Speculative fiction is generally defined as a genre of fiction where the setting is not in the world as we know it because of supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements
Three genres are covered by this umbrella term: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
This term is used to cover work that doesn’t fit exactly in one of these three genres, but moves between them.
Many of these publishers are interested in speculative fiction in general. Some publish just one of the genres covered by the speculative fiction umbrella such as horror. Others publish many genres and types of books.
Some are small companies, others are imprints of major publishing houses. They are not listed in any particular order.
Not all of them may be currently open to submissions. It is important to note that all of them meet the standards outlined in our guiding principles.
All of the publishers are only briefly described on this page, however if you click on the link, you will reach their website, or our full review of them. The review includes submission information and links to their websites.
Flame Tree Press
Flame Tree Press is an imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Flame Tree Press focuses on publishing speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction. They have good distribution in the US and the UK. I have seen their books at brick and mortar bookstores on numerous occasions. Learn more here.
Orbit Works
Orbit Works was founded in April 2023, as a new imprint of Hachette/Orbit that is focused on digital publishing. This includes both eBooks and audiobooks. You can read the PR statement about the imprint here. It is led by Orbit Executive Editor Brit Hvide and Editor Stephanie Clark. Orbit Works, like Orbit, is based out of New York. They are open to both agented and unageneted submissions. Orbit is only open to agented submissions and was founded in 2007 to focus on publishing science fiction and fantasy. They have one other imprint, called Redhook. They have published many well-regarded, bestselling, and award-winning books, in terms of science fiction and fantasy. You can learn more here.
Arcadia Books
Jo Fletcher Books was recently rebranded as Arcadia Books. You can learn more about the reabrand here. It is is an imprint of Quercus Publishing, the only imprint that accepts unsolicited submissions. They publish science fiction, fantasy, and horror books for adults. They are not interested in children’s or young adult books, or in short story collections or novellas. To learn more, go here.
Android Press
Android Press is a new small press based in Eugene, Oregon. This is how they describe their mission: “uplifting author and creator voices from marginalized communities and the Global South, Android Press publishes science fiction, fantasy, and light horror specializing in climate fiction and the various -punk subgenres. We love stories that are rooted in hope and optimism, as well as stories that hold up a mirror to our society, forcing us to reexamine our past and our values in order to move forward and build a better future.” You can read our full review here.
Brain Jar Press
Brain Jar Press is a Brisbane-based publisher focused on publishing science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller and crime fiction, of various lengths. They also are open to submissions as well as nonfiction works that can be tied to those genres. As a digital first press, the bulk of the books they sell are eBooks, but they do offer print-on-demand copies of some work. You can learn more here.
Aqueduct Press
Aqueduct Press was founded in 2004. Their motto is “Bringing Challenging Feminist Science Fiction to the Demanding Reader”. They go into more details in their mission statement that you can read here. You can get a feel for what they publish by going to their home page here. Their focus is very much on promoting the work they publish, not recruiting authors. Both their website and the covers of the work they publish are basic, but well formatted and easy to interact with. They pair each cover image with a blurb endorsing the book, and most of these blurbs are well chosen. You can learn more about submitting to them here.
Page Street Publishing
Page Street Publishing started out focused primarily on giftbook nonfiction, but in recent years has built a strong YA division that actively publishes a number of speculative genres, including Fantasy. They have also recently started publishing horror for adult readers. You can learn more here.
Mirror World
Mirror World bills itself as a publisher of “escapism fiction for all ages”. They publish both eBooks and paperbacks in a variety of genres, many that fall under the larger speculative fiction umbrella including portal fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, science fiction and paranormal works. They are also open to romance, adventure, comedy, historical, and cross genre/multi genre work. However there are lots of subgenres they are not interested in, even in these genres. Please make sure they are open to your sub-genre before submitting. They usually reopen to submissions in October. You can learn more here.
The Evil Cookie Publishing
The Evil Cookie is a micropress focused on publishing “gore-infested, fast-paced novels/novellas and anthologies.” It is run by K. Trap Jones, an extreme horror author. The publisher’s tagline is “#NoneGorier”. You can learn more here.
Black Beacon Books
Black Beacon Books is a small press that was established in 2013. It was founded in Australia, but since then has moved to Brittany, France. They publish mysteries, suspense, horror, and post-apocalyptic fiction. They have a Patreon, and regularly publish anthologies. They are usually only open to certain genres at a time. You can learn more here.
Fractured Mirror Publishing
Fractured Mirror Publishing is a small press founded in 2020. You can learn a little more about their origins in their first anniversary post here. They focus on publishing novels that fall in the speculative fiction category. This includes, but is not limited to, the following genres: dystopian, fantasy, and science fiction. They have been actively publishing for over three years now, and you can get a good feel for what they are interested in by visiting their catalogue here. Their covers have really improved over time and are generally genre-appropriate. If you filter by genre in the catalogue you can see what sub-genres of speculative fiction they’ve actively published. They also talk more about their definition of speculative fiction, here. They are currently closed to submissions but plan to reopen in 2024. You can learn more here.
Bold Strokes Books
Bold Strokes Books publishes only LGBTQ books, which means that its books feature characters that are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans, and queer. They publish general and genre fiction. They offer advances to their authors. Bold Strokes is interested in publishing books that fall under the LGBTQ umbrella including literary fiction, romance novels, young-adult novels, genre novels (including science fiction and mystery), and works of nonfiction. The only genre of books they do not appear to publish is poetry. Learn more here.
The Parliament House
The Parliament House is a small eBook and print press started in 2016. They specialize in fantasy, including paranormal, contemporary, and urban. Their website is well designed, and the covers are well designed and market appropriate. They seem active on social media and more focused on recruiting readers than writers. You can read our full review here.
Angry Robot
Angry Robot is a respected science fiction and fantasy publisher that occasionally dips into related genres (such as urban fantasy, steampunk, and horror). Angry Robot was originally funded by HarperCollins. They are now part of Watkins Media Ltd. They offer advances and good royalty rates. The contract they offer covers print, eBook, and audio book rights. They currently have one open reading period a year for general submissions. For unagented Black writers, they had ongoing submissions at the time of writing, see their blog post for details. You can read our full review here.
CamCat Books
CamCat Books is a small independent publisher that was founded in 2019. They publish a wide variety of genres including science fiction and fantasy. Learn more by reading our full review here.
AK Press
AK Press is a worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that focuses on publishing and distributing radical left and anarchist literature. They were founded in Scotland in 1990, but are now largely based in Chico, California. Outside of nonfiction they also publish speculative fiction including science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, horror, and mystery works of 25,000 to 55,000 words, under their Black Dawn Imprint, inspired by Octavia Butler. You can learn more about that imprint here.
Baen
Baen is an established publisher of science fiction and fantasy novels. To learn more, read our full review here.
Aethon Books
Aethon Books is a print and eBook publisher that focuses on science fiction and fantasy although they now also publish thrillers. They are open to all sub-genres within these genres including hard sci-fi, epic fantasy, space opera, military SF, alt/history, and time travel. Read our full review here.
Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press is a small British publisher that opened in the 1990s. They specialize in publishing literary supernatural/strange/horror fiction. They are best known for their limited edition hardbacks with distinctive cream covers. They also publish paperbacks and eBooks. The press has won a number of genre awards over the years. Read our full review here.
Quirk Books
This Philadelphia-based press publishes just 25 books a year in a whole range of genres, including children’s books, nonfiction, and science fiction. Unlike most publishers who tackle a large range of topics, Quirk Books has a clear marketing plan and to a certain degree their books have a cohesive feel, because they all are quirky. At the time of this update they are not open to submissions. Read our full review here.
Tell-Tale Publishing
Tell-Tale Publishing is a small press founded in 2009. They seem to focus primarily on eBooks but also they have print options (largely print on demand). They publish six imprints which include Dahlia (romance, and various romance subgenres), Stargazer (fantasy, steampunk), Nightshade (horror), Casablanca (mystery), Thistle (middle school, YA, new adult), and Deja Vu (reprints for all genres). Read our full review here.
Brother Mockingbird
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press committed to discovering writers from the American South, but they are also open to good fiction, regardless of where the author is based. Among many other genres they publish science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Read our full review here.
Blind Eye Books
Blind Eye Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance novels featuring LGBTQ protagonists. They are a print publisher and their book covers are beautifully designed and really stand out. The books they have published have won and been nominated for a number of awards, including the Lambda. Read our review here.
Severed Press
Established in 2008, Severed Press is a eBook and print-on-demand publisher focused on publishing horror and science fiction. They are established and respected within these genres, and the books they publish have excellent genre-appropriate covers. Learn more here.
Hydra Publications
Hydra Publications is based in Indiana, and should not be confused with Random House’s Hydra imprint, or Hydra House, a Pacific Northwest based publisher of speculative fiction. Hydra Publications started out publishing a wide variety of genres, but now publish mainly speculative fiction, with a few imprints outside of that. Learn more here.
Tiny Fox Press
Founded in 2015 as a collective of writers, Tiny Fox Press originally focused on publishing work by the editors. This is a form of self-publishing, but they have branched out since then, although they are still publishing some books by the editors. They primarily publish science fiction, fantasy, and YA. You can learn more here.
Artemesia Publishing
Artemesia Publishing was founded in 2004, and they describe themselves as a micro-publisher. Although based on the titles section of their website they publish work at the rate of one title per month, which is actually a lot more than many other small presses. They started out focused on nonfiction, particularly inspirational stories, but have since expanded into other genres, including children’s fiction, YA, and genre fiction (mystery, sci-fi, etc). You can learn more here.
Cemetery Gates
Cemetery Gates Media was founded in 2015 by longtime friends John Brhel and Joe Sullivan and focuses on publishing fantasy and supernatural fiction. Cemetery Gates Media is based in Binghamton, New York. They have published a number of anthologies that seemed to do well, and they have paid all contributors. The anthologies reflect a wide range of work. At first they were solely focused on publishing their own work outside of anthologies, but that changed in late 2020 when they launched the Debut Horror Novel Series. They are currently open to submissions for this years series. Learn more here.
Sourcebooks Horror
Their Horror imprint is now a few years old and they have published a lot of books under that imprint now, although it’s hard to know exactly how many because they still do not have a formal Horror section on the site. Their book covers for this imprint are really well done. They have published many of Darcy Coates books, and they all appear to have sold well. The search function has been improved and searching the site for horror, can now bring up a lot of options that are actually in that genre. To learn more, go here.
Luna Press Publishing
They are closed to submissions for the rest of 2024 but you can learn more about them here.
Dancing Lemur Press
Dancing Lemur Press is a small US Press that has been actively publishing work since 2009. They are based in North Carolina and seem to regularly participate in local events. Science Fiction is one of the few genres they focus on. You can learn more here. They are only open to submissions from current authors right now.
Castle Bridge Media
Castle Bridge Media is an independent publisher that focuses on genre fiction, particularly horror, science fiction, thriller, and fantasy. They accept direct submissions and also submissions from agents. They appear to list most of their agented deals on Publishers Marketplace, so if you’re interested in seeing what they’ve accepted recently, and have a Publishers Marketplace membership, I encourage you to visit their listing here. They are based in Denver, Colorado. You can learn more here.
Three Ravens Publishing
Three Ravens Publishing is a fiction publisher focused on genre work, particularly science fiction and fantasy, but are open to other genres as well. They are active on social media, and attend various conventions, both good signs. They also appear to obtain part of their funding from Patreon, which is unusual, but hopefully indicates a strong supportive fan base. To learn more, go here.
Tiny Ghost Press
Tiny Ghost Press is a small press that focuses on publishing YA fiction that centers LGBTQIA+ characters. This means that in their own words, they want “YOUNG ADULT novels, written from a QUEER perspective, That is stories featuring a queer protagonist or from a queer author. We’re interested in everything from contemporary romance, to dystopian adventures, and if your story dabbles in the spooky, the supernatural, or the paranormal, or has a speculative element even better!” To learn more, go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
