Website
Type Of Publisher
Press
Genres Published
Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Cross Genre Hybrid, Autobiography Memoir, Environment Nature, Essays, Experimental, Feminist, Sci Fi Fantasy Speculative, Translation
Year Established
2009
Address
Topanga, CA
Name
Katharine Haake
Title
Publisher
Email
Mission Statement / Editorial Focus
What Books Press was founded in 2009 as an imprint of the Glass Table Collective by a small group of writers in Los Angeles. We publish innovative literary work across genres and remain committed to bringing out books that we truly believe need to exist in the world. Since our inception, we have published more than 75 books by emerging and established writers. In 2019, we added a second imprint, Giant Claw Press. Our books continue to garner positive attention and, most recently, have been recognized with inclusion in Lit Hub’s 100 Notable Small Press Books for 2025 and with an Honorable Mention for the Juan Felipe Herrera Poetry Award at the 2025 International Latino Book Awards Festival. We are a micro-press, publishing five or fewer books per year, split between poetry and prose. Our genre-bending list includes bilingual poetry, speculative and eco-fabulist fiction, hybrid narrative, and other innovative work. We are particularly drawn to work that challenges formal boundaries, engages with the human condition in its historical moment, and is as interested in language as we are. All WBP and Giant Claw Press titles feature cover art by the artist Gronk Nicandro. Submissions are accepted during our annual reading period, January 1 through April 30. A submission fee is required. What Books Press does not charge authors any fees for publication.
Accepts Unsolicited Submissions
Yes
Submission Guidelines URL
Reading Period
Year round
Charges Writers A Submission/Reading Fee
no
Author Payments
royalties, copies
Contests
no
Distributors
Ingram
Press
