Below is a listing of publishers of fantasy literature. The majority of UK ones ask that authors only make submissions through a literary agent, to spare themselves being inundated with thousands of submissions a week – most won’t even provide the names and contact details of their staff on their websites because they don’t want to be flooded with enquiries. A few of the publishers, however, will accept unsolicited ‘submissions’ from even first-time (previously unpublished) authors. A number of them will also have ‘submission windows’, specific times of the year when they will accept any and all submissions. You need to check the ‘submission guidelines’ for each publisher and keep an eye on their sites for announcements regarding submission/open windows/doors.
Gollancz/Voyager. Imprints of Orion Books, although they have their own self-contained, quasi-autonomous departments. Market leader for fantasy and scifi in the UK. Usually ask you to contact them through an agent. http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/about-orion/faqs#submission
HarperCollins. Does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. However, maintains the very useful community for writers called Authonomy. You can upload your manuscript and have it reviewed by other members. Once you have enough decent reviews, a HC editor will then look at your work. http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Pages/Have-you-written-a-great-book.aspx
Pan Macmillan. Does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. However, runs the ‘Macmillan New Writing’ scheme, which publishes debut authors – one a month. The scheme usually allows you to submit via email too, which saves you lots of aggro with self-addressed envelopes and printing. http://www.panmacmillan.com/Help-is-at-hand?slider=true
Headline. Part of the publishing giant Hachette UK. Prints scifi and horror, and the odd bit of fantasy (including Neil Gaiman). Allows submissions by post. http://www.headline.co.uk/about.aspx
Orbit Books. Need to approach them through an agent. http://www.orbitbooks.net/faq/
Bloomsbury Publishing. No unsolicited manuscripts. http://bloomsbury.com/aboutus/content/16
Angry Robot. Has an ‘Open Door Month’ from time to time. However, they tend to deal with authors they know. They foolishly rejected Empire of the Saviours. Probably didn’t read it. They will rue the day. http://angryrobotbooks.com/march-2011-open-door-month/
Solaris Books /Abaddon Books/Rebellion Publishing. Associated imprints. Do not accept unsolicited submissions. http://www.2000adonline.com/
Tor and Forge. Imprints of Macmillan USA. They have an open submissions policy. Unbelievable! You don’t need an agent to contact them. (US publishers tend to be more approachable than UK ones, strangely.) http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx?publisher=torforge&id=255#ctl00_cphContent_ctl30_lblQuestion
DAW. Imprint of Penguin Group USA. They have an open submissions policy! http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/daw/submissions.html
Wizards of the Coast. The world’s biggest publisher of fantasy (cos they publish Dungeons&Dragons, you see). This US publisher tends to have a submissions window around Sept of each year. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/writersguidelines
Del Ray Books and Bantam Dell. Imprints of Random House. Need to approach them through an agent. http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/help/faq
Jo Fletcher Books. An imprint of Quercus Publishing (a UK independent press). Send an enquiry email before any submission is my advice. http://www.jofletcherbooks.com/contact/
Eibonvale Press. A UK independent small press which often accepts submissions of magical realism, horror, slipstream and surreal fiction. Okay, strictly speaking, they shouldn’t be in this listing for publishers of fantasy, but I like these guys. http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/
Tartarus. A UK independent small press which often accepts submissions, although they tend to be quite particular/careful about what they will publish. http://tartaruspress.com/submissions.htm
Pendragon Press. A UK independent small press which often accepts submissions of short stories for anthologies and of novels. http://www.pendragonpress.net/submissions/
Telos Publishing. Publisher of Time Hunter, a Doctor Who spin-off series! A UK independent small press which sometimes accepts submissions, but probably won’t do so for the next year or two. http://www.telos.co.uk/
The Black Library. Publishers of Warhammer. They have submission windows every now and then, but you pretty much have to submit ‘fan fiction’ for their universe. http://www.blacklibrary.com/Getting-Started/FAQ-Working-For-Black-Library.html
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