Contribute to the Press

WATG Press is an independent literary press dedicated to dark, speculative, and imaginative fiction. Everything we publish is driven by passion, care, and a strong commitment to quality. But like any independent press, our growth depends on support.

About WATG Press

WE PUBLISH UNEASE.

WATG Press is an independent press for dark, speculative, surreal, and strange fiction. We publish stories that disturb, question, unsettle, and refuse to behave. Stories that leave something behind after the last line.

Founded and directed by Dakria, WATG Press began with flash and microfiction and has grown into multi-author anthologies, single-author collections, recurring fiction projects, and a community of writers and readers drawn to fiction outside the comfortable and expected.

We are independent by choice.

Small enough to take risks.
Curious enough to experiment.
Stubborn enough to make room for stories that may not fit neatly elsewhere.

Dark. Disturbing. Defiant.

That is WATG Press.

WHAT WE PUBLISH

Multi-Author Anthologies

Our anthologies begin with a premise, a question, a monster, a fear, or sometimes something considerably stranger.
Through themed open calls, writers from different places and backgrounds take that idea somewhere we could never have predicted alone. The result is not simply a collection of stories around a theme.

It is a collection of interpretations.

→ EXPLORE OUR BOOKS

Single-Author Collections

Some voices need more than one story. WATG Press publishes selected single-author collections from writers whose work fits the press's identity: distinctive, imaginative fiction with something of its own to say.

→ MEET THE WATG AUTHORS

Drabble the Dark

One hundred words. No room to hide. Drabble the Dark is our recurring dark-fiction contest, challenging writers to build an entire story around a new theme in exactly 100 words. Winning stories are published by WATG Press, with selected work ultimately becoming part of our Drabble the Dark collections.

→ FOLLOW DRABBLE THE DARK

WATG Reader Club & More

Books disappear onto shelves far too quickly. We bring the stories back. The WATG Reader Club selects stories from WATG publications and puts them back in front of readers—one story at a time.
Read the story. Meet the writer. Discover the book it came from.

→ READ YOUR NEXT STORY

Reader Club, new releases, WATG authors, press news and upcoming opportunities all live on the WATG Press Substack.

→ ENTER WATG PRESS

FOR WRITERS

Want to write for WATG Press?

Our anthology calls, Drabble the Dark contests, special projects, and other submission opportunities are announced through WATG Press. Our calls are open to both established and emerging writers. What matters is the story.

→ SEE CURRENT OPEN CALLS

Looking for something beyond submitting to WATG Press?

Growing Short Fiction is a separate branch created for short-story writers who want to build something around their fiction—not simply publish individual stories and hope readers find them again.
It focuses on visibility, readership, writer identity, Substack, and creating a place where your short fiction can continue to work for you after publication.

→ EXPLORE GROWING SHORT FICTION

SUPPORT WATG PRESS

WATG Press is independent.

Every book we publish involves editing, design, production, distribution, administration, promotion, and a considerable amount of work behind the scenes.

There are several ways to help us keep doing it.

Become a WATG Press Subscriber

The best way to support the press while remaining part of what we are building is through WATG Press on Substack.

Free Suscriber

Follow WATG Press and receive:

Open calls and opportunities
Reader Club stories
New books and releases
WATG Press author features
Press news and events

Paid Suscriber

Paid subscribers receive the free benefits, plus:

Early access to WATG Press submission calls
A digital copy of every new WATG multi-author anthology published while your subscription is active
Priority Reader Club consideration for eligible WATG Press stories
Priority access to selected WATG Press and Growing Short Fiction opportunities

Founding Member

Founding members receive all Paid benefits, plus:

Digital editions of all WATG Press books released while their Founding membership is active
Their name included in WATG Press acknowledgements as a supporter of the press

→ JOIN WATG PRESS

Prefer to Support Us Directly?

You can also make a one-time contribution to WATG Press.

Support may help us promote our publications, expand distribution, develop future books and projects, and strengthen what we can offer the writers whose work we publish.

→ SUPPORT WATG PRESS

Buying one of our books, leaving a review, sharing a release, recommending a writer, reading a Reader Club story, or simply telling someone that WATG Press exists also helps. Support does not have to mean money.

Founding Members

(Updated regularly)
WATG Press thanks the following supporters for their trust and contribution:

Rich McFarlin

→ BECOME FOUNDING MEMBER WATG PRESS

About The Editor

Dakria is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of WATG Press, where she shapes the editorial direction of the press and oversees its publications from first submission to finished book.

As an editor, copy editor, and proofreader, she has hands-on experience across the publishing process, working on anthologies, magazines, fiction and nonfiction books, as well as essays, articles, business documents, and other professional texts.

Her editorial approach is straightforward: strengthen the work without replacing the writer behind it. She works closely with authors to improve clarity, structure, consistency, and impact while preserving the individual voice that made the work worth publishing in the first place.

Fluent in English, French, and Spanish, she also works across multilingual texts and translations.

Dakria is a fiction writer herself, specializing in flash and microfiction, with work moving between psychological horror, dark speculative fiction, and surreal fantasy. Her fiction has appeared with Black Hare Press, 101 Words, Air & Nothingness Press, Reach Your Apex, Merganser Magazine, and Flash Phantoms.

Her work as a writer and her work as an editor ultimately come from the same place: an interest in distinctive voices, strange ideas, uncomfortable questions, and stories that refuse to disappear quietly after the final line.

Dark fiction. Strange logic. Perfect nonsense.

→ DISCOVER DAKRIA