Who We Are

Catapult publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction of the highest literary caliber, offers writing classes taught by acclaimed emerging and established writers, produces an award-winning daily online magazine of narrative nonfiction and fiction, and hosts an open online platform where writers can showcase their own writing, find resources, and get inspired.

We nurture emerging writers by helping them better their craft, and support more established writers by evenly sharing revenues from the classes they teach, and by paying to publish their work online. Catapult strives to be a successful business model for the future of independent publishing.

To read more about our mission and vision, read our mission statement. 

Our books: Since our launch in Fall 2015, Catapult’s books and our authors have won numerous major literary awards, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award in Literature, the Maine Literary Award, the Costa Novel Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Our books have been finalists for many other prizes, including the Man Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Goldsmith Prize, the Miles Franklin Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN America Open Book Award, the California Book Award for First Fiction, the Stella Prize, and the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction. Our books are frequently named to the American Booksellers Association Indie Next List, and have been featured as Amazon’s Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, Belletrist Book Club picks, and as The New York Times Editors' Choice selections. Our titles have been praised in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and many other outlets. To learn more, click here.

The magazine: Catapult is an independent daily digital magazine featuring original essays, fiction, poetry, and art from thousands of contributors and columnists. Catapult won a 2020 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary. Essays and stories published in the magazine have also been awarded the Pushcart Prize, shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, nominated for a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award, and featured in The Best American Essays and other Best American anthologies, and illustrator Sirin Thada was shortlisted for a Communication Arts Illustration Award in 2021. Anthologies of the magazine's work are available: A Map Is Only One Story and Body Language.

Don’t Write Alone: This page is intended to be a resource for writers at every stage of their projects, processes, and careers. We are committed to bringing our readers exciting essays on craft; sharing informative interviews with authors and industry professionals; providing useful tools for pitching, freelancing, and job searching; and sharing educational materials in consultation with experienced and committed creative writing instructors. Catapult is aware of long-standing, harmful systemic practices that make digital media, writing programs, and book publishing less accessible to many, and are committed to providing free information and resources that may help make our industries more inclusive and transparent. 

Writing Program: Catapult’s creative writing workshops and master classes are led by award-winning and bestselling authors, and industry professionals at the top of their fields. Our students have been admitted into high-ranking MFA programs, gained representation by literary agents, and have gone on to be published in venues including The New York Times, Elle, and Guernica.

You can read about Catapult in Poets & Writers, The Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Sign up for our newsletter to keep up-to-date on Catapult goings-on. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram.

CONTACT US

For general queries: [email protected]

For submissions: visit our Submittable page

For media queries related to our books: contact Megan Fishmann

For permissions queries related to our books: visit our About Us page 

THE CATAPULT TEAM

Elizabeth Koch, Co-founder & CEO

Alyson Forbes, Publisher/COO

CATAPULT BOOKS

Dan Smetanka, Editorial Director, Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull

Kendall Storey, Editor in Chief

Alicia Kroell, Editor

Summer Farah, Associate Editor

Elizabeth Pankova, Editorial Assistant

Leigh Newman, Editor at Large

Julie Buntin, Editor at Large; Director Emeritus, Writing Programs

CATAPULT CLASSES

Colin Drohan, Director of Writing Programs

Amanda Fatemi-Badi, Writing Programs Manager - Outreach and Special Programs

Gabrielle Bellot, Head Instructor; Staff Contributing Editor, Magazine

Jay Morales, Student Support Specialist

CATAPULT MAGAZINE & DON’T WRITE ALONE 

Tajja Isen, Editor in Chief

Matt Ortile, Executive Editor

Stella Cabot Wilson, Associate Editor, Catapult and Don’t Write Alone

Allisen Hae Ji Lichtenstein, Assistant Editor, Catapult

Billy-Ray Belcourt, Poetry Editor

Eliza Harris, Editorial Assistant, Don’t Write Alone

 

MARKETING

Rachel Fershleiser, Associate Publisher and Executive Director of Marketing

Dustin Kurtz, Social Media Editor

Kira Weiner, Events Coordinator

Alyssa Lo, Marketing Assistant

PUBLICITY

Megan Fishmann, Vice President, Associate Publisher and Senior Director of Publicity

Sarah Jean Grimm, Assistant Director of Publicity

Lena Moses-Schmitt, Assistant Director of Publicity 

Alisha Gorder, Publicity Manager

Selihah White, Publicist

SALES & OPERATIONS

Miriam Vance, Contracts & Rights Associate, Awards Coordinator

Katie Mantele, Sales Associate

Carly Tagen-Dye, Publishing Assistant

DESIGN

Nicole Caputo, Creative Director

Lexi Earle, Designer

Farjana Yasmin, Designer

PRODUCTION

Wah-Ming Chang, VP, Corporate Culture, Senior Managing Editor

Olenka Burgess, Production Manager

Laura Berry, Production Editor

Tracy Danes, Production Assistant