Updated May 7th, 2026

Blackwater Press is a small press based in West Virginia, with an international team of editors. They were founded in 2021. They also run an editorial consultancy, but when I reached out to the press directly the editors informed me that they did not direct writers submitting to the press to their editorial services and that they don’t accept work they edited at their press.

They were prompt and forthcoming with the information, which is usually a good sign. In the very unlikely event that you do get re-directed, please email me at support@authorspublish.com.

They publish fiction, nonfiction, essay, short story collections, novellas and memoir manuscripts. They are not interested in erotica or poetry, kids, crime, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, horror, young adult, anything with a dragon or a vampire, current events and politics, religious/spiritual, guide books, cookbooks.. They are open to agented and un-agented queries. Manuscripts must be complete before submitting

It’s easy to get a feel for what they publish here.

They prefer book-length titles to be over 30,000 words. For short story collections, they ask that the majority of the work is previously unpublished. It was not clear if they had distribution or not.

All submissions must be made via email. Simultaneous submissions are allowed.

They ask for all authors to submit the manuscript with numbered pages alongside a separate one page synopsis, and a brief biography of the author. They ask that the file is formatted as .docx, .odt, .rtf, .txt, .pdf. All submissions must be made through a form on their submission page

Their full submission guidelines are 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.