33 dark fantasy publishers accepting unsolicited manuscripts in January 2026
Congratulations on finishing your dark fantasy novel! Now it’s time to pitch it to a publisher. All of the publishers listed here are currently on the look out for manuscript submissions from authors without a literary agent in January 2026. I’ve done my best to weed out any dodgy and vanity publishers from this list.
Don’t forget to check out my developmental editing services or pre-querying package if you want to make sure your novel is in top shape before you send it to a publisher for consideration. I offer a variety of services to suit all budgets, from writers looking for the standard developmental editing experience to those seeking high-level feedback with a quick turnaround time.
Aethon Books
Aethon Books is a publisher dedicated to readers, passionate about publishing the next generation of fantasy and science fiction novels. Their main concern is finding stories with a compelling narrative that pulls readers through your world.
Genre: Fantasy and science fiction in any subgenre. They are also open to thrillers, especially action, political and military thrillers.
Word count: Novel-length work.
Angry Robot
Angry Robot is an independent publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and books that make you think “WTF?!” (their words!). They like to push genre boundaries and think of themselves as “genrefluid.” They are looking for writing which has a strong voice. At this time, they are only accepting manuscript submissions from Black authors.
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy and horror in all subgenres.
Word count: 70,000 words and above.
Apex Book Company
Apex Book Company is an independent publisher of exemplary works of dark fiction.
Genre: Dark fiction.
Word count: Not stated.
Aurealis
Aurealis is Australia’s most successful science fiction and fantasy magazine.
Genre: Fantasy, science fiction, or horror short stories.
Word count: 2,000 to 8,000 words.
Baen
Baen is an American publishing house specializing in science fiction and fantasy.
Genre: Science fiction and fantasy.
Word count: 100,000 to 130,000 words.
Black Bed Sheet Books
Black Bed Sheet Books publishes horror, science fiction and fantasy.
Genre: Fiction of a dark nature, especially horror, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, young adult, contemporary and thrillers.
Word count: Not stated.
Brain Jar Press
Brain Jar Press is a Brisbane-based publisher specializing in shorter works of fantasy and science fiction. Please note some of their submission calls are limited to Australian and New Zealand writers.
Genre: Fantasy, science fiction, horror, crime and thriller fiction.
Word count: 4,000-60,000 words (chapbooks, novellas and short stories).
CamCat Books
CamCat Publishing opened in 2019 and takes pride in facilitating and engaging communication between their readers and writers. They will not publish erotica or books with strong religious or political slants.
Genre: Genre fiction, including mystery, thriller, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical, paranormal, horror, adventure, western and young adult.
Word count: 60,000 to 100,000 words.
Changeling Press
Changeling Press is a digital publisher of contemporary, science fiction, and paranormal romance. Their target audience is adult women.
Genre: Romance, in the subgenres of contemporary, paranormal, women’s fiction and science fiction. They also state they accept romance subgenres focusing on action, suspense, motorcycle, medical, rock star, comedy, dark comedy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, magic, sorcery and witchcraft, cyberpunk, reverse harem, LGBTA+, mpreg (male pregnancy, a trope in fiction where a male character becomes pregnant), steampunk, werewolves, shifters and vampire.
Word count: 20,000 to 40,000 words.
City Owl Press
City Owl Press is an indie publisher specializing in speculative fiction and romance. Please note that Writer Beware wrote an article on City Owl Press recently so make sure you do your research before submitting.
Genre: Genre fiction in the subgenres of romance (dark, fantasy, historical, monster, paranormal, comedy, science fiction, suspense, small town, time travel) and speculative (fairy tale retellings, cozy, dark, urban). They also accept horror, psychological, thriller, mystery and new adult.
Word count: 50,000 words and above.
Creature Horror
Creature Horror is a Virginia-based publisher focusing on genres like feminist horror, dark speculative fiction, and fantastical fiction.
Genre: Feminist horror, dark speculative fiction, women-driven thrillers, spooky fantastical fiction, literary fiction, or genre-defying prose.
Word count: 20,000 to 90,000 words.
Dancing Star Press
Dancing Star Press is a Michigan-based indie publisher specializing in speculative fiction.
Genre: Space opera, solarpunk, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, fantasy based on non-Western cultures, optimistic futurism, poplar tesla, soft science fiction, and hard science fiction.
Word count: Novellas between 17,500 and 40,000 words.
Eclipse
Eclipse is the dark romance imprint of the Totally Entwined Group.
Genre: Dark romance in a variety of subgenres.
Word count: 50,000 to 100,000 words. Their preference is for series submissions.
ECW Press
ECW Press has published close to 1,000 books, including nonfiction, poetry and fiction. Please note that they accept poetry and fiction from Canadians only but accept nonfiction submissions from around the world.
Genre: Fiction, including literary, mystery, crime, science fiction, young adult, middle grade and humour. They also accept poetry and nonfiction, including sports, pop culture, memoir, biography, science, nature, true crime, travel, business, personal finance, poker, literary criticism and reference.
Word count: Not stated.
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
EDGE publishes thought-provoking and well-written science fiction and fantasy novels.
Genre: Adult science fiction and fantasy. They occasionally accept young adult fiction.
Word count: 75,000 to 100,000 words.
Evernight Publishing
Evernight is an indie publisher that prefers to publish popular tropes.
Genre: Romance in a variety of subgenres, including science fiction, BDSM, LGBTQ+, holiday, medical, new adult, dark, motorcycle, menage, paranormal, shifters, vampires, urban, erotica, humor, contemporary, military, steampunk, western, fantasy, reverse harem, suspense and young adult.
Word count: 16,000 to 100,000 words.
Hague Publishing
Hague Publishing is an independent Australian publisher of science fiction and fantasy. Please note that they publish work by Australian and New Zealand authors.
Genre: Science fiction and fantasy.
Word count: 30,000 to 80,000 words but they will consider works outside of this range.
Haunt Publishing
Haunt Publishing is an independent publisher of Gothic, horror and dark fiction.
Genre: Gothic, horror and dark fiction.
Word count: Novels and novellas.
Ink Smith
Ink Smith is a small independent publishing house who streamline their genres to best serve their authors and readers.
Genre: Adult and young adult adventure, fantasy (contemporary, dark, fairy tale, heroic, historic, magic, paranormal, shapeshifting, sword and sorcery , urban, medieval), horror, science fiction (near future, apocalyptic, superhero, steampunk, time travel) and thriller (conspiracy, psychological, techno-thriller)
Word count: Not stated.
Ink Smith
Ink Smith is a small independent publishing house who streamline their genres to best serve their authors and readers.
Genre: Adult and young adult adventure, fantasy (contemporary, dark, fairy tale, heroic, historic, magic, paranormal, shapeshifting, sword and sorcery , urban, medieval), horror, science fiction (near future, apocalyptic, superhero, steampunk, time travel) and thriller (conspiracy, psychological, techno-thriller)
Word count: Not stated.
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Kensington Publishing Corp. is an independent publisher based in New York City, releasing over 300 titles per year in a range of popular genres.
Genre: Literary and genre fiction (romance, mystery, suspense, thriller, upmarket, historical, speculative, mystery and romantasy) and nonfiction (biography, memoir, history, true crime, pop culture, film, TV, music, military history, narrative law enforcement and pop science). Each editor has their preferences across various genres of fiction and nonfiction.
Word count: Not stated.
Launch Point Press
Launch Point Press is dedicated to publishing high-quality fiction books that center on the experiences of lesbian characters.
Genre: Fiction manuscripts where the main characters are lesbians, especially crime, suspense, mystery, intrigue, thriller, historical, literary, romance, sagas, speculative, paranormal and horror.
Word count: 55,000 to 100,000 words.
New Dawn Publishing
New Dawn Publishing is an independent publisher of speculative fiction based in Perth, Western Australia.
Genre: Speculative fiction.
Word count: Not stated.
One More Chapter
One More Chapter aims to publish page turning books.
Genre: Genre fiction, especially crime, thriller, contemporary, romance (spicy, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, erotica), contemporary, young adult, fantasy, romantasy and horror.
Word count: Not stated.
Penguin Random House Australia
Penguin Random House Australia comprises an adult and children’s publishing division. They accept manuscripts from Australian and New Zealand residents or citizens.
Genre: Genre and literary fiction.
Word count: Not stated.
Penguin Random House Canada
Penguin Random House Canada is Canada’s largest book publisher and they accept submissions from authors all over the world. Please note their submissions are usually open exclusively to LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC writers. They usually have open calls for all authors once a year.
Genre: Commercial fiction, including literary, romance, speculative, historical and mystery.
Word count: 70,000 to 120,000 words.
Quill & Crow
Quill & Crow love all things odd and the macabre. They aim to work with authors to create something special.
Genre: Dark fiction, such as horror, historical and speculative.
Word count: 45,000 to 110,000 words.
Romance.ink
Romance.ink has been in business since 1991 and is the oldest web-based romance publisher.
Genre: Romance in a variety of subgenres. They have an extensive list of things they are looking for and not looking for on their website.
Word count: Not stated.
Solaris Nova
Solaris Nova is a new imprint of the genre publisher Solaris.
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, or horror.
Word count: 70,000 to 150,000 words.
Storm Publishing
Storm Publishing believes in the power of storytelling to transport readers to other worlds.
Genre: Genre fiction, including crime, thriller, mystery, psychological thrillers, historical, multicultural fiction, romance, women’s fiction, science fiction, fantasy and upmarket.
Word count: Not stated.
Sunbury Press
Sunbury Press is a rapidly growing publisher with six imprints.
Genre: Literary and genre fiction, including history, mystery, detective, police procedural, crime, thriller, horror and young adult. For nonfiction, they accept history, current events, science, reference, art history, local/regional history, humour, spiritual, metaphysical, self help, professional and memoirs.
Word count: Not stated.
Text Publishing
Text Publishing is an independent Melbourne-based publisher of fiction and nonfiction. They accept submissions from citizens or residents of Australia and New Zealand.
Genre: Genre fiction, including crime, thriller, erotica, fantasy, paranormal, historical, romance, LGBTQIA+, young adult, and middle grade. For nonfiction, they accept biography, memoir, essays, film, history, humour, philosophy, politics, religion, science, environment, relationships, society, culture, sport, travel and war.
Word count: 10,000-120,000 words.
WildBlue Press
Wildblue Press was founded by two college friends who recognized that the publishing world was changing. They strive to create a unique and engaging process for authors.
Genre: Fiction in the genres of fantasy, mystery, romance, science fiction and thriller. For nonfiction, they accept biography, memoir, history and true crime.
Word count: Not stated.
Best of luck with your manuscript submissions! If you want to ensure your manuscript is in the best position to be accepted, check out my developmental editing services, pre-querying package or my free writing advice. Otherwise, check out my fantasy publishers list or my Australian romance publishers list.