Dostoevsky offered his story ( at the time , he did not think of Crime and Punishment as a novel ) to the publisher Mikhail Katkov . Famous writers such as Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy often used Katkov 's monthly journal , The Russian Messenger , to print their writings . Dostoyevsky offered his story or novella ( at the time Dostoyevsky was not thinking of a novel ) to the publisher Mikhail Katkov , whose monthly journal , The Russian Messenger , was a prestigious publication of its kind , and the outlet for both Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy .