Gamebooks turn readers into decision makers. Instead of following a single fixed plot, the audience chooses a path, lives with the consequences, and often reads the story again to see what a different choice would have unlocked. That blend of narrative and play has been enjoying a real comeback, thanks to print revivals, mobile apps, and a new wave of authors who grew up on choose your own adventure titles. If you have written or want to write one of these branching stories, the natural next question is simple: which gamebook publishers are accepting submissions, and how do you give your manuscript the best chance of a yes?<\/p>\n
This guide walks through the publishers and routes that are genuinely open to interactive fiction in 2026, what each one looks for, and the practical steps that separate a manuscript that gets read from one that gets rejected in the first paragraph.<\/p>\n
A gamebook is printed or digital fiction that lets the reader steer the story through choices, usually by jumping between numbered sections. The term covers several overlapping traditions. Choose your own adventure books, made famous by Bantam in the 1980s, aim for younger readers and pure branching, a space that overlaps with the childrens picture book publishers taking submissions<\/a>. Fighting Fantasy and similar adventure gamebooks add dice, stats, and combat. Interactive novels, such as the text games from Choice of Games, run on software and track variables behind the scenes. You can read a fuller history of the format on the Wikipedia entry for gamebooks<\/a>, which traces the medium from its pulp roots to modern app based storytelling.<\/p>\n Knowing where your project sits on that spectrum matters, because a publisher who prints collectible fantasy adventures wants something very different from a studio that ships choice based fiction to phones. Matching your manuscript to the right house is half the battle.<\/p>\n Interactive storytelling is in a strong position. Mobile gaming trained millions of people to expect agency in their entertainment, and that expectation has flowed back into books. Submitting to an established publisher, rather than going it alone, can give your work several advantages:<\/p>\n Gamebook publishing is not the same as standard fiction publishing. Editors judge your plot and prose, but they also judge whether your choices feel meaningful, whether the branches stay balanced, and whether a reader can move through the whole thing without hitting a dead end or a contradiction. That is why the publishers below tend to be selective, and why preparation pays off.<\/p>\n The interactive fiction market is smaller than mainstream trade publishing, so the number of houses actively reading unsolicited work is limited. Here are the most credible options in 2026, along with what each one tends to want.<\/p>\n Choice of Games is arguably the most accessible professional route for new interactive authors. The company publishes text based, multiple choice novels for phones, tablets, and computers, and it recruits writers openly. Authors work in the company’s ChoiceScript language, receive an advance against royalties, and keep a share of ongoing sales. Choice of Games is recognized as a qualifying professional market, which makes it a serious credit for a working writer. The company explains exactly what it wants from prospective authors on its public call for writers<\/a>, including how to pitch and what the contract looks like. Its sister label, Hosted Games, offers a more open self publishing style path for authors who want to build their audience first.<\/p>\n Best for: writers comfortable with a light amount of scripting who want digital, variable driven interactive novels rather than print gamebooks.<\/p>\n Tin Man Games is an Australian studio known for its Gamebook Adventures line and a long history of digital interactive fiction. The team has both created original gamebooks and adapted classic properties for app stores. Because much of its catalog is developed in house or through established partners, opportunities can come through pitching a strong concept and demonstrating that you understand digital gamebook design, pacing, and testing.<\/p>\n Best for: authors who want their work delivered as a polished app with built in choice mechanics and a design forward presentation.<\/p>\n Run by veteran gamebook authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson, Fabled Lands Publishing keeps the classic adventure gamebook tradition alive through new titles and reissues, often funded by Kickstarter. This is a small, author led operation rather than a large house with a standing slush pile, so the realistic path in is usually collaboration, a shared project, or a proposal that fits their sensibility for open world, stat driven fantasy adventure.<\/p>\n Best for: writers steeped in the Fighting Fantasy and Fabled Lands tradition who want print, dice, and character progression.<\/p>\n Megara Entertainment specializes in deluxe, collectible gamebooks, the kind of hardback editions with illustration and premium production that fans treasure, a market that shares ground with art book publishers accepting submissions<\/a>. Megara has worked with well known gamebook creators and helped bring long delayed sequels to print. Submissions tend to succeed when they suit a high end, illustrated print edition and when the author can point to a built in audience.<\/p>\n Best for: fantasy and adventure writers aiming at the collectible, illustrated print market.<\/p>\n Cubus Games is a digital studio that has produced interactive fiction apps with strong art direction and atmospheric design. Like other app first publishers, it favors projects that translate well to a screen, use choices to drive tension, and can carry visual and audio polish.<\/p>\n Best for: authors who see their story as an immersive, illustrated digital experience.<\/p>\n A large share of modern gamebooks reach readers through Kickstarter campaigns and self publishing on platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. This route gives you full creative control, all the rights, and the ability to prove demand before you print. It also puts the entire burden of editing, layout, testing, and marketing on you. Many successful gamebook authors mix these approaches, using a crowdfunded or self published title to build a track record that later opens doors with the established houses above, including publishers open to unagented submissions<\/a>. For a broader look at publishers open to submissions across genres, the Reedsy publisher directory<\/a> is a useful, regularly updated reference.<\/p>\nWhy Submit a Gamebook in 2026<\/h2>\n
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Gamebook Publishers Accepting Submissions<\/h2>\n
1. Choice of Games<\/h3>\n
2. Tin Man Games<\/h3>\n
3. Fabled Lands Publishing<\/h3>\n
4. Megara Entertainment<\/h3>\n
5. Cubus Games<\/h3>\n
6. Independent and Crowdfunded Routes<\/h3>\n
Publisher Snapshot<\/h2>\n