Nonfiction Catholic book projects might include personal narratives and self-help books, collections of prayers and reflections, accounts of church history or hagiography (saints' lives), and curricula for Catholic home schooling. Some of the important publishers of Catholic nonfiction include Paulist Press, Ignatius Press and Our Sunday Visitor. Doubleday is reviving its Image imprint for Catholic topics, and Maryknoll publishes niche books on topics related to its mission. TAN Books publishes reprints of traditional Catholic works.
Catholic presses that publish fiction include Ignatius Press and Paulist Press, which is now publishing a limited amount of fiction for young people. A list of classic Catholic fiction writers would include Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, Grahame Greene, A. J. Cronin and Alice Thomas Ellis. Hilda van Stockum has written much Catholic children's fiction. Among contemporary Catholic novelists and genre writers are Michael O'Brien, John C. Wright and Ralph McInerny
Sophia Institute Press is a mid-sized publisher of Catholic nonfiction. Two small publishers include Requiem Press, a family-based business, and Idylis Press, founded to address the need for new and reprinted Catholic fiction. When submitting manuscripts, be sure to follow guidelines accurately, send only work that fits the publisher, and be patient. Small presses typically have a small staff to deal with submissions.
Internet opportunities such as blogging, print-on-demand publishing, and e-books have given many Catholic writers a chance to build a following before or during the publishing process. While in the past writers may have broken in with short story publication or by working for a newspaper, journal or university, today many are developing their skills and interacting with a reading audience through online blogs. Holly Pierlot's "A Mother's Rule of Life" has succeeded in large part because of a grapevine of Catholic moms passing the book to each other, posting comments, and linking to her site. Catholic writers Amy Welborn, Mark Shea and Jennifer Fulwiler also have popular blogs. Some Catholic writers, like William Luse of "The Christendom Review," self-publish through electronic media. Danielle Bean and other contemporary Catholic lay commentators publish through the website "Faith and Family Live!"