Happy Friday, everyone! Sorry for the late post; I’m knee-deep in projects right now and, unfortunately, I can only do so much at once. Nevertheless, I wanted to take some time to tell you about a publishing opportunity for science fiction and fantasy novelists. It’s not a contest but it’s unique for a modern publishing company in that it accepts manuscripts without a literary agent. I’m talking about a branch of Penguin Books USA called DAW Books.
DAW Books was founded by paperback editor Donald A. Wollheim and his wife, Elsie B. Wollhein, as the first publishing company exclusively for science fiction and fantasy novels. They’ve published such authors as Mercedes Lackey, author of the Heralds of Valdemar series, and Patrick Rothfuss, whose first novel–The Name of the Wind–was Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year in 2007.
So, a science fiction and fantasy publisher that accepts unsolicited manuscripts? OK, what’s the catch? After looking at their website, I could only find two:
- DAW books does not accept manuscripts which are currently on submission with another publisher unless a prior arrangement has been made with an agent.
- They do not accept short stories, short story collections, or novellas. While the average length of the novels varies, most of them aren’t fewer than 80,000 words.
There are also requirements for formatting and DAW books accepts electronic submissions only through Submittable, but you can found out all about that on their website.
A big thank you to Ameel for the tip!
If you know of any writing contests or publishing opportunities that you wish to share with other writers, feel free to drop a line in the comments below or e-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com
I’ll be back with a book review and more Banned Books Week material soon, but until then, happy writing!
Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011
i already sent them my manuscript >:3
Awesome!