Update June 2023: The last book they published was in October 2022. Since they are a small press more might be forthcoming, but since they are currently closed to submissions it’s not exactly clear what the future holds.
Odyssey Books is a small press based in New Zealand. It was founded in 2009 by Michelle Lovi, and even now has only three listed team members, one who is part time.
Their website focuses on selling books over recruiting authors, which is always a good sign. Their covers are a real mix of well done and appealing, as well as amateurish. According to their website they have print distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and web distribution internationally. Their Australian distributor is Novella Distribution.
They have three traditional imprints, as well as a self-publishing arm (please contact us at support@authorspublish.com, if they redirect you to the self-publishing imprint).
Recently, they decided to change the direction of their primary imprint so that it now focuses on speculative fiction genres only – fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc. Although the information on the Submittable page for their primary imprint does not make that clear their main submission guideline page does. Their primary imprint, Odyssey Books is open to submissions from international authors, as is Ensorcellia, which publishes novellas, chapbooks, and comics in postcard-sized volumes.
Their third imprint, Obscura, publishes picture books for older children through to adult readers: novelty books, gift books, graphic novels, coloring books, as well as quirky and creative non-fiction, and they are only open to submissions from Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators.
Their website is a little disorganized and overwhelming, but some of the books they’ve published look excellent.
To see more of what they’ve published, go here; to learn how to submit, go 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.
