What is The Arcanist?
The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing, LLC is a small press based in Bloomington, Indiana, dedicated to the craft of excellent Fantasy fiction.
WE PUBLISH:
– Short stories and serial novels from emerging authors every Friday on Arcanist Online.
– Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine, featuring thrilling tales of heroic fantasy crafted by pros and newcomers alike.
– Paperback novels, novellas, and chapbooks from previous contributors.
– Yearly anthologies: Ages Undreamed Of, old school Sword & Sorcery exemplifying the unbound imagination of Robert E. Howard; and Ancient Arcana, compiled dark tales of mythic fantasy.
Our Story
The Arcanist began as a tabletop role-playing game publisher called The Arcanist’s Refuge, founded by James D. Mills in 2019. In 2024, Mills teamed up with Lee Patton to launch The Literary Fantasy Magazine in 2024, publishing under the new imprint The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing.
We’ve taken the many lessons learned during this foundational project and applied them to a range of high-quality publications.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of Fantasy do you publish?
For our short-fiction publications, we focus on Sword & Sorcery and Dark Fantasy. Arcanist Online boasts a wide variety, as do our print books.
We look for tales crafted with intention and literary sensibilities and character-driven narrative.
Do you publish “The Arcanist Magazine?”
We publish no such magazine. Our first periodical project, The Literary Fantasy Magazine, was originally titled “The Arcanist: Literary Fantasy Magazine” which we changed once we discovered an closed flash fiction magazine a near-identical name.
In January 2025, we registered the press itself under the name The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing, LLC.
Will you publish my book?
Book-length manuscripts are now invite only. We do not have the resources to allocate appropriate effort towards fairly evaluating unsolicited novel submissions. About one per year we open general submissions, where writers can submit serial fiction for Arcanist Online (up to 50,000 words), which often get printed as paperbacks under a standard book contract.
How can I buy your books?
Our publications are available directly through our webstore. Three times per year we also crowdfund new projects on BackerKit, where backers can add our previous publications to their orders at a reduced price. Of course, most of our publications are also available worldwide on Amazon.