31 Best Science Fiction Publishers (6 Need No Agent)

Are you hunting for the science fiction publishers that will read your novel? Or looking for the houses behind your next favourite read?

Either way, you’re in the right place. I’ve always been a huge fan of the genre, so I keep this list of SF publishing houses with what each one publishes and where its door for writers sits. Six of them will read a book from someone with no agent at all. Most of the big names want an agent first. A few are shut for the moment, and it is better to find that out here than after a fortnight of formatting. For the wider view, browse my full list of publishing firms.

Submission policies change without notice, so check the publisher’s own page before you send anything, and never pay a reading fee. Last verified: August 27, 2026.

Science fiction publishers you can submit to without an agent

1. Baen Books

Baen accepts unsolicited manuscripts, and it wants the whole book, not a pitch. Send a complete novel with a synopsis through the form on its site, as a single RTF file; email submissions were dropped years ago because of spam. It publishes science fiction and fantasy only, and it is blunt about what that means: powerful plots with solid scientific and philosophical underpinnings, and any magic system rigorous enough to hold together. It prefers 100,000 to 130,000 words but will read a shorter book if it is really wonderful. Reporting time runs nine to twelve months, so send it and start the next one. Submission guidelines.

Working on a book of your own? You can publish it yourself with PublishDrive (affiliate link).

2. Angry Robot Books

Angry Robot accepts unagented submissions through one standing door: the Black Voices Matter inbox, open to Black writers without representation, which the press extended indefinitely in 2020 and still describes as live. Everyone else without an agent waits for Open Doors, the general reading period it runs once a year and announces on its site and social channels. Agented work goes in any time. It publishes adult science fiction, fantasy and horror novels from 70,000 words up, has a real appetite for books that mash genres together, and will not look at anything already published, including self-published ebooks. Submission guidelines.

3. Night Shade Books

Night Shade is the science fiction and fantasy imprint at Skyhorse, and it accepts submissions through its parent’s inbox with no agent in the way. Put Fiction & Literary Non-fiction in the subject line, because anything arriving without one of Skyhorse’s six category tags will not be reviewed at all. Send a short query letter, a synopsis of a page or two, an annotated chapter outline, a market comparison and a sample chapter; it will ask for the balance if it wants more. You will hear back inside four to six weeks if there is interest, and probably not otherwise. Submission guidelines.

4. Flame Tree Publishing

Flame Tree accepts submissions directly from writers and states on its own guidelines page that you do not need a literary agent. Novels go to its submissions address as a complete manuscript in .doc, .docx or .rtf. It acknowledges receipt within four working weeks and aims to decide within two months. Short stories work differently: it opens anthology calls through the year at professional rates, announced on its blog, newsletter and Substack, so the newsletter is how you catch them. It prefers work never published anywhere before, and it has a stated AI policy you should read first. Submission guidelines.

5. Enclave Publishing

Enclave publishes Christian speculative fiction and accepts proposals directly from writers, saying in as many words that its authors need no literary agent. It wants a finished manuscript unless you are already well established, a cover letter of no more than a page, a synopsis of at most three single-spaced pages, and the first three chapters or roughly fifty pages. Send it to the acquisitions address as attachments, never pasted into the body of the email. If it is interested you will hear inside twelve weeks; after 120 days of silence, take that as a no. Submission guidelines.

6. The Parliament House Press

Parliament House accepts queries through QueryManager, and it promises every one an answer, which is rarer than it should be. Send a query letter plus the first 20 pages, or to the chapter break nearest that mark. Adult fiction should land between 65,000 and about 100,000 words, and it reads young adult as well. Its publishing director keeps a public wish list that is the best guide to current taste, and asks that you follow up only after twelve weeks. If the form itself is an accessibility barrier for you, it will arrange another route. Submission guidelines.

Open to writers, but not for science fiction novels right now

7. Skyhorse Publishing

Skyhorse accepts proposals with no agent in the way, and it is one of the busiest independents in New York. The catch, on a science fiction page, is its stated wanted list: sports, outdoor pursuits, travel, health and fitness, house and home, history, humour, military history, business, games, horses, pets, nature and science, food and wine, aviation, true crime, current events. That is where its appetite is. The science fiction lives at Night Shade above, which uses this same inbox and these same rules. Submission guidelines.

8. Titan Books

Titan accepts proposals sent straight to its commissioning editor, though what it is asking for is not a novel. It wants strong ideas for film and television reference and tie-in books, and for art and comics reference, preferably from writers with a track record and contacts in those worlds. Its own page says it is not looking for general fiction at the moment, and that most of its fiction is licensed from overseas publishers or arrives through agents. Send a brief synopsis and a covering letter by post, and hold the manuscript back until asked. Submission guidelines.

9. TCK Publishing

TCK accepts proposals from writers with or without an agent, and states outright that it charges nothing to publish a book. Its catalogue does carry a science fiction list. Right now, though, its fiction door is shut and only nonfiction proposals are being read: self-help, health, business, finance, relationships, spirituality, how-to, gardening, workbooks and journals. It answers yes or no within 14 to 21 days, which is fast for this industry, and it runs every manuscript through plagiarism software before an editor sees it. Submission guidelines.

Big science fiction houses that read only through an agent

10. Tor

Tor is the biggest name in the genre, and it does not accept unsolicited submissions. Its imprints, Tor, Nightfire, Bramble, Wildthorn, Forge and Tor.com Publishing, take work from agents, with the occasional announced open-door period for unagented novels. One thing to check before you click an old bookmark: tor.com now sends you to Reactor, the magazine Tor renamed in January 2024. Reactor is a fine place to read short fiction, essays and reviews, and it has its own separate guidelines, but it is not where the book publisher lives. Submission guidelines.

11. Ace Books

Ace has been printing science fiction since 1952, from Frank Herbert’s Dune to the Ace Doubles that bound two novels back to back until 1973. It sits inside Penguin Random House now, and Ace does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. The guidance for writers on penguinrandomhouse.com says an agent is needed in almost every case, and points at occasional open-submission programmes run at imprint level, Berkley’s being the one it names. Ace itself keeps no separate door for writers.

12. Del Rey Books

Del Rey UK is the science fiction and fantasy home inside Cornerstone at Penguin Random House UK, and it does not accept unsolicited submissions. Penguin’s own writers’ FAQ says almost everything it publishes is acquired through recognised literary agents, and points you at the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook to find one. If you are working from an old bookmark, note that Penguin has moved its company pages: a /company/ address now lands under /about/. Submission guidelines.

13. DAW Books

DAW was the last of the major science fiction houses to read manuscripts from writers with no agent, and that era is over. Astra Publishing House bought it in 2022, and DAW does not accept unsolicited submissions today. There is no submissions page anywhere on Astra’s site, and the old dawbooks.com address no longer serves one. The clearest statement of the policy comes from a DAW editor’s public wish-list profile, which adds that the position may change and to watch DAW’s social channels. The list itself is in fine health, with Seanan McGuire, Nnedi Okorafor, Christopher Ruocchio and Ben Aaronovitch on it.

14. Gollancz

Gollancz has been Britain’s science fiction standard-bearer since 1961, and the SF Masterworks series is its doing. Two things have changed underneath it. The gollancz.co.uk address is now a shop, store.gollancz.co.uk, so the submissions path that used to sit there returns a 404. And Gollancz does not accept unsolicited manuscripts: its parent, Orion, says it cannot consider work from the general public and will not read an unknown author unless an agent sends it.

15. Harper Voyager

Harper Voyager is HarperCollins UK’s genre list, home to George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb and Raymond E. Feist, and it does not accept unsolicited submissions. HarperCollins UK asks writers not to send manuscripts to any of its offices, and it names the imprints that do run direct submissions: Avon, HarperNorth, Akan Books, Mills & Boon and One More Chapter. Voyager is not among them. There is one real route in for unagented writers, though: the free six-week Author Academy for writers from under-represented ethnic backgrounds, which runs twice a year.

16. Orbit Books

Orbit publishes some of the biggest science fiction and fantasy on the shelves, and it does not accept unsolicited queries. Hachette Book Group states that its publishers cannot consider unsolicited manuscripts or queries, that unsolicited work will not be answered, and that it may be destroyed unread. The standalone Orbit site has folded into Hachette’s own domain: orbitbooks.net still resolves, but it now drops you on Orbit’s page inside hachettebookgroup.com, and the old /faq/ path lands in exactly the same place.

17. St. Martin’s Press

St. Martin’s is one of the largest trade publishers in the United States, and most of its science fiction and fantasy sits with Tor, its Macmillan sibling. As a house it does not accept unsolicited submissions, and its contact page is unusually direct about what happens to work sent anyway: unsolicited material is recycled or discarded, and it takes no responsibility for loss, damage or return. Find an agent, and let the agent knock. Submission guidelines.

18. Saga Press

Saga is Simon & Schuster’s science fiction and fantasy imprint, and its site carries one flat line about writers: it does not accept unagented submissions. That is the whole policy. Everything else on sagapress.com is catalogue and team pages, which at least spares you an afternoon hunting for a form that was never there.

19. Pan Macmillan

Pan Macmillan is a large British trade house with Tor UK inside it, and it does not accept unsolicited proposals; the work it publishes comes in through literary agents. The one exception it publishes is poetry, where Picador reads work from UK and Ireland writers in a stated window and replies within eight weeks if it wants more. If you have an old bookmark for its help page, /help-is-at-hand now redirects to /contact-us, where the answer sits inside the FAQ. Submission guidelines.

20. Pyr

Pyr is the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Start SF, publishing steampunk, epic fantasy, hard SF and sci-fantasy since 2005. It no longer accepts unagented submissions. Agents query first, by email, with a synopsis of one to three paragraphs in the body of the message and nothing attached until the editor asks for it. Submission guidelines.

21. Tachyon Publications

Tachyon has been publishing sharp, heavily awarded speculative fiction out of San Francisco for three decades. Its book list is open to agents only, and it does not accept direct submissions from authors. If you have no agent, it points you at Agent Query, QueryTracker, Manuscript Wish List and the Writer Information Center at SFWA. It does keep one door open for freelancers: it takes approaches from book designers, artists, copyeditors and proofreaders by email, with a portfolio link and your rates in the body. Submission guidelines.

22. Fairwood Press

Fairwood has been putting out speculative fiction from the Pacific Northwest since 2000, with collections from Michael Bishop, Jack Cady and James Van Pelt, plus a novelette line. It does not accept submissions from authors at the moment, and it is reading queries from agents. Its site is plain HTML and its contact page states the whole policy in two sentences. Submission guidelines.

23. Rebellion Publishing

Rebellion’s book division is the one behind Solaris and Abaddon, and it has moved house. Solaris now describes itself as the home of science fiction, fantasy and horror at Profile Books. Meanwhile rebellionpublishing.com redirects to Rebellion’s shop, and its old /contact/ path lands on rebellion.com, the games company, whose contact form is about video games. For a writer that matters, because the books arm does not accept unsolicited submissions of fiction. Profile reads unsolicited nonfiction only, and only from published authors and university academics.

Closed to submissions for now

24. Small Beer Press

Small Beer is the Massachusetts press Kelly Link and Gavin Grant built, and it is closed to submissions. It says so on the homepage and again at the top of the guidelines page, so there is nothing to read into. When it does open, it reads fiction, non-fiction, poetry and black and white art, leaning speculative without being bound to it, up to 40,000 words, and it will not publish anything written or assisted by AI. Artists can email a portfolio link at any time. Submission guidelines.

25. PS Publishing

PS Publishing is the Yorkshire house that has been producing beautiful limited editions of novellas and collections since 1999. Its schedule is full to the end of 2026, and it is not accepting unsolicited manuscripts until further notice. The guidelines page is still worth reading while you wait: most of it is practical advice on the covering letter, the kind of thing a small publisher rarely bothers to write down. Submission guidelines.

26. Luna Press Publishing

Luna Press is an Edinburgh independent publishing speculative fiction alongside Academia Lunare, its line of academic writing about the genre. It is currently closed to submissions, and the notice sits at the foot of the guidelines page, under everything else, so read to the end before you start formatting. It also states plainly that it will not consider work written or developed with AI tools. Submission guidelines.

27. Montag Press

Montag is a small Californian collective that has been publishing since 2010, mostly literary and speculative novels with worldwide distribution through Amazon, and it is closed to submissions. The notice is the first thing on its submit page, in capitals, which at least saves you reading the rest. Submission guidelines.

28. Apex Book Company

Apex has been publishing dark, strange, boundary-pushing speculative fiction out of Lexington, Kentucky since 2005, and it is closed to submissions on both of its lists: Apex itself and Violet Lichen, the newer imprint doing eco-horror and weird novellas. The Violet Lichen page still shows a Submit a novella button; follow it and the form behind it says it is closed to queries too. The brief is worth saving for later, because it is unusually specific: novellas of 30,000 to 45,000 words, atmospheric, ecological, human-made only. Join the mailing list to hear when it reopens. Submission guidelines.

29. Future House Publishing

Future House is a Utah press publishing science fiction and fantasy, a good deal of it for younger readers, and it is not accepting manuscripts at present. It calls the pause temporary and says it will announce a reopening on its site and social channels. One practical note: the Submissions link in its own menu leads to a password-protected page that answers with a login box. The page that explains the pause is a different one, and it is the link below. Submission guidelines.

30. Cosmic Egg Books

Cosmic Egg is the fantasy, science fiction, horror and paranormal imprint at Collective Ink, the British house that used to trade as John Hunt Publishing, and the imprint is closed to submissions. Its own inquiry page says so, then points you back to the group’s general form, because Collective Ink works on an open submissions basis across the rest of its list. So the door is not shut on your book, only on this label. Read the publishing guide before you use that general form, because Collective Ink runs an unusual author-facing system and the guide is where it sets out how a book gets made, sold and paid for. Submission guidelines.

Publishing well, with no route for writers on its site

31. Subterranean Press

Subterranean has been making collectible limited editions in Clawson, Michigan since 1995, around 45 titles a year, with work by Stephen King, Octavia E. Butler, Ted Chiang, N. K. Jemisin, Tamsyn Muir, Joe R. Lansdale and John Scalzi. It has the shelf of awards to match: World Fantasy, Locus, Hugo, and honours from the Horror Writers Association. What its site does not publish anywhere is a route for writers. There is no such page in the navigation, in the site map, or in any of its three FAQ pages, so the honest answer about its door is that the press does not say. About Subterranean Press.

Bonus: the most notable science fiction magazines

• Analog Science Fiction and Fact
• Asimov’s Science Fiction
• Interzone
• Clarkesworld Magazine
• Lightspeed Magazine
• Strange Horizons

Names you may be looking for

Jo Fletcher Books is Arcadia now. Quercus relaunched its science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint under a new name, keeping the editorial line that gave us This Is How You Lose the Time War, Mexican Gothic and Traitor’s Blade, and the imprint lives at arcadia-books.co.uk. It is one of the more welcoming doors in British publishing: Arcadia calls itself proudly open to unagented writers and asks for the first 10,000 words or first three chapters by email, science fiction, fantasy or horror only, with the manuscript finished. Do not use the old jofletcherbooks.com address. That domain is no longer the publisher’s, and its homepage now serves an Indonesian gambling site.

Conclusion

Check the publisher’s own page before you send anything. Policies on this shelf move month to month, and a house that is shut today may open a reading window in the spring. If you have no agent, start with the six at the top and work down; if you do have one, the middle section is where your agent should be knocking. And if science fiction is only half of what you write, my guide to fantasy book publishers and the one on horror book publishers cover the neighbouring shelves, while short fiction markets that pay is the place to start if what you have is a story instead of a novel.