Katie Hoffman is an editor at DAW Books. Founded in 1971 by veteran paperback editor Donald A. Wollheim along with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, DAW Books was the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy. Now almost 50 years and two thousand titles later, DAW has a well-deserved reputation for discovering and publishing the hottest talents in the industry. Many stars of the science fiction and fantasy field made their debuts in the pages of a DAW book, including Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, C. J. Cherryh, Mercedes Lackey, Kristen Britain, Melanie Rawn, C.S. Friedman, and Tanith Lee. Despite its high profile, DAW is still a small private company, owned exclusively by its publishers, Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Gilbert. Betsy and Sheila are strongly committed to discovering and nurturing new talent and to keeping a personal “family” spirit at DAW—something they feel is all too rare in today’s world of international conglomerate publishing.
- Pitch Preferences: DAW accepts submissions of science fiction and fantasy novels. We cannot consider short stories, short story collections, novellas, or poetry. The average length of the novels we publish varies but is almost never fewer than 80,000 words. We seek to publish a wide range of voices and stories because we believe that it is the duty of the science fiction and fantasy genres to be inclusive and representative of as many diverse viewpoints as possible. To this end, DAW is actively seeking new works of science fiction and fantasy written by and/or featuring people of color, Native people, disabled people, neuroatypical people, LGBTQIA+ people, and other underrepresented and marginalized communities.