UPDATE March 2024, hey seem to have slowed down publications and haven’t had an open reading period since 2022.
Ananke Press, a small New York City based press that only publishes speculative fiction. Last year they were open to submissions from June 1st through August 30th, according to their Poets & Writers listing.
They say they offer above-standard royalties, but do not state what those rates are, or if they are off gross or net. They do not offer advances. They do not disclose having a distributor.
According to their website these are the writers they love best, and who inspire their work:
Our favorite artists are the ones who defy definition. If you aspire to sophistication of Gene Wolfe and sensuality of Samuel Delany, if the fearless imagination of Octavia Butler and uncompromising integrity of Ursula Le Guin inspire you, if the compassionate realism of Jim Sheppard and heartbreaking lyricism of Michel Faber touch your heart, and, finally, if your favorite music is by David Bowie—we want to read your book.
A speculative element is a requirement. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term that broadly covers fantasy, science fiction, slipstream and weird fiction, while also including magical realism. You can get a good feel for what they’ve previously published here.
They are open to novels or short story collections between 80,000 and 110,000 words in length and are not interested in novellas. In the subject line of the email write QUERY and the title of your novel.
Queries should be addressed to Cate Hendrikson, the acquisitions editor. In the body of the email include a one page synopsis and the first three chapters or first 50 pages, whichever is longer. Do not include any attachments. They will remain unopened.
Simultaneous submissions are fine. They respond to every query, but it takes time, they don’t start responding to queries till they close to submissions for the year.
To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 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.
