****During the month of April, the window will remain open only for writers identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color, in order to acknowledge and address historical and systemic inequities in book publishing.***

What We’re Looking For

Lanternfish Press is open to submissions beginning March 1, 2024. We are seeking original fiction and memoir in both the full-length (60 to 100,000 words) and novella-length (20 to 40,000 words) ranges.

Submissions are welcome from all authors throughout the month of March. 

During the month of April, the window will remain open only for writers identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color, in order to acknowledge and address historical and systemic inequities in book publishing.

Categories for submissions are as follows. You will have to select one in Submittable in order to have your manuscript considered. Gothics often fall somewhere in between literary-speculative and historical/regional; please choose the category that you think suits your work best.

• Novel, literary-speculative (60-100K words)
• Novella, literary-speculative (20-40K words)
• Novel, historical/regional (60-100K words)
• Novella, historical/regional (20-40K words)
• Memoir, full-length (60-100K words)
• Memoir, short (20-40K words)

Worldbuilders Welcome

The heart of our publishing program is fiction on the boundary of literary and speculative. Submissions in the literary-speculative novel and novella categories should incorporate elements of fantasy, science fiction, and/or horror. We love monsters, but they are not a requirement. We enjoy both humor and lyricism. Our eyes are currently peeled for anything that speaks to climate change in a nuanced and emotionally resonant fashion. 

We are also open to well-researched historical fiction that brings a forgotten past to life. Lately, we seem to have acquired a particular taste for revisionist westerns and regional gothics. Every plot of soil has its ghosts.

In the memoir category, we like to see a strong regional focus with vivid worldbuilding. We are also interested in life between worlds—stories of the immigrant experience or of growing up bicultural/biracial.

Send us your tales of the in-between!

Formatting Guidelines  

Please submit your manuscript in PDF form.

Use a common serif font (Courier, Courier New, Times New Roman, and Garamond are good choices) in a standard size (11 or 12 point). Double-space the lines, indent the first line of each paragraph, and do not add extra space between paragraphs. 

Include your contact information and a word count on the opening page of the manuscript. Approximate word counts are fine (to the nearest 1000 words).

Response Time

Our goal for this reading period is to respond to all submissions within four months. We are, however, a very small staff, and though we try our best, we often get behind. If you have not heard from us within four months, you are welcome to message us on Submittable regarding your status.

We are unfortunately not able to consider the following categories at this time:

• short story collections
• poetry
• children’s books
• YA fiction
• works previously self-published
• AI-generated works
• works shorter than 20,000 words

Work in these categories will be archived without response.