HarperCollins has three digital-first imprints, all accepting submissions: for novels of growth or transformation, romance novels, and mysteries and thrillers

HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins, announced the launch of HarperLegend, a new publishing line that aims to publish undiscovered fiction authors in a digital-first format.

HarperLegend seeks to publish new writers who have “voices that communicate wisdom, insight, and/or personal growth with an overarching theme of transformation,” according to a press release.

Using the example of popular books such as The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis, and Buddha By Deepak Chopra, amongst others, the company seeks to publish books that spark cultural conversations, and with digital-first publications in hopes of furthering sales.

Mark Tauber, senior vice president and publisher of HarperOne, said, “Call them visionary fiction, spiritual novels, or just stories of change; these are books that not only move us, but transform and illuminate. We have seen the success of this type of fiction as we watch our sales grow and authors’ influence widen. As we can see from our colleagues at Avon Impulse, and often hear from our readers, digital-first fiction is growing.”

HarperLegend is currently asking for author submissions. They are not offering advances. Royalties are 25%, then 50% after the first 10,000 copies sold. If the book sells over 15,000 copies there is a great chance that they will decide to publish your book in print and help promote it to bookstores all over the world.

Some indie authors might wonder, why go through all of the hassle of trying to get their book submitted to HarperLegend and go through a vetting process when they can just click the submission button on Kindle Direct Publishing? 

The answer, according to HarperOne,  is that HarperLegend is a boutique publishing shop within a big muscle publishing company. There is an expert team with many and varied skill sets inside HarperOne and HarperCollins who will all touch your book in some way, including editorial guidance, marketing, publicity, legal, anti-piracy, design, copy, distribution, sales, foreign rights, subsidiary rights, strategic pricing, and live event representation.

Submission information here.

HarperCollins also has digital-first imprints for romance novels – Avon Impulse – and for mysteries and thrillers – Witness impulse. Here’s what the company has to say about these imprints:

Avon Impulse

Attention, romance writers!  Avon Impulse is the digital-first publishing imprint of Avon Books. Each month our goal is to build an exciting list of fresh, exciting voices, which means we're always looking for new talent! 

Avon means quality, which means you'll be working with some of the best in the business: editors who spot trends, and develop talent while overseeing your manuscript and working with you to manage our career; marketers with proven relationships with all on line retailers, whose knowledge of strategic pricing and on line advertising is top–notch; publicists with their expertise in social media and promotional campaigns, who can get the word out about your book. 

Submissions here.

Witness Impulse, A digital-original mystery, suspense, and thriller line.

Witness Impulse launched in October 2013, and is already the publisher of a host of bestselling authors abroad and in the U.S., including Agatha Christie, Stephen Booth, James Hayman, J.A. Jance, Susan McBride, Brian McGilloway, Charles Todd, and many, many more. We're now acquiring material from new writers, as well. 

With Witness you get the best of both worlds. You will be a digital pioneer, blazing the quickest and most effective trail to market for new and evolving authors – and all book-length Witness titles are put into print, as well. Our authors enjoy the benefits of working with a legendary company, steeped in a long tradition of publishing the very best in mysteries and thrillers, and are supported by an experienced team of publishing professionals.

Submissions here.

Olga Filina

Brian Henry will lead How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Feb 20, in Kitchener, with literary agent Olga Filina of The Rights Factory (see here) and on Saturday, Feb 27, in Brampton with Martha Webb of the McDermid Agency (see here).

Other upcoming workshops include How to Build Your Story, Saturday, Jan 16, in Georgetown (see here), and Saturday, Jan 30 in Toronto (see here), Writing With Style, Saturday, March 12, in Oakville (see here), and Writing Your Life & Other True Stories, Saturday, March 19, in Caledon (see here).

And in June, Brian will lead a weekend writing retreat at the fabulous Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park (see here).

For more information or to register, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

But the best way to grow as a writer or to get your manuscript ready for publication may be with a weekly class. Starting in the new year, Brian will be offering a full range of courses for both beginning to experienced writers (details of all five classes here)

Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Jan 28 – March 31, (no class March 17), in Burlington. (See details of this class here.)

Writing Personal Stories, Tuesday afternoons, Feb 2 – March 29, (no class March 15) in Burlington (see here.)

The Next Step in Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, Jan 20 – March 30 (no class March 16), in Burlington (see here)

Intermediate Creative Writing, Thurs evenings, Jan 21 – March 31, (no class March 17), in Georgetown (see here)

Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, Jan 20 – March 9  (For details, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca) 

See details of all five classes here.

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

To register or for more information, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Barrie, Bracebridge, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.