You can’t talk about small presses without bringing the genre portion into the conversation, particularly science fiction and fantasy. These two genres come with mountains of opportunities in the publishing world because it’s not just the “small presses” that you’ll come across. There are many large and reputable sci-fi and fantasy publishers out there, including independent publishers, and even literary journals that pay and take longer works.
But if you’re currently digging through all the big and small names, and you’re confident a small press is really what you want to go for, here is a beginning list of small or independent sci-fi and fantasy presses that you can take a look at.
Apex Book Company
You might know about this small press based on their literary journal, but they also publish full-length books, as well as novellas, anthologies, and collections. You can find their website here.
Falstaff Books
This fantasy publisher has both unsolicited periods and periods for agented submissions. Their unsolicited submission periods are every couple of years. Their extensive guidelines can be found here. They want both novels and novellas.
When asked what they’re looking for specifically, Falstaff Books says: “Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, Weird West, and, of course, misfit toys. Our Falstaff Crush line specializes in romance but should include elements of the other genres as well.”
Small Beer Press
They publish both fantasy and literary fiction, and also art. On their guidelines page they include how to submit, as well as guidelines for their literary journal and how to submit your art.
You can find all of those guidelines here.
Tor.com
This publisher has a long and well-known history, and they publish in a wide variety of genres, but I think it’s safe to say that their particularly known for their fantasy. They actually have to types of guidelines, one for fiction and novellas, and one for nonfiction, blog posts, essays, etc. Each one gives details instructions on how to submit.
You can find the fiction guidelines here and the other guidelines mentioned above here.
Ink and Fable Publishing
They accept a wide range of genres, including fantasy, sci-fi, and other genres, for different audiences, in both novel and novella format. They also occasionally offer calls for anthologies, but this doesn’t happen often.
You can find their full guidelines on their website here. They have specific ways they want you to format your work, so read carefully before submitting!
Future House Publishing
This small press looks for sci-fi, fantasy, and middle grade. They also particularly like works that you’ve been planning that can be turned into a series of three or more books.
You can find their full guidelines on how to submit and what to submit here.
Want to know more? Check out some of my other posts while my portfolio is under construction! You’ll also find some helpful links to my work in journals in the Original Writing page. You can find me in Ariel Chart, The Cedarville Review, Nailpolish Stories, Bluepepper, 50 Word Stories, The Aurora Journal, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, The Drabble, Anti-heroin Chic, Art of Autism, Your Daily Poem, Sanctuary Magazine, and Sledgehammer Lit. You can now also find my FREE microchap at Origami Poems Project, which I am also offering here.
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