Effective March 6, 2024, Bards and Sages Publishing has begun “the process of winding down.” This includes both Bards and Sages Quarterly and The Society of Misfit Stories and the book publishing program. Back issues of the magazines will remain on sale until the end of 2024, and then all back issues will be removed from sale, and all rights will revert to their respective authors and artists. Editor Julie ...Read More

The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction Volume Three anthology is open to submissions until March 31, 2024, covering works originally published in 2023. The book will be published in late 2024 by Caezik SF & Fantasy.​ Editors for this volume are Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Chinaza Eziaghighala.

We welcome submissions of all reprint works of speculative fiction, from any genres and sub genres, including fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, horror ...Read More

Young Adult imprint Balzer + Bray is moving from HarperChildren’s to Macmillan Children’s, effective April 15, 2024. Founding editors Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray will be senior vice-presidents and co-publishers at the new company.

The imprint was founded in 2009 at HarperCollins. Previously published titles, and new books currently under contract, will remain with HarperCollins, to be published under various imprints. No titles for the new incarnation have been announced ...Read More

Orbit’s new digital imprint, Orbit Works, has announced its first four titles, with the first to launch in Fall 2024.

The first Orbit Works title will be Sophia Slade’s Nightstrider, a dark fantasy about creatures with the ability to cross the boundary between the dream realm and the real world. Slade has previously independently published seven books, ranging from dark fantasy to poetry.

Nightstrider will be followed by Laura ...Read More

Independent publisher Soho Press has launched a new horror imprint, Hell’s Hundred:

Named after the once bleak, now chic New York City neighborhood of SoHo—formerly known as “hell’s hundred acres” for its grim industrial facades and deadly fires—Hell’s Hundred provides fertile ground for new nightmares to take root. From grisly and macabre to darkly humorous, Hell’s Hundred publishes bold visions of horror from voices new and established.

The line will ...Read More

In early January, au­diobook publisher Audible announced plans to lay off five percent of its workforce, likely around 100 staffers. CEO Bob Carrigan said in a memo that 2023 was a “strong year,” but that “to position us for continued success in the coming year and into the future, given the increasingly challenging landscape we face, we have to take this difficult decision now.”

While you are here, please take ...Read More

Tor Publishing Group announced via press release that the Tor.com site will be rebranded as Reactor on January 23, 2024. The launch includes a redesigned website. According to the announcement,

The site has been publisher agnostic since its founding, and the new name will reflect its independence from Tor Publishing Group. The short fiction program will continue under the Reactor name, and in addition to the daily commentary on science ...Read More

Penguin Ran­dom House has released their latest report on workforce demographics, with only small changes from last year. For nonwarehouse employees, 70.05% are white, 10.5% Asian, 9.45% Hispanic, 6.04% Black, and 2.92% bi- or multi-racial.

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) employees account for 36.9% of entry-level employees, and 19.1% of executives. Overall, 73.75% of PRH employees are women, 24.94% men, and 1.32% nonbinary. In editorial, 36.8% of ...Read More

Arnaud Lagardère is now chair and CEO of Hachette Livre, while remaining CEO of parent company Lagardere (which also owns Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK). He replaces Pierre Leroy, who will remain deputy CEO of Lagardere. Arnaud Lagardère says,

In light of the impending merger of the Lagardère group and Vivendi, I wanted to demonstrate my historical and deep-root­ed attachment to the book trade, which the Lagardère family has ...Read More

Small Beer Press has announced that it will not open to submissions or publish any new books for the foreseeable future. Publisher Gavin Grant cited health complications from COVID-19 as the reason for the hiatus. He said, “In 2022 we only managed to publish two books. This year we published four and here at the end of the year I see how much these books missed the old me.”

Small ...Read More

This story was updated 12/13/23.

Author Cait Corrain’s 2024 debut novel Crown of Starlight was removed from Del Rey’s schedule today after Corrain was accused of creating numerous fake Goodreads accounts for the purpose of leaving negative reviews for other authors on the popular site. Corrain’s agent, Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary Agency, has also cut ties with the writer.

The “review bombing” was publicized last week by author Xiran ...Read More

Zhui Ning Chang is now editor-in-chief at khōréō, taking over the role from magazine founder Aleksandra (Ola) Hill beginning with the magazine’s forthcoming Issue 4.1. In an announcement on X, Hill said,

I’m so thrilled that Zhui Ning has agreed to take over as EIC. They have been with khoreo from the very start, joining our team as a First Reader before shifting into the Fiction Editor role.

Most importantly, ...Read More

Bertelsmann has announced that Nihar Malaviya is now officially the chief executive officer of Penguin Random House. Malaviya has been the interim CEO since January 1, 2023, following the departure of Markus Dohle in December 2022.

Malaviya was previously the president and COO of PRH. As interim CEO, he separated the Crown Publishing Group from the Random House Publishing Group and created a management group to oversee the US division ...Read More

Saga Press announced some organizational changes, including new additions to its growing staff and a shift in division for the imprint.

Nivia Evans will join as senior editor beginning October 2, 2023, moving from Orbit Books where she held the same title. Evans worked with numerous notable genre authors at Orbit, including Alix E. Harrow, Sara Hashem, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, H.G. Parry, and more. Sareena Kamath will join as editor, ...Read More

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced its new “Publishing Taught Me” program. The program will invite publishing professionals of color to contribute to “an online essay series, to be collated into an anthology, and a symposium aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres.”

SFWA seeks two paid interns to serve as assistant editors for the project under the ...Read More

French publisher ActuSF has been put into compulsory liquidation by the Commercial Court, effective September 4, 2023. The company is open to potential buyers, but the future is uncertain.

In an interview for ActuaLitté, director and editor-in-chief Jérôme Vincent described challenges ActuSF has encountered in recent years, including rising operating costs, the COVID-19 pandemic, and logistical difficulties with distributors. Vincent also expressed gratitude to the authors, translators, booksellers, and others ...Read More

Penguin Random House (PRH) continues to reorganize, this time at the Knopf/Doubleday Publishing Group.

Suzanne Herz, publisher of Vintage/Anchor, is taking early retirement effective December 15, 2023. Herz will continue to work in “an external, consulting role” on John Grisham’s books. She was with the company for three decades, first in publicity roles before becoming associate publisher and later publisher.

With Herz’s departure, the Anchor imprint is being discontinued. PRH ...Read More

Cossmass Infinities is permanently closing. The magazine is no longer accepting submissions, but will publish the stories it has already purchased by the end of the year.

The Cossmass Infinities website will remain online, and past anthologies and back issues will still be available for sale. Editor and publisher Paul Campbell said,

Unfortunately, Cossmass Infinities is too expensive for me to continue running. I had hoped that it might have ...Read More

The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) is accepting applications for its $1,000 Working Class Writers Grant, “awarded annually to speculative fiction writers who are working class, blue-collar, financially disadvantaged, or homeless, who have been historically underrepresented in speculative fiction due to financial barriers which make it hard to access the writing world.” Applications are open until September 30, 2023. The winner will be announced November 15, 2023.

For more information, see ...Read More