Now that I am an unofficially published author (WAHOO!) I looked at the SFWA membership again. At one point, they advised me they were giving diverse writers free memberships. I tried applying, but it always made me key in my card number and such. I was wary about that and it didn’t seem that I was eligible for it, although I told I was as the rules were bent a bit.
So today I looked again, specifically at the list of publishers they accepted — from a list that was last updated in November, 2016.
Wow.
Many changes have occurred in the business since then. In fact, many happened before that date, so I’m not sure why the list states good since 2016. I’ve seen lots of publishers, large and small, come and go. Sorry. If I can’t find any trace of the publisher, I’ll mark it as defunct. If I find it’s under an umbrella, I’ll say that. Otherwise, they’re cool or here for reasons I won’t go into.
So of course I did one of my many loves — research! Here’s the list from the SFWA site.:
List of Qualifying Markets as of November 2016:
Novels
- Ace>Penguin/Random House.
- Abaddon Books >Rebellion Publishing.
- Angry Robot – Cool.
- Baen – They’re here.
- Bantam Spectra – Defunct, — more or less. Doesn’t appear to be publishing anymore. They would likely be under Penguin/Random House (which I’ll abbreviate PRH) but that’s a guess on my part.
- Black Library-Cool.
- Choice of Games-Cool – They also accept submissions: https://www.choiceofgames.com/looking-for-writers/
- Constable and Robinson – Hachette Book Group (HBG). Appear to still be publishing?
- DAW>PRH
- Del Rey>Ballantine Books>RH>PRH
- Design Image Group – This may be the wrong one. It’s for branding services.
- Disney Hyperion>HBG
- Dorchester/Leisure–(Only work contracted prior to 12/10/2010) – This makes me think the list is for people who published in certain places before they went defunct.
- Elder Signs Press – They’re still there, but it doesn’t look like they’ve published anything since 2018.
- Eos – Was under HarperCollins, now defunct.
- Fitzhenry & Whiteside-No longer accepting submissions.
- Flux Publications – Here>North Star Publications.
- Gollancz – Cool.
- Green Knight>Noble Knight Games
- Grim Oak Press-Cool.
- Harlequin (except for work contracted between 11/1/2009 & 4/30/2010) – That’s oddly specific!>HarperCollins
- Haikasoru>Viz Media – Went on hiatus in 2019. Still publishing as of 2021. Back?
- HarperCollins-Need I even verify this? One of The Biggies. Many of the others on this list is under their umbrella.
- Head of Zeus>Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
- Kensington Publishing.>Distb. by PRH.
- Meisha Merlin – defunct June 2007! – Already on the list like this.
- Orbit>Little Brown and Company (LBC).
- Paizo Publishing-Cool.
- Phobos-Defunct.
- Phoenix Pick>Arc Manor
- Prime Books (from May 2009 forward)-Again, oddly specific.
- Pyr Books-Distb. by Simon & Schuster-Their forthcoming books stop at 2018. It’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t look like they’ve done anything recently, although active on social media.
- Quercus Books UK/Jo Fletcher Books UK>Hachette UK.
- Roc>NAL>PRH
- Serpent’s Tail>Profile Books
- Shadow Mountain Publishing-Cool
- Soho Press-Cool
- Tanglewood Press-Cool
- Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show-Hasn’t published since 2019.
- Solaris>Rebellion Publishing
- St. Martin’s Press>Holtzbrinck Publishing Group>Macmillan Publishers
- Tor / Forge>MacMillan
- Ulysses Press-Cool.
- Warner Aspect-Defunct.
- White Wolf-Now World of Darkness, they make tabletop and video games.
- Wizards of the Coast – Still here, but their focus is on their video game properties.
Like I note on the list, maybe they mean it doesn’t matter when you published but as long as you have, it’s cool. But maybe they should update the list and separate the various publishers as either defunct or now under an umbrella of a larger publisher? And include more indie publishers because now they are making their own way in the industry and earning mad respect. We should consider them qualifying markets. My publisher is on the list, but only if you’re published in their anthology. And like myself, I go to the SFWA site to look up good publishers. I’d hate to put a publisher on my list and they find out they no longer exist! So here’s what the new list should look like.
My List 2022 – seriously:
| Currently Open | archive |
|---|---|
| Penguin/Random House & Simon and Schuster Ace DAW DelRey Saga Kensington Archive: Bantam Spectra ROC Berkley Impact (maybe?) Firebird Macmillan McElderry Books Knopf Doubleday Speak Razorbill Macmillan Tor/Forge Square Fish Feiwel and Friends Imprint St. Martin’s Press Thomas Dunne Books Hachette Book Group Constable and Robinson Disney Hyperion Quercus Books UK/Jo Fletcher Books UK Grand Central Publishing HarperCollins Carina Press Harper Voyager Harlequin* Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Archive: John Joseph Adams Books Rebellion Publishing Solaris Abaddon Abrams Books Amulet Books Flame Tree Press Erewhon Titan Books Aethon Angry Robot Black Library Choice of Games Flux Publications Gollancz Elder Signs Press Grim Oak Press Kensington Publishing Paizo Publishing Phoenix Pick Shadow Mountain Publishing Soho Press Tanglewood Press Ulysses Press | Bantam Spectra Design Image Group (?) Dorchester/Leisure Eos Fitzhenry & Whiteside Green Knight Haikasoru Meisha Merlin – defunct June 2007 Phobos Prime Books Pyr Books Serpent’s Tail Warner Aspect White Wolf |
If I’ve missed any, please let me know. Please note these are all mainstream publishers. Also, quite a few only accept agented submissions. It appears the @SFWA doesn’t consider self-publishing companies. Perhaps they need to be considered? So what do you say @SFWA? Feel free to copy and paste my list. Or anyone can. Why did I do all of this? It’s important to all of us, especially to my fellow authors who are just starting out. They need as much correct information that we, as the veterans, can supply.
Peace~
Wendy
Author WA Simpson 