edges of any given life: of loss, illness, disaster, death. It is these fears—amplified by the birth of her first child—that Eula Biss confronts in her essential 2014 essay collection, On Immunity . As any great essayist does, Biss moves outward in concentric circles from her own very private view of the world to reveal wider truths, discovering as she does a culture consumed by anxiety at the pervasive toxicity of contemporary life. As Biss interrogates this culture—of privilege, of whiteness—she interrogates herself, questioning the flimsy ways in which we arm ourselves with science or superstition against the impurities of daily existence.

Five years on from its publication, it is dismaying that On Immunity feels as urgent (and necessary) a defense of basic science as ever. Vaccination, we learn, is derived from vacca —for cow—after the 17th-century discovery that a small application of cowpox was often enough to inoculate against the scourge of smallpox, an etymological digression that belies modern conspiratorial fears of Big Pharma and its vaccination agenda. But Biss never scolds or belittles the fears of others, and in her generosity and openness pulls off a neat (and important) trick: insofar as we are of the very world we fear, she seems to be suggesting, we ourselves are impure, have always been so, permeable, vulnerable, yet so much stronger than we think.  –Jonny Diamond, Editor-in-Chief 

Rebecca Solnit, The Mother of All Questions (2016)

When Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “Men Explain Things to Me,” was published in 2008, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon unlike almost any other in recent memory, assigning language to a behavior that almost every woman has witnessed—mansplaining—and, in the course of identifying that behavior, spurring a movement, online and offline, to share the ways in which patriarchal arrogance has intersected all our lives. (It would also come to be the titular essay in her collection published in 2014.) The Mother of All Questions follows up on that work and takes it further in order to examine the nature of self-expression—who is afforded it and denied it, what institutions have been put in place to limit it, and what happens when it is employed by women. Solnit has a singular gift for describing and decoding the misogynistic dynamics that govern the world so universally that they can seem invisible and the gendered violence that is so common as to seem unremarkable; this naming is powerful, and it opens space for sharing the stories that shape our lives.

The Mother of All Questions, comprised of essays written between 2014 and 2016, in many ways armed us with some of the tools necessary to survive the gaslighting of the Trump years, in which many of us—and especially women—have continued to hear from those in power that the things we see and hear do not exist and never existed. Solnit also acknowledges that labels like “woman,” and other gendered labels, are identities that are fluid in reality; in reviewing the book for The New Yorker , Moira Donegan suggested that, “One useful working definition of a woman might be ‘someone who experiences misogyny.'” Whichever words we use, Solnit writes in the introduction to the book that “when words break through unspeakability, what was tolerated by a society sometimes becomes intolerable.” This storytelling work has always been vital; it continues to be vital, and in this book, it is brilliantly done.  –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Valeria Luiselli, Tell Me How It Ends (2017)

The newly minted MacArthur fellow Valeria Luiselli’s four-part (but really six-part) essay  Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions  was inspired by her time spent volunteering at the federal immigration court in New York City, working as an interpreter for undocumented, unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Written concurrently with her novel  Lost Children Archive  (a fictional exploration of the same topic), Luiselli’s essay offers a fascinating conceit, the fashioning of an argument from the questions on the government intake form given to these children to process their arrivals. (Aside from the fact that this essay is a heartbreaking masterpiece, this is such a  good  conceit—transforming a cold, reproducible administrative document into highly personal literature.) Luiselli interweaves a grounded discussion of the questionnaire with a narrative of the road trip Luiselli takes with her husband and family, across America, while they (both Mexican citizens) wait for their own Green Card applications to be processed. It is on this trip when Luiselli reflects on the thousands of migrant children mysteriously traveling across the border by themselves. But the real point of the essay is to actually delve into the real stories of some of these children, which are agonizing, as well as to gravely, clearly expose what literally happens, procedural, when they do arrive—from forms to courts, as they’re swallowed by a bureaucratic vortex. Amid all of this, Luiselli also takes on more, exploring the larger contextual relationship between the United States of America and Mexico (as well as other countries in Central America, more broadly) as it has evolved to our current, adverse moment.  Tell Me How It Ends  is so small, but it is so passionate and vigorous: it desperately accomplishes in its less-than-100-pages-of-prose what centuries and miles and endless records of federal bureaucracy have never been able, and have never cared, to do: reverse the dehumanization of Latin American immigrants that occurs once they set foot in this country.  –Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads Editorial Fellow

Zadie Smith, Feel Free (2018)

In the essay “Meet Justin Bieber!” in Feel Free , Zadie Smith writes that her interest in Justin Bieber is not an interest in the interiority of the singer himself, but in “the idea of the love object”. This essay—in which Smith imagines a meeting between Bieber and the late philosopher Martin Buber (“Bieber and Buber are alternative spellings of the same German surname,” she explains in one of many winning footnotes. “Who am I to ignore these hints from the universe?”). Smith allows that this premise is a bit premise -y: “I know, I know.” Still, the resulting essay is a very funny, very smart, and un-tricky exploration of individuality and true “meeting,” with a dash of late capitalism thrown in for good measure. The melding of high and low culture is the bread and butter of pretty much every prestige publication on the internet these days (and certainly of the Twitter feeds of all “public intellectuals”), but the essays in Smith’s collection don’t feel familiar—perhaps because hers is, as we’ve long known, an uncommon skill. Though I believe Smith could probably write compellingly about anything, she chooses her subjects wisely. She writes with as much electricity about Brexit as the aforementioned Beliebers—and each essay is utterly engrossing. “She contains multitudes, but her point is we all do,” writes Hermione Hoby in her review of the collection in The New Republic . “At the same time, we are, in our endless difference, nobody but ourselves.”  –Jessie Gaynor, Social Media Editor

Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick: And Other Essays (2019)

Tressie McMillan Cottom is an academic who has transcended the ivory tower to become the sort of public intellectual who can easily appear on radio or television talk shows to discuss race, gender, and capitalism. Her collection of essays reflects this duality, blending scholarly work with memoir to create a collection on the black female experience in postmodern America that’s “intersectional analysis with a side of pop culture.” The essays range from an analysis of sexual violence, to populist politics, to social media, but in centering her own experiences throughout, the collection becomes something unlike other pieces of criticism of contemporary culture. In explaining the title, she reflects on what an editor had said about her work: “I was too readable to be academic, too deep to be popular, too country black to be literary, and too naïve to show the rigor of my thinking in the complexity of my prose. I had wanted to create something meaningful that sounded not only like me, but like all of me. It was too thick.” One of the most powerful essays in the book is “Dying to be Competent” which begins with her unpacking the idiocy of LinkedIn (and the myth of meritocracy) and ends with a description of her miscarriage, the mishandling of black woman’s pain, and a condemnation of healthcare bureaucracy. A finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction, Thick confirms McMillan Cottom as one of our most fearless public intellectuals and one of the most vital.  –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Dissenting Opinions

The following books were just barely nudged out of the top ten, but we (or at least one of us) couldn’t let them pass without comment.

Elif Batuman, The Possessed (2010)

In The Possessed Elif Batuman indulges her love of Russian literature and the result is hilarious and remarkable. Each essay of the collection chronicles some adventure or other that she had while in graduate school for Comparative Literature and each is more unpredictable than the next. There’s the time a “well-known 20th-centuryist” gave a graduate student the finger; and the time when Batuman ended up living in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a summer; and the time that she convinced herself Tolstoy was murdered and spent the length of the Tolstoy Conference in Yasnaya Polyana considering clues and motives. Rich in historic detail about Russian authors and literature and thoughtfully constructed, each essay is an amalgam of critical analysis, cultural criticism, and serious contemplation of big ideas like that of identity, intellectual legacy, and authorship. With wit and a serpentine-like shape to her narratives, Batuman adopts a form reminiscent of a Socratic discourse, setting up questions at the beginning of her essays and then following digressions that more or less entreat the reader to synthesize the answer for herself. The digressions are always amusing and arguably the backbone of the collection, relaying absurd anecdotes with foreign scholars or awkward, surreal encounters with Eastern European strangers. Central also to the collection are Batuman’s intellectual asides where she entertains a theory—like the “problem of the person”: the inability to ever wholly capture one’s character—that ultimately layer the book’s themes. “You are certainly my most entertaining student,” a professor said to Batuman. But she is also curious and enthusiastic and reflective and so knowledgeable that she might even convince you (she has me!) that you too love Russian literature as much as she does. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist (2014)

Roxane Gay’s now-classic essay collection is a book that will make you laugh, think, cry, and then wonder, how can cultural criticism be this fun? My favorite essays in the book include Gay’s musings on competitive Scrabble, her stranded-in-academia dispatches, and her joyous film and television criticism, but given the breadth of topics Roxane Gay can discuss in an entertaining manner, there’s something for everyone in this one. This book is accessible because feminism itself should be accessible – Roxane Gay is as likely to draw inspiration from YA novels, or middle-brow shows about friendship, as she is to introduce concepts from the academic world, and if there’s anyone I trust to bridge the gap between high culture, low culture, and pop culture, it’s the Goddess of Twitter. I used to host a book club dedicated to radical reads, and this was one of the first picks for the club; a week after the book club met, I spied a few of the attendees meeting in the café of the bookstore, and found out that they had bonded so much over discussing  Bad Feminist  that they couldn’t wait for the next meeting of the book club to keep discussing politics and intersectionality, and that, in a nutshell, is the power of Roxane. –Molly Odintz, CrimeReads Associate Editor

Rivka Galchen, Little Labors (2016)

Generally, I find stories about the trials and tribulations of child-having to be of limited appeal—useful, maybe, insofar as they offer validation that other people have also endured the bizarre realities of living with a tiny human, but otherwise liable to drift into the musings of parents thrilled at the simple fact of their own fecundity, as if they were the first ones to figure the process out (or not). But Little Labors is not simply an essay collection about motherhood, perhaps because Galchen initially “didn’t want to write about” her new baby—mostly, she writes, “because I had never been interested in babies, or mothers; in fact, those subjects had seemed perfectly not interesting to me.” Like many new mothers, though, Galchen soon discovered her baby—which she refers to sometimes as “the puma”—to be a preoccupying thought, demanding to be written about. Galchen’s interest isn’t just in her own progeny, but in babies in literature (“Literature has more dogs than babies, and also more abortions”), The Pillow Book , the eleventh-century collection of musings by Sei Shōnagon, and writers who are mothers. There are sections that made me laugh out loud, like when Galchen continually finds herself in an elevator with a neighbor who never fails to remark on the puma’s size. There are also deeper, darker musings, like the realization that the baby means “that it’s not permissible to die. There are days when this does not feel good.” It is a slim collection that I happened to read at the perfect time, and it remains one of my favorites of the decade. –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Charlie Fox, This Young Monster (2017)

On social media as in his writing, British art critic Charlie Fox rejects lucidity for allusion and doesn’t quite answer the Twitter textbox’s persistent question: “What’s happening?” These days, it’s hard to tell.  This Young Monster  (2017), Fox’s first book,was published a few months after Donald Trump’s election, and at one point Fox takes a swipe at a man he judges “direct from a nightmare and just a repulsive fucking goon.” Fox doesn’t linger on politics, though, since most of the monsters he looks at “embody otherness and make it into art, ripping any conventional idea of beauty to shreds and replacing it with something weird and troubling of their own invention.”

If clichés are loathed because they conform to what philosopher Georges Bataille called “the common measure,” then monsters are rebellious non-sequiturs, comedic or horrific derailments from a classical ideal. Perverts in the most literal sense, monsters have gone astray from some “proper” course. The book’s nine chapters, which are about a specific monster or type of monster, are full of callbacks to familiar and lesser-known media. Fox cites visual art, film, songs, and books with the screwy buoyancy of a savant. Take one of his essays, “Spook House,” framed as a stage play with two principal characters, Klaus (“an intoxicated young skinhead vampire”) and Hermione (“a teen sorceress with green skin and jet-black hair” who looks more like The Wicked Witch than her namesake). The chorus is a troupe of trick-or-treaters. Using the filmmaker Cameron Jamie as a starting point, the rest is free association on gothic decadence and Detroit and L.A. as cities of the dead. All the while, Klaus quotes from  Artforum ,  Dazed & Confused , and  Time Out. It’s a technical feat that makes fictionalized dialogue a conveyor belt for cultural criticism.

In Fox’s imagination, David Bowie and the Hydra coexist alongside Peter Pan, Dennis Hopper, and the maenads. Fox’s book reaches for the monster’s mask, not really to peel it off but to feel and smell the rubber schnoz, to know how it’s made before making sure it’s still snugly set. With a stylistic blend of arthouse suavity and B-movie chic,  This Young Monster considers how monsters in culture are made. Aren’t the scariest things made in post-production? Isn’t the creature just duplicity, like a looping choir or a dubbed scream? –Aaron Robertson, Assistant Editor

Elena Passarello, Animals Strike Curious Poses (2017)

Elena Passarello’s collection of essays Animals Strike Curious Poses picks out infamous animals and grants them the voice, narrative, and history they deserve. Not only is a collection like this relevant during the sixth extinction but it is an ambitious historical and anthropological undertaking, which Passarello has tackled with thorough research and a playful tone that rather than compromise her subject, complicates and humanizes it. Passarello’s intention is to investigate the role of animals across the span of human civilization and in doing so, to construct a timeline of humanity as told through people’s interactions with said animals. “Of all the images that make our world, animal images are particularly buried inside us,” Passarello writes in her first essay, to introduce us to the object of the book and also to the oldest of her chosen characters: Yuka, a 39,000-year-old mummified woolly mammoth discovered in the Siberian permafrost in 2010. It was an occasion so remarkable and so unfathomable given the span of human civilization that Passarello says of Yuka: “Since language is epically younger than both thought and experience, ‘woolly mammoth’ means, to a human brain, something more like time.” The essay ends with a character placing a hand on a cave drawing of a woolly mammoth, accompanied by a phrase which encapsulates the author’s vision for the book: “And he becomes the mammoth so he can envision the mammoth.” In Passarello’s hands the imagined boundaries between the animal, natural, and human world disintegrate and what emerges is a cohesive if baffling integrated history of life. With the accuracy and tenacity of a journalist and the spirit of a storyteller, Elena Passarello has assembled a modern bestiary worthy of contemplation and awe. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019)

Esmé Weijun Wang’s collection of essays is a kaleidoscopic look at mental health and the lives affected by the schizophrenias. Each essay takes on a different aspect of the topic, but you’ll want to read them together for a holistic perspective. Esmé Weijun Wang generously begins The Collected Schizophrenias by acknowledging the stereotype, “Schizophrenia terrifies. It is the archetypal disorder of lunacy.” From there, she walks us through the technical language, breaks down the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ( DSM-5 )’s clinical definition. And then she gets very personal, telling us about how she came to her own diagnosis and the way it’s touched her daily life (her relationships, her ideas about motherhood). Esmé Weijun Wang is uniquely situated to write about this topic. As a former lab researcher at Stanford, she turns a precise, analytical eye to her experience while simultaneously unfolding everything with great patience for her reader. Throughout, she brilliantly dissects the language around mental health. (On saying “a person living with bipolar disorder” instead of using “bipolar” as the sole subject: “…we are not our diseases. We are instead individuals with disorders and malfunctions. Our conditions lie over us like smallpox blankets; we are one thing and the illness is another.”) She pinpoints the ways she arms herself against anticipated reactions to the schizophrenias: high fashion, having attended an Ivy League institution. In a particularly piercing essay, she traces mental illness back through her family tree. She also places her story within more mainstream cultural contexts, calling on groundbreaking exposés about the dangerous of institutionalization and depictions of mental illness in television and film (like the infamous Slender Man case, in which two young girls stab their best friend because an invented Internet figure told them to). At once intimate and far-reaching, The Collected Schizophrenias is an informative and important (and let’s not forget artful) work. I’ve never read a collection quite so beautifully-written and laid-bare as this. –Katie Yee, Book Marks Assistant Editor

Ross Gay, The Book of Delights (2019)

When Ross Gay began writing what would become The Book of Delights, he envisioned it as a project of daily essays, each focused on a moment or point of delight in his day. This plan quickly disintegrated; on day four, he skipped his self-imposed assignment and decided to “in honor and love, delight in blowing it off.” (Clearly, “blowing it off” is a relative term here, as he still produced the book.) Ross Gay is a generous teacher of how to live, and this moment of reveling in self-compassion is one lesson among many in The Book of Delights , which wanders from moments of connection with strangers to a shade of “red I don’t think I actually have words for,” a text from a friend reading “I love you breadfruit,” and “the sun like a guiding hand on my back, saying everything is possible. Everything .”

Gay does not linger on any one subject for long, creating the sense that delight is a product not of extenuating circumstances, but of our attention; his attunement to the possibilities of a single day, and awareness of all the small moments that produce delight, are a model for life amid the warring factions of the attention economy. These small moments range from the physical–hugging a stranger, transplanting fig cuttings–to the spiritual and philosophical, giving the impression of sitting beside Gay in his garden as he thinks out loud in real time. It’s a privilege to listen. –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Honorable Mentions

A selection of other books that we seriously considered for both lists—just to be extra about it (and because decisions are hard).

Terry Castle, The Professor and Other Writings (2010) · Joyce Carol Oates, In Rough Country (2010) · Geoff Dyer, Otherwise Known as the Human Condition (2011) · Christopher Hitchens, Arguably (2011) ·  Roberto Bolaño, tr. Natasha Wimmer, Between Parentheses (2011) · Dubravka Ugresic, tr. David Williams, Karaoke Culture (2011) · Tom Bissell, Magic Hours (2012)  · Kevin Young, The Grey Album (2012) · William H. Gass, Life Sentences: Literary Judgments and Accounts (2012) · Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey (2012) · Herta Müller, tr. Geoffrey Mulligan, Cristina and Her Double (2013) · Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams (2014)  · Meghan Daum, The Unspeakable (2014)  · Daphne Merkin, The Fame Lunches (2014)  · Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering (2015) · Wendy Walters, Multiply/Divide (2015) · Colm Tóibín, On Elizabeth Bishop (2015) ·  Renee Gladman, Calamities (2016)  · Jesmyn Ward, ed. The Fire This Time (2016)  · Lindy West, Shrill (2016)  · Mary Oliver, Upstream (2016)  · Emily Witt, Future Sex (2016)  · Olivia Laing, The Lonely City (2016)  · Mark Greif, Against Everything (2016)  · Durga Chew-Bose, Too Much and Not the Mood (2017)  · Sarah Gerard, Sunshine State (2017)  · Jim Harrison, A Really Big Lunch (2017)  · J.M. Coetzee, Late Essays: 2006-2017 (2017) · Melissa Febos, Abandon Me (2017)  · Louise Glück, American Originality (2017)  · Joan Didion, South and West (2017)  · Tom McCarthy, Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish (2017)  · Hanif Abdurraqib, They Can’t Kill Us Until they Kill Us (2017)  · Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power (2017)  ·  Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life (2017)  · Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (2018)  · Alice Bolin, Dead Girls (2018)  · Marilynne Robinson, What Are We Doing Here? (2018)  · Lorrie Moore, See What Can Be Done (2018)  · Maggie O’Farrell, I Am I Am I Am (2018)  · Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race (2018)  · Rachel Cusk, Coventry (2019)  · Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror (2019)  · Emily Bernard, Black is the Body (2019)  · Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard (2019)  · Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations (2019)  ·  Rachel Munroe, Savage Appetites (2019)  · Robert A. Caro,  Working  (2019) · Arundhati Roy, My Seditious Heart (2019).

Emily Temple

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The 25 Greatest Essay Collections of All Time

Today marks the release of Aleksandar Hemon’s excellent book of personal essays, The Book of My Lives , which we loved, and which we’re convinced deserves a place in the literary canon. To that end, we were inspired to put together our list of the greatest essay collections of all time, from the classic to the contemporary, from the personal to the critical. In making our choices, we’ve steered away from posthumous omnibuses (Michel de Montaigne’s Complete Essays , the collected Orwell, etc.) and multi-author compilations, and given what might be undue weight to our favorite writers (as one does). After the jump, our picks for the 25 greatest essay collections of all time. Feel free to disagree with us, praise our intellect, or create an entirely new list in the comments.

The Book of My Lives , Aleksandar Hemon

Hemon’s memoir in essays is in turns wryly hilarious, intellectually searching, and deeply troubling. It’s the life story of a fascinating, quietly brilliant man, and it reads as such. For fans of chess and ill-advised theme parties and growing up more than once.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem , Joan Didion

Well, obviously. Didion’s extraordinary book of essays, expertly surveying both her native California in the 1960s and her own internal landscape with clear eyes and one eyebrow raised ever so slightly. This collection, her first, helped establish the idea of journalism as art, and continues to put wind in the sails of many writers after her, hoping to move in that Didion direction.

Pulphead , John Jeremiah Sullivan

This was one of those books that this writer deemed required reading for all immediate family and friends. Sullivan’s sharply observed essays take us from Christian rock festivals to underground caves to his own home, and introduce us to 19-century geniuses, imagined professors and Axl Rose. Smart, curious, and humane, this is everything an essay collection should be.

The Boys of My Youth , Jo Ann Beard

Another memoir-in-essays, or perhaps just a collection of personal narratives, Jo Ann Beard’s award-winning volume is a masterpiece. Not only does it include the luminous, emotionally destructive “The Fourth State of the Matter,” which we’ve already implored you to read , but also the incredible “Bulldozing the Baby,” which takes on a smaller tragedy: a three-year-old Beard’s separation from her doll Hal. “The gorgeous thing about Hal,” she tells us, “was that not only was he my friend, he was also my slave. I made the majority of our decisions, including the bathtub one, which in retrospect was the beginning of the end.”

Consider the Lobster , David Foster Wallace

This one’s another “duh” moment, at least if you’re a fan of the literary essay. One of the most brilliant essayists of all time, Wallace pushes the boundaries (of the form, of our patience, of his own brain) and comes back with a classic collection of writing on everything from John Updike to, well, lobsters. You’ll laugh out loud right before you rethink your whole life. And then repeat.

Notes of a Native Son , James Baldwin

Baldwin’s most influential work is a witty, passionate portrait of black life and social change in America in the 1940s and early 1950s. His essays, like so many of the greats’, are both incisive social critiques and rigorous investigations into the self, told with a perfect tension between humor and righteous fury.

Naked , David Sedaris

His essays often read more like short stories than they do social criticism (though there’s a healthy, if perhaps implied, dose of that slippery subject), but no one makes us laugh harder or longer. A genius of the form.

Against Interpretation , Susan Sontag

This collection, Sontag’s first, is a dazzling feat of intellectualism. Her essays dissect not only art but the way we think about art, imploring us to “reveal the sensuous surface of art without mucking about in it.” It also contains the brilliant “Notes on ‘Camp,'” one of our all-time favorites.

The Common Reader , Virginia Woolf

Woolf is a literary giant for a reason — she was as incisive and brilliant a critic as she was a novelist. These witty essays, written for the common reader (“He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so generously. He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole- a portrait of a man, a sketch of an age, a theory of the art of writing”), are as illuminating and engrossing as they were when they were written.

Teaching a Stone to Talk , Annie Dillard

This is Dillard’s only book of essays, but boy is it a blazingly good one. The slender volume, filled with examinations of nature both human and not, is deft of thought and tongue, and well worth anyone’s time. As the Chicago Sun-Times ‘s Edward Abbey gushed, “This little book is haloed and informed throughout by Dillard’s distinctive passion and intensity, a sort of intellectual radiance that reminds me both Thoreau and Emily Dickinson.”

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man , Henry Louis Gates Jr.

In this eloquent volume of essays, all but one of which were originally published in the New Yorker , Gates argues against the notion of the singularly representable “black man,” preferring to represent him in a myriad of diverse profiles, from James Baldwin to Colin Powell. Humane, incisive, and satisfyingly journalistic, Gates cobbles together the ultimate portrait of the 20th-century African-American male by refusing to cobble it together, and raises important questions about race and identity even as he entertains.

Otherwise Known As the Human Condition , Geoff Dyer

This book of essays, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the year of its publication, covers 25 years of the uncategorizable, inimitable Geoff Dyer’s work — casually erudite and yet liable to fascinate anyone wandering in the door, witty and breathing and full of truth. As Sam Lipsyte said, “You read Dyer for his caustic wit, of course, his exquisite and perceptive crankiness, and his deep and exciting intellectual connections, but from these enthralling rants and cultural investigations there finally emerges another Dyer, a generous seeker of human feeling and experience, a man perhaps closer than he thinks to what he believes his hero Camus achieved: ‘a heart free of bitterness.'”

Art and Ardor , Cynthia Ozick

Look, Cynthia Ozick is a genius. One of David Foster Wallace’s favorite writers, and one of ours, Ozick has no less than seven essay collections to her name, and we could have chosen any one of them, each sharper and more perfectly self-conscious than the last. This one, however, includes her stunner “A Drugstore in Winter,” which was chosen by Joyce Carol Oates for The Best American Essays of the Century , so we’ll go with it.

No More Nice Girls , Ellen Willis

The venerable Ellen Willis was the first pop music critic for The New Yorker , and a rollicking anti-authoritarian, feminist, all-around bad-ass woman who had a hell of a way with words. This collection examines the women’s movement, the plight of the aging radical, race relations, cultural politics, drugs, and Picasso. Among other things.

The War Against Cliché , Martin Amis

As you know if you’ve ever heard him talk , Martin Amis is not only a notorious grouch but a sharp critical mind, particularly when it comes to literature. That quality is on full display in this collection, which spans nearly 30 years and twice as many subjects, from Vladimir Nabokov (his hero) to chess to writing about sex. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s a brilliant old grump.

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories From History and the Arts , Clive James

James’s collection is a strange beast, not like any other essay collection on this list but its own breed. An encyclopedia of modern culture, the book collects 110 new biographical essays, which provide more than enough room for James to flex his formidable intellect and curiosity, as he wanders off on tangents, anecdotes, and cultural criticism. It’s not the only who’s who you need, but it’s a who’s who you need.

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman , Nora Ephron

Oh Nora, we miss you. Again, we could have picked any of her collections here — candid, hilarious, and willing to give it to you straight, she’s like a best friend and mentor in one, only much more interesting than any of either you’ve ever had.

Arguably , Christopher Hitchens

No matter what you think of his politics (or his rhetorical strategies), there’s no denying that Christopher Hitchens was one of the most brilliant minds — and one of the most brilliant debaters — of the century. In this collection, packed with cultural commentary, literary journalism, and political writing, he is at his liveliest, his funniest, his exactingly wittiest. He’s also just as caustic as ever.

The Solace of Open Spaces , Gretel Ehrlich

Gretel Ehrlich is a poet, and in this collection, you’ll know it. In 1976, she moved to Wyoming and became a cowherd, and nearly a decade later, she published this lovely, funny set of essays about rural life in the American West.”Keenly observed the world is transformed,” she writes. “The landscape is engorged with detail, every movement on it chillingly sharp. The air between people is charged. Days unfold, bathed in their own music. Nights become hallucinatory; dreams, prescient.”

The Braindead Megaphone , George Saunders

Saunders may be the man of the moment, but he’s been at work for a long while, and not only on his celebrated short stories. His single collection of essays applies the same humor and deliciously slant view to the real world — which manages to display nearly as much absurdity as one of his trademark stories.

Against Joie de Vivre , Phillip Lopate

“Over the years,” the title essay begins, “I have developed a distaste for the spectacle of joie de vivre , the knack of knowing how to live.” Lopate goes on to dissect, in pleasantly sardonic terms, the modern dinner party. Smart and thought-provoking throughout (and not as crotchety as all that), this collection is conversational but weighty, something to be discussed at length with friends at your next — oh well, you know.

Sex and the River Styx , Edward Hoagland

Edward Hoagland, who John Updike deemed “the best essayist of my generation,” has a long and storied career and a fat bibliography, so we hesitate to choose such a recent installment in the writer’s canon. Then again, Garrison Keillor thinks it’s his best yet , so perhaps we’re not far off. Hoagland is a great nature writer (name checked by many as the modern Thoreau) but in truth, he’s just as fascinated by humanity, musing that “human nature is interstitial with nature, and not to be shunned by a naturalist.” Elegant and thoughtful, Hoagland may warn us that he’s heading towards the River Styx, but we’ll hang on to him a while longer.

Changing My Mind , Zadie Smith

Smith may be best known for her novels (and she should be), but to our eyes she is also emerging as an excellent essayist in her own right, passionate and thoughtful. Plus, any essay collection that talks about Barack Obama via Pygmalion is a winner in our book.

My Misspent Youth , Meghan Daum

Like so many other writers on this list, Daum dives head first into the culture and comes up with meat in her mouth. Her voice is fresh and her narratives daring, honest and endlessly entertaining.

The White Album , Joan Didion

Yes, Joan Didion is on this list twice, because Joan Didion is the master of the modern essay, tearing at our assumptions and building our world in brisk, clever strokes. Deal.

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Pieces of Mind: 30 Great New Essay Collections

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100 Must-Read Essay Collections

Rebecca Hussey

Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes

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Well, essays don’t have to be like the kind of thing you wrote in school. Essays can be anything, really. They can be personal, confessional, argumentative, informative, funny, sad, shocking, sexy, and all of the above. The best essayists can make any subject interesting. If I love an essayist, I’ll read whatever they write. I’ll follow their minds anywhere. Because that’s really what I want out of an essay — the sense that I’m spending time with an interesting mind. I want a companionable, challenging, smart, surprising voice in my head.

So below is my list, not of essay collections I think everybody “must read,” even if that’s what my title says, but collections I hope you will consider checking out if you want to.

If you have a favorite essay collection I’ve missed here, let me know in the comments!

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The Top 10 Essays Since 1950

Robert Atwan, the founder of The Best American Essays series, picks the 10 best essays of the postwar period. Links to the essays are provided when available.

Fortunately, when I worked with Joyce Carol Oates on The Best American Essays of the Century (that’s the last century, by the way), we weren’t restricted to ten selections. So to make my list of the top ten essays since 1950 less impossible, I decided to exclude all the great examples of New Journalism--Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Michael Herr, and many others can be reserved for another list. I also decided to include only American writers, so such outstanding English-language essayists as Chris Arthur and Tim Robinson are missing, though they have appeared in The Best American Essays series. And I selected essays , not essayists . A list of the top ten essayists since 1950 would feature some different writers.

To my mind, the best essays are deeply personal (that doesn’t necessarily mean autobiographical) and deeply engaged with issues and ideas. And the best essays show that the name of the genre is also a verb, so they demonstrate a mind in process--reflecting, trying-out, essaying.

James Baldwin, "Notes of a Native Son" (originally appeared in Harper’s , 1955)

“I had never thought of myself as an essayist,” wrote James Baldwin, who was finishing his novel Giovanni’s Room while he worked on what would become one of the great American essays. Against a violent historical background, Baldwin recalls his deeply troubled relationship with his father and explores his growing awareness of himself as a black American. Some today may question the relevance of the essay in our brave new “post-racial” world, though Baldwin considered the essay still relevant in 1984 and, had he lived to see it, the election of Barak Obama may not have changed his mind. However you view the racial politics, the prose is undeniably hypnotic, beautifully modulated and yet full of urgency. Langston Hughes nailed it when he described Baldwin’s “illuminating intensity.” The essay was collected in Notes of a Native Son courageously (at the time) published by Beacon Press in 1955.

Norman Mailer, "The White Negro" (originally appeared in Dissent , 1957)

An essay that packed an enormous wallop at the time may make some of us cringe today with its hyperbolic dialectics and hyperventilated metaphysics. But Mailer’s attempt to define the “hipster”–in what reads in part like a prose version of Ginsberg’s “Howl”–is suddenly relevant again, as new essays keep appearing with a similar definitional purpose, though no one would mistake Mailer’s hipster (“a philosophical psychopath”) for the ones we now find in Mailer’s old Brooklyn neighborhoods. Odd, how terms can bounce back into life with an entirely different set of connotations. What might Mailer call the new hipsters? Squares?

Read the essay here .

Susan Sontag, "Notes on 'Camp'" (originally appeared in Partisan Review , 1964)

Like Mailer’s “White Negro,” Sontag’s groundbreaking essay was an ambitious attempt to define a modern sensibility, in this case “camp,” a word that was then almost exclusively associated with the gay world. I was familiar with it as an undergraduate, hearing it used often by a set of friends, department store window decorators in Manhattan. Before I heard Sontag—thirty-one, glamorous, dressed entirely in black-- read the essay on publication at a Partisan Review gathering, I had simply interpreted “campy” as an exaggerated style or over-the-top behavior. But after Sontag unpacked the concept, with the help of Oscar Wilde, I began to see the cultural world in a different light. “The whole point of camp,” she writes, “is to dethrone the serious.” Her essay, collected in Against Interpretation (1966), is not in itself an example of camp.

John McPhee, "The Search for Marvin Gardens" (originally appeared in The New Yorker , 1972)

“Go. I roll the dice—a six and a two. Through the air I move my token, the flatiron, to Vermont Avenue, where dog packs range.” And so we move, in this brilliantly conceived essay, from a series of Monopoly games to a decaying Atlantic City, the once renowned resort town that inspired America’s most popular board game. As the games progress and as properties are rapidly snapped up, McPhee juxtaposes the well-known sites on the board—Atlantic Avenue, Park Place—with actual visits to their crumbling locations. He goes to jail, not just in the game but in fact, portraying what life has now become in a city that in better days was a Boardwalk Empire. At essay’s end, he finds the elusive Marvin Gardens. The essay was collected in Pieces of the Frame (1975).

Read the essay here (subscription required).

Joan Didion, "The White Album" (originally appeared in New West , 1979)

Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and the Black Panthers, a recording session with Jim Morrison and the Doors, the San Francisco State riots, the Manson murders—all of these, and much more, figure prominently in Didion’s brilliant mosaic distillation (or phantasmagoric album) of California life in the late 1960s. Yet despite a cast of characters larger than most Hollywood epics, “The White Album” is a highly personal essay, right down to Didion’s report of her psychiatric tests as an outpatient in a Santa Monica hospital in the summer of 1968. “We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” the essay famously begins, and as it progresses nervously through cuts and flashes of reportage, with transcripts, interviews, and testimonies, we realize that all of our stories are questionable, “the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images.” Portions of the essay appeared in installments in 1968-69 but it wasn’t until 1979 that Didion published the complete essay in New West magazine; it then became the lead essay of her book, The White Album (1979).

Annie Dillard, "Total Eclipse" (originally appeared in Antaeus , 1982)

In her introduction to The Best American Essays 1988 , Annie Dillard claims that “The essay can do everything a poem can do, and everything a short story can do—everything but fake it.” Her essay “Total Eclipse” easily makes her case for the imaginative power of a genre that is still undervalued as a branch of imaginative literature. “Total Eclipse” has it all—the climactic intensity of short fiction, the interwoven imagery of poetry, and the meditative dynamics of the personal essay: “This was the universe about which we have read so much and never before felt: the universe as a clockwork of loose spheres flung at stupefying, unauthorized speeds.” The essay, which first appeared in Antaeus in 1982 was collected in Teaching a Stone to Talk (1982), a slim volume that ranks among the best essay collections of the past fifty years.

Phillip Lopate, "Against Joie de Vivre" (originally appeared in Ploughshares , 1986)

This is an essay that made me glad I’d started The Best American Essays the year before. I’d been looking for essays that grew out of a vibrant Montaignean spirit—personal essays that were witty, conversational, reflective, confessional, and yet always about something worth discussing. And here was exactly what I’d been looking for. I might have found such writing several decades earlier but in the 80s it was relatively rare; Lopate had found a creative way to insert the old familiar essay into the contemporary world: “Over the years,” Lopate begins, “I have developed a distaste for the spectacle of joie de vivre , the knack of knowing how to live.” He goes on to dissect in comic yet astute detail the rituals of the modern dinner party. The essay was selected by Gay Talese for The Best American Essays 1987 and collected in Against Joie de Vivre in 1989 .

Edward Hoagland, "Heaven and Nature" (originally appeared in Harper’s, 1988)

“The best essayist of my generation,” is how John Updike described Edward Hoagland, who must be one of the most prolific essayists of our time as well. “Essays,” Hoagland wrote, “are how we speak to one another in print—caroming thoughts not merely in order to convey a certain packet of information, but with a special edge or bounce of personal character in a kind of public letter.” I could easily have selected many other Hoagland essays for this list (such as “The Courage of Turtles”), but I’m especially fond of “Heaven and Nature,” which shows Hoagland at his best, balancing the public and private, the well-crafted general observation with the clinching vivid example. The essay, selected by Geoffrey Wolff for The Best American Essays 1989 and collected in Heart’s Desire (1988), is an unforgettable meditation not so much on suicide as on how we remarkably manage to stay alive.

Jo Ann Beard, "The Fourth State of Matter" (originally appeared in The New Yorker , 1996)

A question for nonfiction writing students: When writing a true story based on actual events, how does the narrator create dramatic tension when most readers can be expected to know what happens in the end? To see how skillfully this can be done turn to Jo Ann Beard’s astonishing personal story about a graduate student’s murderous rampage on the University of Iowa campus in 1991. “Plasma is the fourth state of matter,” writes Beard, who worked in the U of I’s physics department at the time of the incident, “You’ve got your solid, your liquid, your gas, and there’s your plasma. In outer space there’s the plasmasphere and the plasmapause.” Besides plasma, in this emotion-packed essay you will find entangled in all the tension a lovable, dying collie, invasive squirrels, an estranged husband, the seriously disturbed gunman, and his victims, one of them among the author’s dearest friends. Selected by Ian Frazier for The Best American Essays 1997 , the essay was collected in Beard’s award-winning volume, The Boys of My Youth (1998).

David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster" (originally appeared in Gourmet , 2004)

They may at first look like magazine articles—those factually-driven, expansive pieces on the Illinois State Fair, a luxury cruise ship, the adult video awards, or John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign—but once you uncover the disguise and get inside them you are in the midst of essayistic genius. One of David Foster Wallace’s shortest and most essayistic is his “coverage” of the annual Maine Lobster Festival, “Consider the Lobster.” The Festival becomes much more than an occasion to observe “the World’s Largest Lobster Cooker” in action as Wallace poses an uncomfortable question to readers of the upscale food magazine: “Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?” Don’t gloss over the footnotes. Susan Orlean selected the essay for The Best American Essays 2004 and Wallace collected it in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (2005).

Read the essay here . (Note: the electronic version from Gourmet magazine’s archives differs from the essay that appears in The Best American Essays and in his book, Consider the Lobster. )

I wish I could include twenty more essays but these ten in themselves comprise a wonderful and wide-ranging mini-anthology, one that showcases some of the most outstanding literary voices of our time. Readers who’d like to see more of the best essays since 1950 should take a look at The Best American Essays of the Century (2000).

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How To Publish A Collection Of Essays

by Writer's Relief Staff | Craft: Short Story Writing , Submit A Book For Publication , Submit A Short Story Or Essay , Submit Your Writing | 7 comments

Review Board is now open! Submit your Short Prose, Poetry, and Book today!

Deadline: thursday, february 22nd.

At Writer’s Relief we are often asked how writers can get their collection of essays published, and we recommend the following tips to help essay writers approach editors and literary agents with greater confidence and success.

How can I generate an editor or agent’s interest in my book of essays?

Publication credits . If you’ve previously published essays in reputable literary journals, make sure to include these credits in your query letter . We highly recommend that you build your publication credits before approaching an editor or agent with a collection of unpublished essays. The market for an essay collection is limited unless you have significantly newsworthy experiences or have a background that proves your writing has mass appeal. Wide publication credits will help indicate readers’ interest in your work.

If you are still in the process of building credits, investigate local venues for your essays—newspapers, newsletters, etc. There are also free specialty publications covering every imaginable topic (check out coffee shops and bookstores) that may be receptive to personal essays). Start locally but aim for national exposure for the best results. If you’ve published a personal essay in a reputable national literary magazine, you’ve increased your odds of selling a collection by quite a bit.

Theme . Collections do well when they include essays with a common theme. For example, David Sedaris is best known for his humorous essays, and C.S. Lewis once published a collection of religious essays. Other themes may include women’s studies, travel, sports, or city life. Unique themes get attention—people love to read about real-life experiences that are highly unusual—but even the most outrageous stories must be backed by good writing.

How can I find editors or literary agents who work with essay collections?

Research, research, research . Study the essay collections at local bookstores and libraries—and don’t forget to investigate the nonfiction areas such as travel, cooking, or parenting. Note who publishes these collections and what kind of essays are selling. Check the books’ acknowledgment pages for possible references to literary agents or editors.

Study book reviews and buy compilations of essays (for example, The Best American Essays ) to learn where each was published. And don’t forget about networking. Writers’ groups, college English departments, conferences—get to know fellow writers and ask questions.

Search for literary agents who welcome essay collections. You can find thousands and thousands of resources online and in bookstores. You’ll need to examine literary agency listings carefully in order to determine which are best for you. And, if you’re short on time, Writer’s Relief can help you. We maintain a database of information—current and constantly updated—to help you target your submissions more successfully. We’ve been helping writers get their work published since 1994.

Interesting, always go the independent route. Learn to believe in your own merit. Take your time when writing. Don’t get into this industry with the mindset that you are going to make copious amount of money. Frankly, the writung industry has been depreciated by too many 2nd-rate writers.

My essay project is “Integral Perspective Of The Human Factor In A Mechanical, Digital World Environment”. It is 14 double-spaced pages, consisting of 7 parts, an introduction, a brief conclusion, and my background. It is a positive response for thought and action in the dehumanizing trend we are living in technology, climate change, education, culture,economy, and interpersonal relations. I want to publish the essay if I can. Whether I receive any compensation is immaterial.

Hi, I am working on editing 20 essays from different writers,they share a main event in their journey which is the theme of the collection. Do you have any advise on how to find a publisher for such a collection¿ Thank you

There are a few options you have. You may find this article about querying for short story collections useful: https://writersrelief.com/2018/05/03/query-letter-genre-essentials-pitching-a-collection-of-short-stories-writers-relief/

Also, we’ve found that submitting your essays individually and having them published in different literary journals increases your chances of getting a collection of them picked up for publication.

My essays have been published individually, but now I want them in one publication without the editor’s having edited out some of my breezy writing style!!! I write on art/artists/events such as the Medici’s at the Met Museum and just about anything I feel like writing. I am published in two online magazines and have been published in print magazines.

I’ve only written one essay so far, but I’m confident that I can develop it into a “series,” so to speak. The essay was my response to a school assignment requesting a story about a tragedy or significant adversity I’d experienced and how I overcame it. I chose to write about my four-month-recent suicide attempt. The detail I went into is truly gut-wrenching, but it is my truth, and I need to live it and speak it unapologetically. I shared my essay with a few other staff members at my school, most of whom have provided me with encouraging feedback. If I were to continue the essay into a series, I would most likely focus on my mental health journey and the incredible ways in which it has impacted me. It’s always been my dream (a rather stubborn one, might I add) to write and publish a book, but I never knew I could publish a collection of essays. Truth be told, I wasn’t aware they were a possibility until very recently; a memoir and a poetry book were really the only ideas I had. But a series of essays compiled under a single main theme seems much more achievable and tolerable, especially at my age (I’m a minor). I haven’t the slightest clue how to go about making this dream into a reality, but I know for certain that I’m willing to try. As ambitious as I am, however, I can’t do it alone; I would greatly appreciate a bit of guidance from anyone willing (and qualified) to give it. I understand that I have a lot to learn – I’ve barely even grazed the surface thus far – but I believe I am fully capable. I’m young, yes; one would assume I have ample time. The hard truth? Life is short. That’s something I’ve already learned time and time again even prior to The Incident. I’ve fought this war my entire life up to this point, and I will never stop fighting it. That’s not okay, not by any means – but most things aren’t, right? As world-shattering as the truths that hide in the dark crawlspaces of Life are, they’re still the truth. They’re still my truths, still my stories. Stories I need to share with the world. There are people out there like me – more than we want to admit – and they need to hear my story. They need to see my strength to find within themselves their own. I am determined to fight as long as I must to give them that, and that fight starts with finding my own Village to help me. So to whoever may read this: if you are willing, capable, and qualified to provide advice or guidance, I ask that you please take a little time to do so, and I in turn will give you my time. Thank you to all who read this, and thank you to Writer’s Relief for giving me the space and opportunity to share.

Hi Isabella,

Thank you for reaching out to us, and for sharing your journey with us.

We recommend taking a look at our free publishing toolkit. There are numerous articles about writing, publishing, finding an agent, etc. https://writersrelief.com/free-publishing-resources-toolkit-for-writers/

We also think the following articles might be helpful: https://writersrelief.com/how-to-write-about-trauma-in-your-memoir-writers-relief/ and https://writersrelief.com/how-to-write-a-personal-essay-worth-publishing-writers-relief/

We hope these resources will help you with your writing journey.

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Urban Book Publishers: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

Urban Book Publishers: Philip Roth: The Biography

Urban Book Publishers: The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country

Urban Book Publishers: The Midnight Library: A Novel

Urban Book Publishers: Eight Hundred Grapes

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Urban Book Publishers: The Lost Apothecary: A Novel

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The Writer’s Journey: Where To Publish Personal Essays

Table of contents:, 1. what is a personal essay , 2. key features of personal essays:, authenticity: , individual perspective: , emotional connection: , 3. how to write a personal essay, choosing a topic: , organizing your thoughts: , adding details: , being honest: , 4. where can you publish personal essays, online literary magazines: , writing communities and blogs: , newspaper and magazine op-ed sections: , literary anthologies and essay collections: , online writing contests: , specialized niche websites: , 5. guidelines for submission:, 6. reading submission guidelines:, word count: , formatting requirements: , theme or topic preferences: , submission method: , rights and originality: , 7. craft an engaging title and introduction:, 8. polishing your essay:, proofreading: , clarity and coherence: , conciseness: , 9. originality and avoiding plagiarism:, 10. adhering to ethics and sensitivity:, 11. submission process and follow-up:, key concepts and profound details, conclusion:.

Just Press Play To Hear The Piece.

While no one can deny the power of personal essays, there are many reasons why you might be looking for a place to publish your own. You may have been asked to submit an essay to a contest or publication and want to know if it meets their standards, or maybe you’re just hoping to get some feedback on your latest writing project.

Whatever your reason is for Essay Publishing, book publishers New York  got you covered! Keep reading for information on where to publish personal essays and what they look like.

Personal essays are a great way for individuals to express their thoughts, experiences, and opinions on a personal topic. Whether a lighthearted tale or a heartfelt reflection, these essays give readers a glimpse into the writer’s mind and emotions.

To ensure that your essay is impactful and engaging, it can be beneficial to seek professional assistance. Ghostwriting services can help you bring your ideas to life and create a well-crafted essay that resonates with your readers. These services enable you to collaborate with an experienced writer who can transform your thoughts into clear and engaging prose.

Moreover, proofreading services can play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of your essay. These services involve meticulously reviewing your essay to identify and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Additionally, professional proofreaders can offer valuable feedback on the overall clarity, structure, and coherence of your writing.

It’s important to find your unique voice and share your personal experiences with the reader when it comes to personal essays. However, don’t underestimate professional assistance’s impact on the final result. 

When writing a personal essay, make sure that the following key features are included in it

Personal essays are all about being true to yourself. You can be honest and authentic, sharing your genuine feelings and experiences.

Each personal essay is unique because it comes from your viewpoint. It’s your chance to share what matters and how you see the world.

These essays often aim to connect with readers emotionally. Whether it’s joy, sadness, excitement, or contemplation, personal essays can evoke various emotions in readers.

By understanding and emphasizing the key features of personal essays, writers can craft compelling pitches to attract publishers’ attention. Pitching to publishers opens doors for personal essays to be published, shared, and appreciated by a wider readership, creating opportunities for meaningful connections and impact.

For Essay Publishing, you first need to know how to write it. Here is how you can write a personal essay in a few steps:

Select a topic, akin to finding a book title by its plot, that is meaningful to you…

. It could be a personal story, an idea, or an experience you want to share. 

Plan how you want to present your story. Consider the beginning, middle, and end of your essay. You also need to plan on formatting for publishing according to the requirements of where you want to publish. When you think through all of this, the process of writing an essay further can be easy.

Use descriptive language, as detailed in how a writer can edit a narrative , to paint a vivid picture for your readers. Include sensory details to make your essay more engaging.

Be true to yourself. Don’t be afraid to share your true feelings and experiences, even if they might feel vulnerable.

When it comes to sharing your work with the world, finding the right platform is crucial. Here are various places where you can consider sharing your stories:

These websites are like treasure troves of interesting content. Places such as “The Sun Magazine,” “Tin House,” and “Narratively” love personal essays. 

They’re on the lookout for captivating stories that touch the hearts of their readers. These platforms aim to collect different perspectives and thoughts, making them perfect for your essays.

Websites like “Medium” and “WordPress” offer spaces for writers for Essay Publishing. They provide an excellent opportunity to showcase your work to a broad audience. 

Additionally, Medium has a Partner Program that could reward you based on how much people enjoy reading your essays.

Consider sharing your essays with the opinion sections of well-known newspapers like “The New York Times,” “The Guardian,” or “The Washington Post.”

These places have lots of readers and discussions. Contributing here allows you to be part of important conversations happening in society.

Some organizations create collections of essays on particular themes. Submitting your work to these collections can get your essays published in print or online, giving you exposure to a wider audience.

Writing contests hosted by websites like “Writer’s Digest”  and “The Writer Magazine” are great avenues for getting your essays noticed. 

These contests often have different themes and offer prizes, making them an exciting way to share your stories.

Depending on the topic of your essay, there are websites dedicated to specific interests. Whether about travel, parenting, mental health, or lifestyle, these platforms cater to diverse topics, providing a perfect space for your unique stories.

Submitting your essays to different platforms requires attention to specific publishing contracts , guides and practices. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown to help you ace the submission process:

Before submitting, carefully read and understand the submission guidelines and publisher-author relations of the platform you’re interested in. 

Each platform has its own set of rules, preferences, and expectations for submissions. Pay close attention to details such as:

Ensure your essay meets the specified word count requirements. Some platforms might have a specific range they prefer.

Check for specific formatting guidelines, such as font size, spacing, or file format (e.g., .docx, .pdf).

Some platforms might have themes or topics they’re particularly interested in. Align your essay’s subject matter accordingly.

Note whether submissions are accepted via email, online forms, or submission portals. Follow the specified submission procedure.

Understand the platform’s policies regarding ownership of the content. Ensure your essay is original and not previously published elsewhere.

Capturing the attention of editors or readers starts with an enticing title and introduction. Craft a title, similar to how you’d write a thank you note , that reflects the essence of your essay and compels the reader to delve deeper. 

Your introduction should be engaging, drawing in the audience and setting the tone for the rest of the essay.

Editing and revising your essay are crucial steps before submission. Ensure your writing is clear, concise, and error-free. Here are some tips:

Check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation issues. Consider using grammar-checking tools or seeking assistance from a trusted proofreader.

Ensure your ideas flow logically and are presented coherently. Avoid overly complex sentences or jargon that might hinder readability.

Eliminate unnecessary details or repetitive information. Keep your essay focused on its central theme or message.

Maintain the authenticity of your work by ensuring it is entirely original. Avoid plagiarism by attributing sources correctly if using external references or quotes. Plagiarism can severely impact the credibility of your submission.

Be mindful of sensitive topics or personal information shared in your essay. Respect the privacy of the individuals mentioned and adhere to ethical considerations. Ensure your content does not harm or offend any particular group or individual.

Follow the platform’s submission instructions meticulously. Submit your essay within the specified timeframe, if provided. After submission, be patient. Responses may take time. If allowed, follow up politely if you haven’t received a response within the expected timeframe.

The world of personal essays offers a myriad of opportunities for aspiring writers. From online journals to renowned newspapers, the options are vast. Selecting the right platform involves understanding your essay’s theme, audience, and aspirations as a writer. 

Authenticity, clarity, and adherence to submission guidelines are paramount for Essay Publishing. Lastly, embracing your unique voice makes your essays resonate with readers across the globe.

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Philip Roth: The Biography

Appointed by Philip Roth and granted independence and complete access, Blake Bailey spent years poring over Roth’s personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and engaging Roth himself in breathtakingly candid conversations. The result is an indelible portrait of an American master and of the postwar literary scene.

Bailey shows how Roth emerged from a lower-middle-class Jewish milieu to achieve the heights of literary fame, how his career was nearly derailed by his catastrophic first marriage, and how he championed the work of dissident novelists behind the Iron Curtain.

Bailey examines Roth’s rivalrous friendships with Saul Bellow, John Updike, and William Styron, and reveals the truths of his florid love life, culminating in his almost-twenty-year relationship with actress Claire Bloom, who pilloried Roth in her 1996 memoir, Leaving a Doll’s House.

Tracing Roth’s path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth’s engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.

The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country

In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's riveting thriller, uncovering secrets in the past draws one woman into a killer's web.

On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe. Her poem “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” can now be cherished in this special gift edition. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this keepsake celebrates the promise of America and affirms the power of poetry.

The Midnight Library: A Novel

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors — and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead — not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case — with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III — or Win, as his few friends call him — doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism — and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.

The Hate U Give

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Want more of Garden Heights? Catch Maverick and Seven’s story in Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to The Hate U Give.

But with the odds decidedly not in her favor, Amelia knows this feeling can’t last forever. After all, what can?

The Lost Apothecary: A Novel

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

Good Company: A Novel

Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five.

Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?

With Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature tenderness, humor, and insight, Good Company tells a bighearted story of the lifelong relationships that both wound and heal us.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job—despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records. In early seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially black women, who dare to speak their truth. Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything. Provocative and chilling, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev features a backup chorus of unforgettable voices, a heroine the likes of which we’ve not seen in storytelling, and a daring structure, and introduces a bold new voice in contemporary fiction.

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Publishing a short story collection or a book of essays is a subject that attracts some conflicting advice.

On one hand, there are those who are immediately dismissive, saying many publishers don’t publish short stories at all (true), or short stories don’t sell (often true), or publishers will only buy a collection of stories from a well-known author (not exactly untrue).

On the other hand, there clearly are collections of short stories and books of essays being published and sold every year, and you can name some of them because they’ve been a tremendous success. So, it’s not like they’re imaginary or something.

You’re not being gaslit, it’s just that publishing a collection of short stories or essays is not all that straightforward. It’s not like publishing a full-length book – which is hard, but at least the route is clearer.

Muddying the water is that from time to time there’s an article saying ‘short stories are dead and over, no publisher wants to buy them’ or, alternatively, ‘short stories are enjoying a revival, as proof here are some famous writers who have published successful collections’.

It’s difficult to get a straight answer, because neither article is wrong – not even when they confuse you by listing bestselling collections while explaining how the form makes no money and is near extinction.

Do publishers buy collections of stories or essays?

Most publishers want full-length fiction and non-fiction. They buy collections of short stories or books of essays when, for good reason, they want the author on their list. Such a reason might be the rare occasions that the author or their short story or essay goes viral. For example, ‘Cat Person’ by Kate Roupenian. (You knew I was going to use that as an example, didn’t you, because it’s the only genuinely viral short story, and it went viral twice.)

Famously, Kate Roupenian got a two-book deal for a collection of short stories and a novel. In the US, the advance was seven figures, and in the UK, six figures. However, please note that it’s likely the vast majority of the reported advance, on both sides of the pond, was for the novel.

This is pretty standard when publishers buy a collection of short stories or a book of essays: they’ll buy the collection as part of a deal where the other book(s) are full-length, and only if they know they can sell the collection based on the success of one or more stories/essays already published, or on the author’s name, or their backlist sales.

Do short story collections and books of essays sell?

Books of essays or short stories may do well, but mainly when they’re written by someone with some profile, and therefore an existing audience. For example, it’s common for a columnist for one of the national newspapers to produce a collection of their columns: see Caitlin Moran’s backlist or, if you must, Jeremy Clarkson’s. Or, writers build up an audience elsewhere before publishing a book of essays – this is common among comedians and bloggers, such as Samantha Irby, who broke out as an author with her second book of essays We Are Never Meeting in Real Life .

Sometimes it’s the name and only the name: Tom Hanks’ collection of stories was clearly bought based on his enormous popularity. With the greatest respect to the nicest man in Hollywood, his stories – all featuring a typewriter – were otherwise unlikely to set the publishing world on its heels.

Do I need to be famous before I can sell my collection?

Stephen King is often trotted out as the name to beat when people want to discourage authors from trying to debut with a collection. However, Stephen King wasn’t always famous, and his path is instructive. He was publishing stories in magazines from the mid-60s. Carrie , his first published novel, came out in 1974. Night Shift , his first collection of short stories, wasn’t published until 1978.

Obviously, things have changed since Stephen King was first writing – you can put your work up on the internet and gather an audience that way, and self-publishing is much easier and cheaper now – but, if we’re using him as a model, the point is that he didn’t debut by publishing a collection of stories. He wrote and wrote and eventually placed short stories in magazines, then published a novel, then published a collection. Arguably, this is still the best model to follow in the absence of virality or fame from a place other than writing.

How should I approach publishing a short story collection or book of essays?

If you’re considering publishing your short stories or essays in a collection, have a think first. If you’d like to publish them traditionally, do you have the sort of platform that would interest a publisher? If not, can you build one up?

You could approach indie publishers who work with short stories, but it’s worth noting that if they buy a collection, they are likely to publish in an even shorter print run than a big publisher would, and neither is likely to reprint. If you did manage to sell all 3000 or so copies, the book will basically fall out of print and you should ask for your rights back.

Some people go straight to self-publishing a collection, but that’s an even harder road – all the difficulties of selling a self-published book, plus short stories aren’t a popular genre, so it will be difficult to do even as well as an indie publisher would with your work. Is that what you want? It’s fine if it is! But be aware, you’re almost certainly not going to get much money or recognition just because you jumped straight to a book of short stories rather than taking the longer route.

Get a track record first

If you want to be published traditionally and want a chance of selling a successful collection, then you need to play the long game.

Have you published any stories or essays in a magazine (print or online) or entered them into competitions ? Have you tried to build up a track record of your writing that would show existing interest in your work? Do that first. Literary agents read those magazines.

And apart from anything, if you go the other way around and publish the collection first, you can’t later place them in magazines or enter them in competitions – they’re only open to previously unpublished works. That’s important, because unless you are prolific, like Stephen King (nearly 45 stories in the 15 years before Carrie , 11 collections of stories in the decades since, 200 published stories – that kind of prolific) you may regret having already published your best ones in a collection that didn’t make many sales or get you noticed.

Maybe you’re an outlier. Maybe you can find a different way of doing things. But it’s unlikely.

All I’m really suggesting is you make a plan that builds to publishing a collection of short stories, or a book of essays, rather than putting it first on your list.

And if you want help with that plan, you might benefit from a mini consultation with me.

This post was first published on 15th August 2021.

More from the blog

• Interpreting 3 Kinds of Rejection by Agents and Publishers
• How Can I Make Time to Write a Book? 6 Practical Ways to Achieve Your Goal
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9 Presses That Accept Unsolicited Manuscripts

Do you have a book-length manuscript that is ready to submit? Consider sending it to one (or many) of these nine awesome presses that accept unsolicited manuscripts. We are huge fans of these presses and are so grateful for the work that they do. So go ahead: check out this list of opportunities.

This independent press only publishes up to three titles per year, but welcomes submissions of literary fiction and creative nonfiction. Their writers include M. Allen Cunningham, Margaret Malone, Harriet Scott Chessman, and others. Atelier26’s books have been recognized by the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, the Flann O’Brien Award, and more. Check it out.

Black Balloon

This publisher is an acclaimed imprint of Catapult, an independent publisher that also offers online and in-person writing classes and fosters new and emerging writers. Black Balloon is seeking fiction and narrative nonfiction with an innovative writing style and unique voice. Their books have been featured in The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, O: The Oprah Magazine, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Atlantic, and NPR’s All Things Considered, among others. They accept manuscript submissions via Submittable twice yearly. Read more about Black Balloon here.

Coffee House Press

This is a small press that publishes literary novels, full-length short story collections, poetry, creative nonfiction, book-length essays and essay collections, and memoir. Their next reading period opens on September 1st, 2018, and is capped at three hundred, so it’s best to submit promptly. They have published Gabe Habash, Hernan Diaz, Eimear McBride, and others. Visit the Coffee House site for more information.

Two Dollar Radio

This acclaimed, boutique press has published exceptional writers such as Masande Ntshanga, Sarah Gerard, Shane Jones, and others. Their books have been recognized by the National Book Foundation, picked as “Editor’s Choice” by The New York Times Book Review , and made best-of lists at several other publications. For more details, check out their site.

This acclaimed publishing project is looking for fiction and nonfiction written by women. They have published writers such as Renee Gladman, Joanna Ruocco, and Marianne Fritz. Each fall, they publish two books simultaneously. More information is available on their website.

Fiction Advocate

This small press focuses on publishing fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary criticism by new and emerging voices. Submissions are currently open for both book-length works of literary criticism and novels. Their books have won multiple awards and been recognized by The New Yorker, Bookforum, and NPR. Learn more about it here.

SF/LD Books

Short Flight/Long Drive Books is currently accepting submissions. They are looking for poetry collections, short story collections, nonfiction, novels, novellas, and essay collections. Their authors include Chloe Caldwell, Elizabeth Ellen, Chelsea Martin, and others. Go for it!

Pank, originally a literary journal founded by M. Bartley Seigel and Roxane Gay, is going to be publishing full-length books for the first time beginning in 2018. This press is looking for poetry, novels, short story collections, and multi-genre work. You c an submit here.

Dzanc Books

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative writing with a $10,000 advance and book publication. Although the deadline for this is September 15th, this is a very worthy press to follow for yearly opportunities such as these. They have published writers such as Yannick Murphy, Suzanne Burns, Roy Kesey, and others. Learn more about Dzanc here.

by Julia Mucha

Summer Short Story Award 3rd Place: “Iron Boy Kills the Devil” by Sheldon Costa

Happy thanksgiving.

4 New Agents Seeking Memoir, Short Story Collections, Literary and Commercial Fiction, Horror, Kidlit and more

Erica Verrillo

Curiosity Never Killed the Writer

H ere are four new agents actively building their client lists. Siobhan McBride specializes in literary and commercial fiction — including mystery and crime, suspense, and psychological horror — and narrative nonfiction, including memoir. She is interested in reading about marginalized voices, strong females, gender issues (men and women), class divide, mental health issues, self-help and psychology, as well as dystopian themes and fantastic fiction.

Sophie Pugh-Sellers is looking for both fiction and nonfiction projects, particularly innovative takes on classical narrative elements and stories told by radical new voices. Arlie Johansen is interested in literary fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and feminist nonfiction. She particularly enjoys short story and essay collections, and both fiction and nonfiction that elevates traditionally underrepresented voices. Larissa Melo Pienkowski is seeking picture books, YA, speculative fiction, magical realism, memoir, narrative nonfiction, cookbooks, and poetry.

Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.

You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients .

___________________________

Siobhan McBride of Carnicelli Literary Management

Siobhan McBride, associate agent, joined CLM in 2020, after having held positions at Sobel Weber Associates and Serendipity Literary Agency and internships at W.W. Norton and Writers House. At Serendipity, she gained a thorough knowledge of young adult literature, nonfiction health, advice, and how-to, and mystery and crime fiction. At Sobel Weber, she built on her love of mystery, crime, and literary fiction and developed an interest in psychology and fantasy fiction, working with Southern crime fiction authors Tom Franklin and Brian Panowich, crime/science fiction author Dan Stout, and mystery writer Peter Swanson.

What she is seeking : Siobhan specializes in literary and commercial fiction — including mystery and crime, suspense, and psychological horror — and narrative nonfiction, including memoir. She is interested in reading about marginalized voices, strong females, gender issues (men and women), class divide, mental health issues, self-help and psychology, as well as dystopian themes and fantastic fiction. She especially loves finding stories that haunt her (physically/philosophically/spiritually) for weeks after reading.

How to submit : Please use the form HERE .

Ms. Sophie Pugh-Sellers of The Gernert Company

Sophie joined The Gernert Company in 2019, and holds a BA in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies from Barnard College. Raised in Oakland, California and Charlottesville, Virginia, her literary palate is as eclectic and complex as her two hometowns. All of her favorite writing includes characters, language, and worlds so powerful that she misses them long after closing the book. She lives in Washington Heights.

What she is seeking : She is looking for both fiction and nonfiction projects, particularly innovative takes on classical narrative elements and stories told by radical new voices.

How to submit : Queries by e-mail should be directed to: [email protected]. Please indicate in your letter which agent you are querying.

Arlie Johansen of Aevitas

Arlie Johansen graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a BA in English, and minors in Journalism and Creative Writing. She joined Aevitas in 2019, after attending the Columbia Publishing Course in 2017 and subsequently interning at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Soho Press, and the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.

What she is seeking : Arlie is interested in literary fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and feminist nonfiction. She particularly enjoys short story and essay collections, and both fiction and nonfiction that elevates traditionally underrepresented voices.

How to submit : Use Arlie’s form HERE .

Larissa Melo Pienkowski of Jill Grinberg Literary Management

Larissa Melo Pienkowski grew up outside of Boston and attended Simmons University, where she earned her degree in Social Work and Sociology, performed poetry competitively and recreationally, and edited a number of literary magazines. Larissa later went on to receive her MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College, where she worked with the likes of Beacon Press and Barefoot Books, before becoming the assistant publisher of a small indie press. She joined Jill Grinberg Literary Management in 2020 and is now working to build her list. The daughter of Brazilian and Polish immigrants, Larissa speaks Portuguese and Spanish and travels to experience as much of the world as possible — always with a good book in hand

What she is seeking : In fiction, she is looking for character-driven, idiosyncratic stories that center underrepresented voices; braided, multigenerational narratives that make her cry; powerful stories of migration, diaspora, and displacement; haunting, atmospheric speculative fiction and magical realism in the vein of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties and Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, respectively; modern re-imaginings of mythology for adult and YA readers; quirky coming-of-age stories about identity and the gritty yet relatable parts of life; and well-researched historical fiction that immerses her in another world. She has a soft spot for novels that stretch the boundaries and limitations of genre.

On the non-fiction side, she is seeking emotionally searing memoirs from underrepresented perspectives; journalistic reporting that blends seamlessly with personal narrative; cookbooks that feature diverse cuisines; essay collections that chronicle contemporary life through the lens of social justice; niche cultural history and criticism; and radically transformative spiritual/self-help titles.

Larissa likes poetry that addresses contemporary themes while striking her in the heart. She is also open to funny, whimsical picture books in which children can see a reflection of themselves.

As an advocate for authors from marginalized communities, Larissa is especially interested in representing diverse voices and experiences across all genres.

How to submit : Please submit to info@ jillgrinbergliterary.com

Your email subject line should follow this general format: QUERY: Title of Project by Your Name / Age Category/Genre / ATTN: Name of Agent.

Please paste your query letter in the body of the email and attach your materials as a docx. file.

For all fiction submissions, please send a query letter and the first fifty (50) pages of your manuscript. If we are interested in reading more, we will reach out to request the full manuscript.

For all nonfiction submissions, please send a query letter and complete proposal. Your nonfiction proposal should include a project overview or outline, proposed chapter summaries, comparable titles, a sample chapter, your biography, and a bibliography of any additional works. You may also include promotional ties/materials if relevant.

Picture book submissions should include the full text. If you are working with an illustrator or have illustrated your own book, please provide full-color images or the fully illustrated text. If applicable, you can provide a link to the illustrator’s online portfolio or website.

Like this article? For more articles about the publishing world, useful tips on how to get an agent, agents who are looking for clients, how to market and promote your work, building your online platform, how to get reviews, self-publishing, as well as publishers accepting manuscripts directly from writers (no agent required) visit Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity .

Written by Erica Verrillo

Helping writers get published and bolstering their flagging spirits at http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/

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Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Essay collections.

I have written a collection (55k words) of memoir essays...sort of a memoir of unconnected chapters. I've sold some that have been published in large and small magazines. I have queried a zillion agents without success and have concluded that unless the author has some celebrity, agents (and the large publishers) are not interested in this sort of thing. Just too uncertain to make enough money to justify the time and effort. I'm okay with that. I am thinking I might try the small publishers directly. I am not interested in self publishing at all. May I ask for any advice you might offer.

73 comments:

Good tips here, Janet. Doesn't platform count for something if you happen to be one of the "exceptions"? You may not have a perspective on a major historical event, but you write about life and the world about you in a way that evidently others enjoy. That "evidently" is demonstrated by the fact you have a huge blog following, or you're a regular commentator on NPR, or millions of Twitter followers hang on your every tweet. Something about the author's memoir, or essay collection, has to tell the editor, "Lots of people will buy this." Another crushing truth about publishing is, yes, they're in it for the money first and foremost. That seems harsh to us arty types who like being creative because that's who we are, and financial gain isn't paramount in our minds. But publishing's a business filled with people who want to feed their families, put gas in their cars, pay their bills, and maybe buy some nice things. Thanks for asking your q., Opie. Good insights, Janet--thank YOU! :)

Opie: that's also a problem in novels, having episodic chapters that don't have a larger "narrative arc" as Janet writes. Is there someway you can organize the essays so that there is an arc? A larger overall point? I'm thinking of Chicken Soup of the Soul type books. What made them such a sell-out (are they still?) Janet, are you able to share, in vague-protect-privacy language, what it was about the memoirs that you thought had real potential but received no nibbles?

"No, not everyone has led a life that's interesting to other people." ^^ This is one of those things that I think we often forget about simply because it's an unpleasant reality. There are some people who have lives I'd love to read about—ahem...Julie Weathers...ahem—and others, like myself, who have led a life that people would not want to pay to read about.(not necessarily dull but not salable either) Side note: I think many people think of smaller publishers as a sort of fallback, which isn't necessarily the best approach.

Well hello, I could have been today's Opie but I am not. My memoir collection (essays/articles/columns)connects to readers in a general sense as shared experience with insight. Some are funny, informative and quite moving. The book's arc and flow carries readers along my life/writing path from first published piece as, why I wrote what I wrote and what happened after. And I have built a platform, of sorts, above my minnow in a mud puddle fame. A winner right? Slams on brakes here. Like you Opie, I have queried a bazillion times and the response from some agents has been very supportive and actually quite respectful and nice. Makes me feel as if writing the book was the right thing to do but not at the right time. And that is because in order for a memoir like mine, and perhaps yours, to make it we have to do, at least, two things. Publish books that make people want to read about us the author OR write something that goes so viral readers clamor to know who we are and what we are about. I have often called "query" a four letter word for all writers, but for essayists like us, "platform" should be spelled WTF. Taking a memoir class helps, I did that. Everybody there had a story, some amazing, some self-serving, some just plain BS. But what I really learned was to ask myself, "the question": What would make someone want to spend twenty bucks on your story? More importantly, why would someone spend a significant chunk of time out of their lives to read your essays? If you can answer that you do have a winner.

Opie, what are your writing goals? Do you want to be a essayist? If that is where you want to focus your time and energy, then writing for magazines (just as you have been) might be a better fit than trying to publish a full-length book. If you really do want to publish a beginning-to-end memoir, can you do what Lisa suggested and discover the red thread that connects your essays? Step back and show us the bigger picture. Whatever you decide to do with your memoir, don't forget your other writing projects if you have them.

OP, the silver lining is, you had some of them published. So you know the writing isn't half bad and that other people actually enjoy your work. That is more than some debut authors know when they start querying! That narrows down what you need to work on. Sounds like everyone here has already pointed out what that might be! Good luck.

This is a tough position to be in. Even though OP is against it, my initial feeling was this was a tailor made case for self-publishing. However, I think others are much better informed on this topic. Carolynn, Lisa, and Amy made some excellent points. Good luck to you.

OP, I think you may have a better chance if your essays are humorous in the vein of Erma Bombeck, Art Buchwald, or our own Julie M. Weathers. People's lives may not be as interesting as we ourselves would like to imagine, but if you can make people laugh that's a whole other ballgame. People will fork over the $16 for a good laugh on the first page even if no one has ever heard of you. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know I would. Good luck!

I feel awful for "saying this out loud" so to speak, but when I hear about a series of unrelated personal essays, I think that's a blog. There is SO much of this sort of thing out on the internet for free, there has to be a seriously compelling reason to invest in the cost to produce it on paper (and/or e-book form), and for anyone to spend money on it. A woman at my church self-pubbed, knowing how hard it is to sell memoir, but she has tirelessly supported her work and has had quite gratifying success with it. Like EMG, this sounds to me like a candidate for this kind of debut.

I guess my question would be what kind of 'no's Opie is getting. I would feel extremely nervous sending a collection of essays to a small publisher if I'd only been getting form rejections (of course, I get nervous writing emails to family members). And what are your motives for wanting to be published, Opie? I'm little unpublished nobody over here, but what you want out of getting published might be achieved by alternative methods. I'm not familiar with publishing essays, but if they're largely unconnected, is there a particular reason you're aiming for a book deal as opposed to getting the essays published individually (as you have been doing)? If you can narrow down on the reason, you might be able to focus your efforts more effectively on a particular route. But what do I know? Best of luck!!

You know, I've led a seriously interesting life. I've done way more than the average person, know more 'celebrities', have had more experiences, gotten to do many, many things most women never entertain trying let alone doing. It's been a great, fun ride. But the bottom line is, who cares? Oh sure, maybe in conversation, I might mention something, but honestly, no one wants to read an unrelated series of events of my life because, I'm no one. So they don't care. This sounds harsh, but it's true. OP, you have had the opportunity to sell some of your experiences. I have too. But an entire, $12 or $15 worth of unrelated life experiences when no one knows who you are is going to be an almost impossible sell. Now, if you could find a way to have a running narrative through them with a cohesive story, you could make it a work of fiction and that might sell it. But then you're faced with, what next? You've written your experiences, woven them so people are dying to read them and now, when you are expected to write the next book, what have you got? If your heart is set on the essays of your life, continue to write them and find outlets such as magazines and such. If your heart is set on a book, imagine a concept/story that people can't put down and write that. Either way, be prepared for a lot of rejection before someone loves your work. If they ever do.

I think the tipping point here is the spot between successful writer and celebrity writer. A celebrity writer could pull it off because their work would get air time in many markets. A successful writer will only be able to reach those who have an interest in the genre they write in. Pehaps Diane is right and these would make a good blog. Maybe it will become successful enough that you become a celebrity. There is only one way to really find out and that is to do it.

"Unconnected chapters means there's no narrative arc." Oh, that pesky fatal flaw, the words used when an editor read my first attempt at writing a book. I like the advice given by Janet, and others here. Is the collection a lighthearted collection of humorous essays, ala David Sedaris? Is it more of a soul searching, been there done that, collection of experiences which could help others, ala Chicken Soup for the Soul? Honestly. This is why I'd never attempt to write non-fiction - or a memoir. For one, I think it's got to be one of the hardest writing forms to do, and to do it well. Hello Betsy Lerner and THE BRIDGE LADIES. Then there was Cheryl Strayed and WILD. So many others. Anyway. H.A.R.D. If I could just veer OFF TOPIC a sec... Julie Weathers - yes, there were quite a few children, and some of the names I ran across were Leanna Donner, Eliza Donner, Virginia Reed - who survived. Virginia Reed was 13 at the time. One of the Donner girls - only 4. I think the other, 11. Maybe they are the ones...? John Frain - Jay Fosdick was believed to have been one of those cannabilized. Starved Camp was the actual name of one of the camps where some survivors wintered. Forlorn Hope was another camp and a phrase used to describe the current state of mind -even at the worst of it. Timothy Lowe - thanks! And yeah, so many instances of this happening (more than we care to know...) Thanks to all who took a guess or let me know they got it. Back to the regularly scheduled program!

I’m breaking the rules today. Thoughts on memoir class for an essayist. There were fifteen of us sitting around a huge table. First meeting we went from person to person sharing why we were there. Of the ones I remember there were three cancer survivors, (scary), a best friend and spouse of two people who did not survive cancer, (sad), a wealthy woman who wanted to share her amazing life, (it wasn’t that amazing), a professional story teller who wanted to tell her story of being a story teller, (huh), a young girl who had spent a year in India and Nepal, (been there, did that but in another country) and me, my statement to the class: “I met my parents for the first time after they died.” It certainly got the class and teacher excited. I even told them I was interviewed on national TV regarding the backstory of the pitch. That was almost ten years ago, the memoir sits unfinished in a file drawer. Of the fifteen, I became a columnist and the story teller has published 2 books. My point, well, I don’t have one other than we all have a story and that was 199 words of mine. I still think Janet should have a 100 word memoir or essay contest. Oops back to Carkoon for me.

At the moment I'm listening to the audio book Between You and Me: Confessions Of Comma Queen by Mary Norris. It's a memoir of unconnected life events BUT they are all woven together by Mary Norris' knowledge of the English language. Perhaps the format is the problem. Trying to sell a collection of unconnected. As a reader I need to feel an emotional arc. How could you connect these stories and give the 55k words an overall emotional arc, an overall theme?

Opie/NM: If you can find a way to hook your experiences into current events, that would be a great way to sell a story to a magazine. For example, "My pet Shih Tzu was a stunt double for Donald Trump's hair." I've been tempted to write about my experience in exile on Carkoon, but there are two things against that: 1) "Carkoon" is owned by Disney (which, btw, the Carkoonians are very happy about. It seems, during the George Lucas regime, you could never be sure things were in the same place they were yesterday). 2) Janet might enjoy it so much, she'll send me back so I could write a sequel... 8-O

I have a somewhat unrelated question: is a breathtaking writing style enough? If your collection of essays with no platform, a fantasy novel with a cliché plot, a literary novel with no solid story-arch, but the writing style is rich and engaging, is that enough?

How refreshing the sentence "Crushing facts...No One Else Cares". A newbie to this blog, I've found it eye-opening to read after a year of rejections. We are forever optimists. Great quotation. "A man must love a thing very much to practice it not only without hope of fame or fortune but [also] without hope of doing it well." G.K. Chesterton Opie - Good luck and hope you find that unique thread to weave a pattern into your work. Could it be risk, loss, lessons learned, the untold secrets of the color yellow, the benefits of growing older, or even 'why I drink whiskey at 8:00 AM'?

Colin, you are too funny! But no, my experiences, while unique, have no real thread to tie them all together except that they belong to me. And I am unfortunately, not famous so no one really cares. Oh, people will express an interest when I mention something, but their interest wouldn't hold up once the stories started flowing because...just because. So I'll continue to work on my PNHistRom and see where that takes me. And if it goes nowhere, I can always fall back on something else though I would still write.

"In an unexpected turn in the US elections today, Colin Smith - not only a dark horse, but an Englishman, won Super Tuesday in a landslide. For both parties. Let's got to Chet for a breakdown of the numbers ..." I quit, Colin's comment is the winner. See y'all on the other side of the returns!

Hello, Kae!! *BIG WAVE* What a brave soul you are... uh... I mean, welcome to the blog comments!! Lovely to have you around. :D

Angie – I loved Between You and Me! I've read David Sedaris. Another writer of collections of humorous personal essays is Jenny Lawson. I read about 3/4 of her first book. Yes, she's hysterically funny, but I lost interest just over half-way through and never finished. She does have a through-line of “life with mental illness,” but it wasn't enough to sustain me. Her blog is huge though, and she has two books, both of which are best sellers. So there's certainly a market for the humorous stuff. Maybe OP can pick one set of essays that have some sort of through-line, and develop that set into a full-length single-topic memoir or maybe even a full-length novel. You can always “become famous”. Try running for president. The field seems especially needy this time around.............

Wait, wait, wait... Can I vote for Colin in both primaries? Finally, a candidate I can believe in - one that a) doesn't know he's running and b) one that we can exile to Carkoon should we all suddenly need to move to Canada.

lol... "dark horse"! Don't forget, I'm of British stock. Thoroughly Western European genes. I'm so white, they could market me as sunscreen. I daren't go outside in shorts for fear of damaging people's corneas. But I appreciate the sentiment. Y'all are too nice. :D

This hits home for me..I have one novel published, but my agent has been shopping my memoir around since October and I am getting that sinking feeling. Though it does have an arc, and *I* feel it is compelling, apparently the world does not. It's hard to face reality sometimes, but perhaps the essays can be reworked into a novel, or some other work, even a memoir if it is changed some. On the bright side, a friend of mine did just get her memoir published. So there is hope, it does happen! I will only say what I am doing: 1. File drawer. 2. Work on something else. 3. In six months, revisit file drawer.

Whoops! I forgot to do newbie orientation for Kae! Welcome to the comments of Janet's blog, Kae Bell . I hope your experience will be fun and rewarding, and not simply an extension of the pit of despair in which you currently reside, if you are a writer like the rest of us. On the top right of the blog, you will find some useful links. If you want to understand some of the odd, seemingly meaningless words we like to throw around (e.g., "QOTKU", "Carkoon", "synopsis"), there is a glossary you can use for reference. If you wish to become further identified with the regular commenters, there's a list of Blog Commenters and their Blogs. Please contact me to be added to that list. Christina Seine has created a lovely Pintrest page you can be added to, and if you want us to know generally where you are in the world, you can add yourself to the map. On behalf of my fellow commenters, and Mighty QOTKU herself, I hope your time with us is both pleasant and... um... educational. You can find the Emergency Exit doors to the left and the right of the aircraft... oh sorry, wrong speech... ;)

Did somebody mention blogging? To most of you Reiders and lurkers, your writing-world is, in overwhelming numbers, fiction, either in process or published. You non-fiction writers are immersed in fact and platform. Essayists are different. We splay ourselves for the reader. It’s not easy writing about that which defines who we are. Essayists are brave writers because we reveal that which others tuck away and hide behind make believe. To seek a national audience beyond a blog is courageous for essayists because the consequences of our reviews affect us personally. Connecting the dots for writers like us is near impossible. Getting published in any form is God-damned hard. And I know that because every single one of you reading my words right now knows the game. That is why we are here. Essayists are not simply bloggers we’re writers too.

Kae, what Colin is trying to say is there is No Exit. This is no fault of Jean Paul Sartre. You have entered the belly of the beast. Please try to keep your demons on a leash, but under no circumstances should you ever tame them. Tamed demons simply do not sell. Welcome to the shark tank.

I found this question interesting, and it prompts a few questions for me, too (I'm usually a lurker here, commenting infrequently, but always gaining a lot from Janet's posts and subsequent comments from readers). I, too, have a collection of essays. They aren't connected by a story arc either, but rather by theme. I suppose one could call it an unorthodox travel memoir--the theme is middle-aged woman traveling for a year in Europe, going from farm to farm, working and learning (beekeeping, wine-making, olive harvesting, etc), and examining our relationship to the land and to each other in this context. The essays range from quite funny to tear-jerking; foreign language struggles, culture clashes, to various people's experiences of war. I always try to find a way to tie it to the land, though. I've done a lot of research for querying my novel, have thrown myself into the chum bucket, and have been querying widely. But I know almost nothing about querying memoir or travel essays--especially without the story arc Janet mentioned. I think my essays fall somewhere in between those two (i.e. memoir/travel). I'm wondering if the thematic core I've described here would suffice in the absence of a true story arc. Based on Janet's reply to the OP, I think humor might be the best angle I can offer, and could perhaps front-load the collection with those. But not sure. It currently exists as a blog, but not one I've promoted at all; only among family and friends. Not all essays on the blog are suited for the collection, and others are still on my laptop, not the blog. But if any thoughtful reader here wishes to see it, you can click on my name here (I think?). I hope that's kosher--I'm not trying to do my own blog promotion here. I'm sincerely interested in feedback from this thoughtful group of writers about the viability or interest in such a collection. Perhaps it's only destined to be a blog for family/friends. If you send me a message through the blog form there I can point you toward the funniest or saddest or most poignant of the posts, rather than have you sift through all of them. At the very least, I can promise you some pretty pictures and travel inspiration. (I'm happy to give you travel tips, too.) But I'd be grateful for any thoughts about whether it would grab interest as a collection, and the best approach for querying, if so. Janet, I hope this is OK.

Thanks Colin! I appreciate the guidance and the welcome!

Jennifer D: Janet's link rule is that it's okay to post links as long as you aren't trying to increase anyone's bank account or naughty bits. Some of us (e.g., me) feel a little awkward posting links to our own blogs. But since you're not me (at least I don't think you are), here a link to your blog: http://terroirblog.blogspot.com/ My initial thought from your comment is whether there's some way you can connect the various aspects of farming into a travelogue, or maybe pick a broad theme, maybe one of growth (e.g., learning through travel how the ordinary can be extraordinary) so you start of in the first chapter with one set of presuppositions, and end up in the last chapter with those presuppositions challenged. Just some ideas. :)

EM: LOL! OK. You're doing the next newbie orientation! ;)

Excellent thought, Colin. I'll revisit the blog and the stuff that didn't get onto the blog, and see if that emerges as a possibility. Even if the growth theme doesn't seem to work (though there was certainly growth), perhaps another will fit with your suggested approach. Thanks for offering up the idea. If you'd have seen my face before posting any mention of my blog, you might have laughed. I stopped just short of hitting "post" and sent an email to Janet to check if it was OK, because I didn't want to be That Asshole, as I said to her. I didn't know her rules about it, but I do now. Thanks. I only wish I'd had some "naughty bits" to add to the blog, alas my travel adventures were mainly G-rated, except for some swearing when I was attacked by a rogue bee at the apiary. So PG-13, I guess?

Jennifer D - Here's a list of memoirs/collected essays that came to me off the top. I think all but the first author already had celebrity and/or platforms, so if you don't have that, you might research what made the first one publishable and/or what was the "hook". Gretchen Berg – I Have Iraq in my Shoe Cheryl Strayed – Wild David Sedaris – Me Talk Pretty One Day Jenny Lawson – Let's Pretend This Never Happened Mary Norris - Between You and Me Stephen King - On Writing [of course I had to list this one!]

Colin, I am far too impolitic to do the initial welcome. We would never have another newbie again if I did the welcome. Let's not frighten them away. We need you to soften them up a bit. You make kale smell grand. Which is why you, and not I, are being elected president of the United States (or mayor of Carkoon) today. I get the two confused. Back on topic, I must agree with Diane- a disjointed memoir has mostly evolved into blogs. Even my tiny blog of despair has become my own bit of memoir. I am sure that does make memoir without an arc or hook a harder sell. Although I am very interested in all the vignettes and memoirs here in the shark tank. I am always in search of new characters to shake up my fiction.

EM: Mayor of Carkoon?! I think not. You saw what happened last week when Janet tried to send me back there. I haven't had a query rejected that quickly! I'm persona non grata there--or I would be if they knew what that meant. For the record, I'm okay with that. I like it here. :D

Looking at this as a reader, from a humanist perspective, I think everyone's lives are incredible in their own ways, that everyone has a story to share. Just look at HONY, which is constantly proving this through the captions of their photographs. Some of the most moving and memorable moments come from people who are just living their everyday lives, that Brandon just happened upon and provided an outlet for. My life is richer for hearing some of these stories, and I hate to think how I might have missed them had such an outlet not existed. But publishing is a business, and as others have noted, the primary goal is financial. Everything else--being able to touch people, move people, share your story--is a beautiful byproduct, but not the purpose of the industry. I inherently disagree with it--as an artist and an idealist, I think everyone should have their voice heard and be able to tell their stories because everyone's lives are different and everyone has something to add to this living experience (and as Doctor Who likes to say, there's not one person in this world who isn't important. Yeah, I went there). But that's my own idealism, not the reality. As an industry, I understand and respect that the rules and standards are put in place for a reason--it's a business, and businesses need to make money. But, Opie, you do have options. That's the great thing about today. HONY "broke the rules" by adding short, personal essays to his photographs. Other writers "broke the rules" by sharing their story via blogs, mixed media, self-publishing. If traditional publishing is your dream, absolutely go for it--find that thread and follow it to create a narrative and then keep querying. That narrative is vital to storytelling no matter what medium you're working in. But know that you have options, too, to share your voice and your story--it's just a matter of figuring out which one works best. Best of luck.

In any non-fiction book proposal, one of the main questions to ask yourself is "Who would be my targeted audience? Not all readers in general, but who would feel compelled to buy my book? Once I reached past 11 different sub-groups, I realized that I have a story; about living before, during and after a wildfire in a rural setting. Having a career in Forestry has given me training and resources that the average person would not have concerning prepping and wildfires. When I wrote about the fire on my blog, people actually blogged about taking note of what we did and applied it to their property, for where they were living. There is one group of the readers right there. Also, we stayed on; not moving away and letting someone else clean up. No, the forest doesn't recover right away when the soil is burnt down to rock, and yes, the wildlife suffers from injury, lack of food and shelter for years afterward. My house burned over while I watched from my hayfield, my horses were let loose to fend for themselves, and then the aftermath of terribly burnt, blinded cows screaming until they could all be put down is something that needs to be written down for others to learn from. That's why I am writing my story; there are who people want to know. Hopefully someone will want to publish it. But I won't know unless I try.

*hi-fives Susan for the Who reference*

Kae, I'd say that we're more like The Hotel California, once you check in you can never check out. Jeez, I love the Eagles so much I could write an essay about them, but don't worry Reiders, I won't. Here's the link. Colin if you could do the honors please... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrfhf1Gv4Tw

Colin: High-five back atcha! ;) I'm convinced DW should be required viewing, or part of a humanities curriculum, if only to keep reminding us of our humanity when the world forgets. That's the power of storytelling right there!

OMG Janice, the cows. Makes me cry. Breaks my heart. I'd buy the book because my son-in-law fights wild fires when he's called upon to help.

2Ns: My pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrfhf1Gv4Tw Susan: Who is the only reason to own a TV! :) Great storytelling has been a hallmark of the show, even when the budget couldn't make it as good as the writers imagined.

OP here. I've lurked here for a while and sincere thanks to Janet and to all the posters. Janet and you others pretty much confirm what I thought was the case. Particular thanks to 2Ns for her thoughts. Unlike you guys I don't think of myself as a writer. It is something to which I never aspired. I'd like to think I am a storyteller but even that is something about which I am not so sure. My story is pretty simple. In my late fifties, about a dozen years ago now, I sent my best friend a longish email recounting a recent experience. His reply surprised me....my story was so interesting and agreeably told I should submit it someplace for publication. Of course I ignored him but a year or two later his earlier comments gave me the courage to submit a different story to a large print publication and I was pretty astounded when they bought it. Over the years I have been lucky enough to sell a number of stories to various print publications, large and small. ("Sell" is sort of a generous term to use when I get $10, but some have gone for three figures...) Writing is an avocation for me. I enjoy pondering, recalling various events in my life, many in which I am more observer than participant, and to often gently explore the emotions they may generate. No, there is no arc to these. Some are funny (I think) some serious, some in between. I just sit down and begin writing when something pops into my mind that I wish to think about or recall. A story about when I ran away from home at age eight all the way to my backyard or another about my mom's decades of dramatic accounts about her yearly perceived struggles getting ingredients for a dish served at a family dinner, ending when I reached my sixties. So I really write for my own enjoyment. I do not need to have a book published to be satisfied. I guess I thought that since I had some modest success with individual stories and received some very nice comments from some readers I would look into seeing if I could get a collection published. (Sort of a Chicken Soup thing, I suppose, but without the excess emotion or inspiration and not with a single theme.) Not at all an ego thing so I am not at all interested in self publishing. I don't show my stories to anybody unless they get published....except to that original best friend who, sadly, nears the end of a medical story from which he will not recover.

1eye, I'm sorry about your friend. That's always so very hard to go through. (your name is way long so sorry, I shortened it) I'm thinking after your explanation that doing the essay route is, for you, going to be the best way to get your voice heard. And that's a wonderful thing! Janice, you made me cry. :( I'm going off topic for a sec... HOLY CRAP! SNOW!!! Okay, that is all...

Jennifer D - one thing I do to see how essayists organize books on one topic but with very different essays is to see if there's a table of contents. Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist is a great example. **off topic** I'm recently returned from a trip to NOLA. I visited the Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone, famous for all the famous writers who have stayed there over the years. I sipped bourbon and thought fondly of this group.

1eye (stealing from nightsmusic) I'm very sorry about your friend

1 eye, (I shortened your name too), you may not think of yourself as a writer but you certainly are one. Tack onto writer, words like record keeper, story teller and history saver. Your experiences are of value and it is wonderful that you have found a way to share them, even if it's for ten bucks. When at a crossroads in my own writing, and to paraphrase something Janet said to me, (which I have shared here often), if what you are writing brings you joy, then you should continue on your path. You and I both know, plus a few other Reiders here whose parents liked Ike know, there's a richness to what we have experienced in our lives that should be saved. This is not to diminish the experiences of those living wonderful and enriching lives now, not to dismiss their struggles or difficulties, not to overlook the deadening burden of things like student debt and politics gone crazy, but if we don't do what you are doing, if we don't share what it was like to us then the foundation shoring up their future crumbles. Okay I'm off my soapbox, have commented way too many times today. Breathe easy Reiders I'm off to work and out of your hair Janet.

2Ns, 1I... love it! :) Isn't it true that any sale to a magazine is noteworthy on a query, since not only does it say someone liked your stuff enough to pay money for it, but that it was critically assessed by an editor who was willing to part with cash for it? Clearly, the more prestigious the mag, the better it looks on a query. But even $10 is good--I wouldn't sneeze at it. :) I'm commenting way too much. OK... sorry.

Oh, 2n's. My parents liked Hoover! We're all storytellers. Some of us tell real ones, some of us tell the ones in our minds, but we belong to a fraternal organization, mostly unorganized and with so many different branches, that is almost as old as time. It's a fine organization to belong to. And it's still snowing! Supposed to get 9 inches by this evening.

This is one memoir that you're going to want to read. It will be BIG. It's written by a friend of mine. (No reflection on her.) Running on Red Dog Road and Other Perils of an Appalachian Childhood by Drema Hall Berkheimer, http//amazon.com/0310344964, and other fine booksellers. Due for publication April 14. I hope I got the Info correct. If I didn't, look it up--and the reviews.

Here you are, Rena. Hopefully, since this isn't increasing *my* bank account, Her Sharkiness will permit it: Running on Red Dog Road and Other Perils of an Appalachian Childhood by Drema Hall Berkheimer

1eye (1i?) - I'm sorry about your friend. That is hard. It sounds like he started something good, though. I would consider you a writer. Actually, you are technically more of one than me since I've only been doing this hard-core hobby for a few years and am not yet published. I think people on this blog come from about every background, part of the world, and present day situation. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do! O.T. - did I hear Colin (or possibly a shih tsu?) was running for pres? Because I will vote for either one right now based on current candidates. OK, shutting up now...

Lennon: There are rumors that Puddles the Stunt Dog might be running as an Independent. Do they allow write-in votes? :)

I voted for both Colin and the Shih Tzu in the primary. Colin will make an excellent president and the Shih Tzu can do everything else

What a timely post this morning. My writer's group meets tonight, and "Why do we write?" is the scheduled topic. Because you have to get the story out of your own head, or get it into someone else's? To be published? Published for a sake of personal achievement, recognition, fame, money? Figuring out why I would write, have written, or should write, seems to be the key to knowing when I have been successful. Thank you, guys and gals, for this blog, and your candid thoughts. Thoughts on ALL things, I've learned hanging out here!

2Ns...thanks for the kind words, and thanks to others as well. I read a piece in the NYTimes a couple of years ago by Saul Austerlitz, "The Lost Art of the Condolence Letter" in which he says, "I write to remember and to be remembered." I thought that was pretty good. Yah, my kids have seen things I've written that get published but I have a lot more that has not been. I think one day I'll print it all out and put it in a file in a drawer for them to find a long time from now. Jeez, since I'm soon 70 perhaps I'd better get going! Because I write my tales for my own enjoyment I follow my self imposed rules that anything I get published must be in print....something tangible I can hold (talk about being an old fart)...and I gotta get paid something, anything. No freebies.

I self-published a compilation of essays (blog posts) back in Dec of 2011, titled "How Did This Happen? Lunch with Imaginary Friends and Other (mostly) True Stories." I described it as slices of life from the "empty nest" years that, it turns out, aren't so empty after all. I had very low expectations for sales and knew the only people who would buy it were friends and family. Because it's true, no one else cares. The reason I did it was to see whether I could. At the time, I kept hearing how easy it was to self-pub and ALSO how incredibly difficult it was. I figured the only way to find out whether it was easy/difficult for ME was to try it. It wasn't all that difficult and I'm really glad I did. The most interesting feedback was from two of my nieces, and the most flattering was a reviewer who said it reminded him of Bill Bryson's writing. Anyway, the point is that there are many reasons, other than sales, for publishing a collection of essays. In your case, 1eye, there is incalculable value in passing on your stories to your children and generations to come. I wish I had realized when I was younger how much I would come to regret not writing down or recording the stories told by relatives who have since died. And yes, you are a writer. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide.

This post comes at a perfect time for me. Since mid-November I've sent out 14 queries (eight women, six men) for what I call a non-fiction book, and what others might call "memoir." It's funny, and in my query letter I said "...this is what happens when David Sedaris rewrites A Year In Provence." I have gypsies, a contractor who went to prison for manslaughter, an African princess, and title NOT to the apartment building I've renovated twice, but to the crappy little one next door. So far, I've received requests for 50-100 pages from four agents, all of them women, and form rejections from the other four. So, some sort of reply from all the women. From the men, nothing. Not even a form rejection, which I've found really odd, since my husband plays a prominent role in the story. He's an Ivy League educated trial lawyer, I'm a college dropout from Iowa. We're quite different, and yet we're a perfect fit. It's still out with one agent who requested pages. I received rejections from the other three, but they were the nicest rejections ever written: "You had me laughing from the first paragraph, no small feat at 5AM.", "I found myself longing to sit down with you over some liquor-infused champagne to hear all the details" and "I enjoyed your clever writing and, strangely, I suppose, your fraught adventure in France." And yet, all three said the same thing - books like this have become fairly hard to publish, it's a competitive market, and publishers want a "platform." I'll cast the net wider, but I have a couple of questions: 1. Should I only query women? 2. Would changing my last name to Kardashian help?

I'm also an essayist/memoirist. If your essays are "literary," you will have the best luck with small presses with an artsy feel, like Heart and the Hand, Green River Press, Gray Wolf, etc, and university presses like the University of Georgia. It's also possible to get the attention of one of these presses by publishing in a literary magazine, or entering a chapbook contest. Chapbooks are often made up of an essay collection or short prose of some kind. You can find reputable literary magazines by searching for "Pushcart Prize rankings" - there are a couple of lists online of magazines ranked by how many Pushcarts they've won, and that is reasonably legit. If your essays are not "literary," the best way to get your book published is to get an essay in a high-profile place like The New York Times' Modern Love, Motherlode, or Opinionator sections; Washington Post's Post Everything, or the personal essay column of a large newspaper like the Boston Globe. If your essay hits big, you'll get interest in your other work and agents may contact you. But it sounds like the most important thing for you is to keep writing - so keep placing essays, and as you get more paying markets, aim for more prestigious markets, and that may provide the satisfaction you're looking for. Good luck!

No One Else Cares. Boy, that has been going through my head all day. It's been kind of a gloomy day here, and I've been ruminating about how little I understand the publishing business. I read, read, read as much as I can about it, but always feel a bit out of synch. OP, it's great that you are satisfied with your writing and with how it's been published.

If you can't tell me what the book is about in 25 words or less, it's really hard to pitch it. And I don't mean just to me, I mean it's hard for me to pitch it to an editor, an editor to her boss, or to the acquisitions meeting, for sales to pitch it to accounts, for film guys to pitch it to producers, for subrights agents to pitch it to audio publishers and translation agents. Even beyond that, word of mouth (the single best way to expand your audience) is essentially one reader pitching it to another. When you ask a friend what they're reading and they go into a meandering monologue trying to explain it, you're probably gonna tune out before they've gotten very far. Whereas if I say "Cinderella's a cyborg" or "supervillains face off" you know right away if you'd be interested or not. This is why high-concept stuff is easier to sell, because it's simply easier to talk about. I dearly love some books that are difficult to explain, but those aren't the ones I tend to push on acquaintances. Opie and the other essayists might look into Medium. It's a platform that seems well-suited to essays and long-form writing without the legwork of trying to get eyeballs on a personal blog.

"Cinderella's a cyborg." I loved the Lunar Chronicles. Just sayin'. Wonderful storytelling. Shutting up now. Really. :D

Putting on my dusty librarian hat: There is a difference between an autobiography, a memoir and collection of essays. We shelve these in different places in the library. Biographies have their own Dewey Decimal classifications. Memoirs do not. (Auto)biographies are about a person (ie, Dawn French's "Dear Fatty"). Memoirs are about a subject (theme, event) irrespective of the person (ie that beguilingly strange memoir about a mother who takes her ill little daughter to South America for an exorcism; how did that end up in our collection?). Essay collections tend to be given a subject, depending on what they're about, and shelved accordingly. (hint for everyone writing a book of any kind: do you know what shelf it would go on in the library? You really need to know this, so you know how to pitch it to agents/editors/readers. For those who would say, "shelve it in fiction", do you know what genre sticker we should whack on it? Do you know which "If you enjoyed..." list we should put it on? You should. If you can't classify it, how can we?)

Commenting on the sly from the Day Job, as the home internet is down for the neighbourhood. Bethany asked: ...is a breathtaking writing style enough? If your collection of essays with no platform, a fantasy novel with a cliché plot, a literary novel with no solid story-arch, but the writing style is rich and engaging, is that enough? Almost. Very much almost. Sometimes so almost that some readers will forgive the gravest of sins if you can hook them with the writing. Last year I read an indie Fantasy author whose permafree novel hooked me . His voice and style had good pacing. It promised so many, many things... ...all of which the rest of the series failed to deliver. And that was a great big shame. If you look through the GoodReads ratings, you'll find quite a mixed bag of reactions. I read about three of his books in hopes that he'd pull a smerp out of a hat somewhere, but he didn't. Alas.

Julie, I want to hug you! Thank you for understanding; I believe that is why it's important to write this book so that others can understand also. Living right in the middle of it as it happens gave us a perspective that not many have experienced. Caroly2nns - Your son is one of my sub-groups :) thank him for his service - he has one of the hardest jobs on the planet. Nightmusic - :( We had to force ourselves to look for the good. I remember the first time I laughed out loud afterwards - it was when I had a chipmunk with no ears show up on my doorstep for birdseed! I realized that if wildlife can tough it out, so could we :) 1eye- You are a writer - you were just busy collecting stories for awhile :)

Janice, Well, my post made no sense due to my rearranging. Anyway, you need to write this book. People need to know. "Ah, I'll just burn this trash instead of paying to haul it off." 7,000 burned acres and hundreds of dead cattle and horses later, not to mention the personal property and someone would have gladly paid you that $15 to haul trash. Don't give up on it. My dad was a fire watcher for years in the western Montana mountains out of Lincoln, MT. It's important for people to know. It's bad enough when you can't help it due to lightning.

Judy Moore, Since it's Super Tuesday (still fiscal Super Tuesday until everyone wakes up Wednesday) I'll cast a vote: I strongly discourage you from changing your last name to Kardashian. Lots of baggage that'll come with that move. That leaves your alternative: querying only women. I don't know the demographics of the agent profession (except they all grew up in Lake Woebegone), but I suspect you'll still have the vast majority to query. If you allow write-in votes, I'd suggest that your sample size was too small and you try a few more males. If all else fails, self-publish and give it as a gift to that husband. I bet he'll defy the odds and accept it without even needing a query.

Sometimes I wish I was a morning person so I could hang out here when the reef is crowded with Reiders. But this is good practice for the lonely life of a writer. Instead I'll just remind y'all what a superlative line Michael Seese had during the most recent contest: "They won't find her until spring, when the ice has grown weary of her, too." Oh, that just dances on your tongue like a swizzle stick.

John, look at the bright side. If you were around when the party was in full swing, you could spend hours here. It's a great place to be, but I decided sometime back, those hours could be spent writing. I leave a comment early and (most of the time) don't return until late at night if I have time. I miss a lot, but there are priorities and Janet's WIR covers some of the good stuff. Judy Moore, I hate to say this, but timing is everything. Publishing is no exception. Ten, even five years ago, agents would've been all over your story. It sounds wonderful and like John said, perhaps you just haven't queried enough agents. If, however, you keep getting the same response "great writing, but hard to publish" you may have to save it for later. Everything goes in cycles and perhaps in a few years agents will once again be looking for expat adventures. Good luck, I hope to someday read it.

Or, I hope to read it someday. Anywho, I was going to send you an email, but it seems like there's no way to contact you directly. (Janet wrote about this not too long ago.) I was going to tell you that I know an agent who is interested in anything that pertains to France. She might be just the agent you need to contact. I don't have that info on me (I'm typing all this from my phone) but when I get home I can send it to you.

(Completely out of order in case y'all are wondering what Janice is talking about. I couldn't stand the typos and had to get up in the middle of the night to fix them.) Y'all are very kind in comments about a Julie Weathers, whatever it would be. Crazier Than A Peach Orchard Pig, But Mostly Harmless, by Julie Weathers. Yep, I can see that doing well. This really is like the story I told about the lady in Surrey. She bemoaned no one wanting her "My man done me wrong story" when she was sitting on a fascinating story about giving it all up to go help in Indonesia after a tsunami and teaching women to make elephant dung paper for note cards to support their families. Anything can sell if it's written well. A Southern Belle Primer: Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of my favorite little essay books. I'm not sure how well that book sold, but it's hilarious and she's written other southern belle etiquette primers with fascinating stories. Erma Bombeck. Kae, welcome to the tank. Original questioner, I don't know what the answer is. If you feel strongly about your project, find some way to publish. Life is short. 1eye. I'm glad you found your voice, but so sorry to hear about your friend. Janice, I agree about the heartbreak of the fires. Every year we have range fires in west Texas. Everyone thinks, "Oh, what can burn out there? It's all sand. There's more out there than you think or there wouldn't be thousands of cattle. A train will spark a fire, lightning, many times some moron tossing a cigarette out of a vehicle, arson, carelessness. Ranchers scramble to move cattle, open gates, cut fences, but invariably we wind up with one of them on the news the next day, wiping tears away, talking about neighbors coming in to ride pastures to put down burned cattle. We hear helicopters for days as everyone who has one sweeps pastures trying to locate crippled, burned, missing cattle. Every danged year. Even if they don't look damaged, cattle suffer from smoke inhalation, burned feet that slough weeks later, and other damage. It's gut wrenching. The first range fire of the season cranked off Feb. 1 and burned 1,700 acres near the LX Ranch in the Panhandle. Good luck with the book. It needs to be written.

Colin: Too nice? Nonsense! We're desperate.

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19 Top Short Story Anthology Publishers

By Katrina Kwan

Have you written a collection of short stories that you want to get published ?

Continue reading to learn about 19 top short story anthology publishers.

1. Press 53

Established in 2005, Press 53 is an independent publishing press based out of North Carolina. They specialize in publishing works of short fiction and poetry collections, and have produced titles like “The Book of Jeremiah: A Novel in Stories” by Julie Zuckerman, “Earthly Delights and Other Apocalypses” by Jen Julian, and “Shelf Life of Happiness” by Virginia Pye.

Press 53 hosts several writing contests throughout the year that you’re strongly encouraged to check out. Their Press 53 Award for Short Fiction boasts a prize of $1000 advance, 50 copies of your published work, and a standard publication contract. For more information, you can review their submission guidelines . For general inquiries, you can contact the team at Press 53 through their website’s online contact form .

2. Autumn House Press

Established in 1998 by Michael Simms in the state of Pennsylvania, Autumn House Press is an independent nonprofit publisher of both fiction, nonfiction, poetry collections and short story anthologies. Some of their short story anthologies include “Thank Your Lucky Stars” by Sherrie Flick, “Bull and Other Stories” by Kathy Anderson, and “Little Raw Souls” by Steven Schwartz.

Autumn House Press is currently hosting a fiction contest, open between January 1 st , 2019 to June 30 th , 2019. You’re more than welcome to submit your collection of short stories for consideration through their online submissions form . Your manuscript should be approximately 200-300 pages in length, and all finalists will be considered for publication. Winners of their fiction contest will receive publication, $1000 advanced royalties, and $1500 for the express purpose of travel to promote your book. For more information, you can review their contest guidelines .

3. Bear Star Press

Based out of Cohasset, California, Bear Star Press is a small independent publishing company that was founded in 1996 with the express purpose of producing works from authors in America’s western states (including Hawaii and Alaska). They specialize in publishing poetry and short story anthologies, and host the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize contest every year. Some of their titles include “The Slow Art” by Sierra Golden, “A Long Late Pledge” by Wendy Willis, and “The Gunnywolf” by Megan Snyder-Camp.

While they are currently not actively seeking new submissions for short story collections, you’re more than welcome to submit a query through their website’s online contact form . If interested in your project, a member of their editorial team will reach out to you promptly. Alternatively, if you’re an author with literary representation, it’s highly recommended that you express your interest in working with Bear Star Press to your literary agent who can reach out to them on your behalf.

4. Braddock Avenue Books

Braddock Avenue Books is an independent publishing company based out of the city of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The specialize in producing books that would otherwise be left at the wayside by larger, more mainstream publishing houses. They specialize in discovering and publishing literary fiction, long-form essays about contemporary subjects, and serious graphic fiction and nonfiction. Some of their short story collections includes titles like “We Might as Well Light Something on Fire” by Ron Maclean, “Children of God” by David H. Lynn, and “Every Single Bone in My Brain” by Aaron Tilman.

The team at Braddock Avenue Book is currently accepting submissions through their online submissions form . You’re strongly encouraged to review their submission guidelines before proceeding to make sure you meet all of their minimum requirements. For short story collections, you should include a cover letter and up to three stories for consideration. If interested in your project, a member of their editorial team will reach out to you to discuss your collection in further detail.

5. Coffee House Press

Based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Coffee House Press is an independent nonprofit publishing house that produces works of fiction, poetry, and essay collections. Some of their short story anthologies include titles like “Song for the Unravelling of the World” by Brian Evenson, “The Hope of Floating Has Carried Us This Far” by Quintan Ana Wikswo, and “Echo Tree: The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas” edited by Eugene B. Redmond.

Coffee House Press is unfortunately closed to submissions at this time, but will be reopening as of March 1 st , 2019. You’re strongly encouraged to review their submission guidelines in the meantime to prepare your submission, as they only accept up to 300 submissions per year. For general inquiries or more information, you can contact the team at Coffee House Press via email . They note that it can take up to 4-6 months to receive a response.

6. Curbside Splendor

Established in 2009, Curbside Splendor is an independent publishing press that produces works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry collections. In 2014, they were named the Best Chicago Indie Publisher by CHICAGO magazine. Some of their short story collections include “Late Stories” by Stephen Dixon, “Everything We Don’t Know” by Aaron Gilbreath, and “Vile Men” by Rebecca Jones-Howe.

Curbside Splendor is unfortunately closed to submissions at this time, but you’re strongly encouraged to check back at a later date. They note that if you’re an author with literary representation, you’re strongly encouraged to have your literary agent submit a query letter on your behalf. For general inquiries or more information, you can contact the team at Curbside Splendor through their website’s online contact form .

7. Engine Books

Engine Books is an independent publishing press that was founded in 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. They primarily publish works of short story collections, novels, and novella collections. Some of their titles include “Ways to Spend the Night” by Pamela Painter, “Where You Live” by Andrew Roe, and “The Fourth Corner of the World” by Scott Nadelson.

Engine Books is currently hosting the Engine Book Fiction Prize for 2019. If you’re interested in submitting your novel or story collection, you can learn more about the contest here . They are currently closed for general submissions and queries, but strongly encourage you to have your literary agent reach out to their team on your behalf if you’re interested in working with them. For more information or general inquiries, you can reach the team via email .

8. Four Way Books

Four Way Book is an independent publishing press based out of New York City that was founded in 1993. They operate under the express purpose of promoting high-quality poetry and short fiction to truly bring quality to the literary world. Some of their most recent titles include “A Crown of Hornets” by Marica Pelletriere, “The Book of Ruin” by Rigoberto Gonzalez, and “Birches” by Carl Adamshick.

Throughout the year, Four Way Books hosts several writing contests and open calls for submissions. If you’re interested in publishing with Four Way Books, you can submit your manuscript for your short story collection via email . They ask that you include any acknowledgements you’d like to make, an author bio, a table of contents, and keep your manuscript under 250 pages. For more information, you can review their submission guidelines .

9. Les Figues Press

Les Figues Press is an independent nonprofit publishing press that primarily focuses on publishing works by feminist and queer authors to explore authentic and unique perspectives in written form. They have published a handful of award-winning poetry collections, works in translation, and short story collections. Some of their upcoming titles include “An Austrian Avant-Garde” edited by Sabine Zelger and Patrick Greaney, “Dreams and Nightmares” by Dalia Rosetti (translated by Alexis Almeida), and “Tall, Slim & Erect: Portraits of the Presidents” by Alex Forman.

While they are not actively seeking new submissions at this time, Les Figues Press does host an annual writing competition that you’re more than welcome to check out. For more information you can review their submission guidelines here . For general inquiries or more information, you can contact their team via email .

10. Milkweed Editions

Milkweed Editions is an independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. With over 350 titles published under their name since their establishment in 1980, Milkweed Editions is always striving to discover and promote new titles that will inspire and empower its readers. Some of their short story anthologies include titles like “The World We Think We Know” by Dalia Rosenfeld, “Inappropriate Behavior” by Murray Farish, and “The Hospital For Bad Poets” by J.C. Hallman.

They are unfortunately closed to unsolicited submissions at this time, but strongly encourage you to check back at a later date. You may also be interested in checking out their writing contests, which they host throughout the year. For general inquiries or more information, you can contact the team at Milkweed Editions by phone or mail .

11. Scout Press Books

Scout Press Books is an independent literary imprint of Gallery Books that specializes in producing high-quality works of fiction. They’ve published acclaimed titles like “Did You Ever Have a Family” by New York Times bestselling author Bill Clegg, “Tuesday Nights in 1980” by Molly Prentiss, and “The River at Night” by Erica Ferencik.

They are currently not accepting unsolicited manuscripts at this time. However, if you’re an author with literary representation, you’re strongly encouraged to have your literary agent submit a query letter or book proposal on your behalf. For more information, you can contact Scout Press Books’ media representatives via email .

12. Sarabande Books

Sarabande Books is an independent nonprofit literary press based out of Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1994, Sarabande Books publishes works of poetry, fiction, essay collections, and short story collections. Some of their anthologies include titles like “Red Holler” edited by John Branscum and Wayne Thomas, “A Fine Excess” edited by Kirby Gann and Kristin Herbert, and “Puro Amor” by Sandra Cisneros.

Sarabande Books just recently closed their short fiction writing contest in February of 2019. You’re strongly encouraged to check back at a later date and submit. In the meantime, you can review their submission guidelines and prepare your short fiction manuscript for consideration. If you have general questions or would like to request more information, you can contact the team at Sarabande Books through their website’s online contact form or via email.

13. Torrey House Press

Torrey House Press is another independent nonprofit literary publisher that hopes to promote works by a diverse set of authors from across the American West. They publish both fiction and nonfiction projects, and have produced a handful of short story collections. Some of their titles include “The Talker” by Mary Sojourner, the Utah Book Award winner “Grind” by Mark Maynard, and “Recapture” by Erica Olsen.

They are currently accepting unsolicited submissions and query letters through their online submissions form . It’s strongly advised that you browse through their existing catalogue of books to make sure that your project will be a good fit. For more information about their requirements, you can review their submission guidelines . For general inquiries, you can also contact the team at Torrey House Press through their online contact form or via email .

14. Two Dollar Radio

Founded in 2005 by husband and wife Eric Obenauf and Eliza Wood-Obenauf, Two Dollar Radio is an independent publishing company based out of Columbia, Ohio. They publish a wide range of fiction and nonfiction, including essay collections, short story collections, and poetry anthologies. Some of their short story anthologies include titles like “White Dialogues” by Bennett Sims, “Baby Geisha” by Trinie Dalton, and the Frequencies series by an assortment of talented authors.

They are currently accepting submissions through their online submissions form . They note that due to the high volume of submission that they’ve received, it can take an estimated 12 months to receive a response. For more information, you’re strongly encouraged to review their submission guidelines before proceeding. For general inquiries, you can contact the team at Two Dollar Radio through their website’s online contact form .

15. Unsolicited Press

Based out of Portland, Oregon, Unsolicited Press is an independent publishing company that focuses on producing works of literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry –which is inclusive of short story collections and chapbooks. Some of their recent titles include “The Gold Tooth in the Crooked Smile of God” by Douglas Cole, “Terrance” by Philip Newton, and “When A White Horse Is Not A Horse” by Ethan James Kaplan.

They are actively seeking submissions for essay, poetry, and short story collections via email . They state that it can take anywhere between 4-6 months to receive a response. You’re strongly encouraged to review their submission guidelines to make sure you meet all of their requirements. For general inquiries, you can reach the team at Unsolicited Press via email .

16. Black Balloon Publishing

Black Balloon Publishing is an independent imprint of Catapult. They specialize in publishing works that push the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Some of their most recent titles include “Northwood” by Maryse Meijer, “Riddance” by Shelley Jackson, and “We Were Flying to Chicago: Stories” by Kevin Clouther. They are unfortunately closed to unsolicited manuscripts at this time. However, if you’re an author with literary representation, it’s highly advised that you have your literary agent submit a query letter or book proposal on your behalf.

17. Riverhead Books

Established in 1994, Riverhead Books is an independent publisher of literary fiction and high-quality nonfiction. As an imprint of Penguin Random House, several of their titles have gone on to win awards and accolades like the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Awards, and the MacArthur Genius Award. While they are not currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts at this time, they will consider queries sent through literary agents. Submissions by unrepresented authors may go ignored due to the high volume of submissions at they receive.

18. Switchgrass Books

Switchgrass Books is an imprint of Northern Illinois University Press that publishes works of unique literary fiction, which is inclusive of short story anthologies. Some of their recent titles include “Haymaker” by Adam Schuitema, “Remember My Beauties” by Lynne Hugo, and “When Bad Things Happen to Rich People” by Ian Morris. They are unfortunately closed to submissions at this time, but you’re strongly encouraged to check back at a later date.

19. Acre Books

Acre Books is a book-publishing offshoot of The Cincinnati Review that publishes works of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and non-conforming genre projects. They are actively seeking to expand their collection of poetry and short story anthologies. Some of their titles include “Every Human Love” by Joanna Pearson, “Warnings From the Future’ by Ethan Chatagnier, and “Her Adult Life” by Jenn Scott.

The team at Acre Books is currently accepting submissions through their online submissions form . They ask that you include up to ten pages of your manuscript, a brief author bio, and a description of your short story collection. If interested in your project, a member of their editorial team will reach out to you to request your full manuscript for consideration. For general inquiries, you can also reach the team through their online contact form .

Are there any other short story anthology publishers that need to be on this list? Please tell us about them in the comments box below!

K. Z. Kwan is a freelance writer based out of Halifax, Canada.

More From Forbes

Artificial general intelligence or agi: a very short history.

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Artificial General Intelligence, AGI concept. AI can learn and solve any human's intellectual tasks.

AGI is the new AI, promoted by tech leaders and AI experts , all promising its imminent arrival, for better or for worse. Anyone frightened by Elon Musk’s warning that “AGI poses a grave threat to humanity, perhaps the greatest existential threat we face today,” should first study the evolution of AGI from science-fiction to real-world fiction.

The term AGI was coined in 2007 when a collection of essays on the subject was published. The book, titled Artificial General intelligence , was co-edited by Ben Goertzel and Cassio Pennachin. In their introduction, they provided a definition:

“AGI is, loosely speaking, AI systems that possess a reasonable degree of self-understanding and autonomous self-control, and have the ability to solve a variety of complex problems in a variety of contexts, and to learn to solve new problems that they didn’t know about at the time of their creation.” The rationale for “christening” AGI for Goertzel and Pennachin was to distinguish it from “run-of-the-mill ‘artificial intelligence’ research,” as AGI is “explicitly focused on engineering general intelligence in the short term.”

In 2007, “run-of-the-mill” research focused on narrow challenges and AI programs of the time could only “generalize within their limited context.” While “work on AGI has gotten a bit of a bad reputation,” according to Goertzel and Pennachin, “AGI appears by all known science to be quite possible. Like nanotechnology, it is ‘merely an engineering problem’, though certainly a very difficult one.”

AGI is considered by Goertzel and Pennachin as only an engineering challenge because “we know that general intelligence is possible, in the sense that humans – particular configurations of atoms – display it. We just need to analyze these atom configurations in detail and replicate them in the computer.”

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Goertzel and Pennachin seem to contradict themselves when they also assert that the Japanese 5 th generation Computer System project “was doomed by its pure engineering approach, by its lack of an underlying theory of mind.” But maybe there’s no contradiction here because they assume that the mind is also a collection of atoms that can be emulated in a computer by the right engineering approach: “We have several contributions in this book that are heavily based on cognitive psychology and its ideas about how the mind works. These contributions pay greater than zero attention to neuroscience, but they are clearly more mind-focused than brain-focused.”

The brain-focused approach presented in the book is “a neural net based approach, trying to model the behavior of nerve cells in the brain and the emergence of intelligence therefrom. Or one can proceed at a higher level, looking at the general ways that information processing is carried out in the brain, and seeking to emulate these in software.”

This was written, of course, when the real fringe of the AI community—ignored in this 2007 book—were the handful of people (e.g., 2018 Turing Award winners Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun and Joshua Bengio) who in 2007 coined the term “deep learning” to describe their machine learning approach to finding patterns in lots of data using statistical analysis algorithms. These have been called since the 1950s “artificial neural networks,” algorithms that have been presented throughout the years with no empirical evidence as “mimicking the brain.”

In 2007, the people that were the first to discuss various approaches to achieving the newly-termed “AGI” completely ignored the fringe approach to “AI” that in 2012 became the mainstream approach to AI with the successful marriage of GPUs, lots of data, and artificial neural networks. Still, the researchers previously on the fringe of AI and now the kings of the data mountain understood well the branding and marketing power of “AGI” and continued in the exalted tradition of promising the imminent arrival of machines with human-like intelligence (or superintelligence) and the possible extinction of humanity by these possibly malevolent machines.

The key person in the importation of this tradition to the new successful approach to AI was apparently Shane Legg, a co-founder of DeepMind. Legg suggested to Goertzel the term “Artificial General Intelligence” and described to Cade Metz (who quoted Legg in his book Genius Makers ) the general attitude to the subject in the AI community around 2007: “If you talked to anybody about general AI, you would be considered at best eccentric, at worst some kind of delusional, nonscientific character.”

Aspiring to build superintelligence while worrying about what it could do to humanity, Legg joined his colleague Demis Hassabis (they were exploring the connections between the brain and machine learning at UCL) to establish DeepMind. Hassabis told Legg that “they could raise far kore money from venture capitalists than they ever could writing grant proposals as professors,” Metz reports. With AGI as the stated aim of DeepMind, mentioned in the first line of their business plan, “they told anyone who would listen, including potential investors, that this research could be dangerous.”

To get to Peter Thiel, their first investor, Hassabis gave a presentation at the 2010 Singularity Conference, arguing that the best way to build artificial intelligence was to mimic the way the brain worked: “We should be focusing on the algorithmic level of the brain, extracting the kind of representations and algorithms the brain uses to solve the kind of problems we want to solve with AGI.”

There you have it. Using the term “AGI”—with its exciting connotations of both saving and destroying humanity—to get the attention and deep pockets of investors, claiming to replicate the human brain in the computer while pursuing a statistical analysis method that has nothing to do empirically speaking with how the human brain works .

Whether insisting that their approach to AI resembles the biological processes of the human brain (“connectionism”) or that they can replicate the process of human thinking in the computer (“symbolic AI”), the two key approaches to AI since the term was coined in 1955 have banked on the widely accepted notion that “ we are as gods .” This belief in modern man’s ability to conquer all frontiers, even replicate man in the machine, has been based on the centuries-old idea that humans are a “particular configurations of atoms.”

Next in my AGI Washing Series, I will offer a short pre-history of AGI.

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