My grandpa recently passed away, and among his belongings we found a collection of journal entries, stories, and poems he wrote as a US Army soldier in the Second WW. My grandfather was a lifelong lover of literature and poetry, and these accounts are beautiful-written tales of combat engagements, war experiences, and the people he fought with side-by-side. I find them very compelling, and I think other people would too. I've scanned and transcribed them all (about 40,000 words worth) and would like to find a way to bring them out to the general public.
I am not sure however about the best way to move forward with this. I've tried reaching out to a few publishing houses without luck, though to be fair I haven't been trying very long so maybe I just need to give it more time. Would big publishing houses be interested in such papers? Or should I target specific history/military publishers? If nothing else, should I send them to museums or historians who might be interested in first-person accounts like this one?
Any other suggestions highly welcome!
Publishing houses that do nonfiction might indeed be interested in these, definitely pitch to some editors whose manuscript wish lists (mswl) includes nonfiction, especially those that have handled WWII or military history before.
The whole submissions process takes time in publishing, academic or no, so cast a wide net and don't forget to pitch to agents who focus on nonfiction as well, they'll know best who is shopping for this sort material.
In the US, you might try your local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post.