What happens when we say yes to adventure?
Sometimes it takes us across the world. Sometimes it changes our career, challenges what we thought we were capable of, introduces us to people we never expected to meet, or takes us somewhere that exists only in our imagination.
And sometimes, it begins with a book.
For our Fall 2026 season, Publishizer is celebrating ADVENTURE and calling on writers and authors to take us somewhere new.
We’re looking for stories that transport us, challenge us, surprise us, and capture what happens when we venture beyond what we already know.
There are two ways to participate.
For writers looking to gain feedback, visibility, and submission experience, submit an original 750–1,200 word short story inspired by one idea:
Saying yes to adventure.
That “yes” might mean boarding the plane. Taking the risk. Starting over. Confronting a fear. Entering an unknown world. Meeting someone unexpected. Or choosing a path you never imagined taking.
The adventure can be real or imagined, enormous or everyday. We want to know what happens when someone says yes to the unknown. Judges will evaluate the top five submissions, with the finalists featured on the Publishizer Blog.
For authors with a book-length idea ready to take the next step, we’re calling for book proposals across five categories:
Journeys & Exploration
Travel, place, culture, nature, discovery, and adventures that take us somewhere new.
Reinvention
Personal transformation, fitness journeys, second acts, major life changes, and stories about becoming someone new.
Adventures of the Mind
Psychology, curiosity, big ideas, self-discovery, and explorations that change how we understand ourselves or the world.
Adventures of Business
Entrepreneurship, career pivots, leadership, risk-taking, building something new, and navigating the unknown.
Fiction & Imagined Worlds
Quests, discovery, mystery, transformation, and adventures limited only by the imagination.
Adventure isn’t always about where you go. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to change direction.
That’s one reason we chose Pivot-Quest as our Fall 2026 Publishizer Book Club pick.
At its heart, Pivot-Quest explores how we navigate change, uncertainty, and reinvention by approaching a pivot as a quest rather than simply something to survive.
It captures an idea at the heart of this season:
What if the pivot isn’t an interruption to the adventure? What if the pivot is the adventure?