September 15, 2026
Woodneath Press provides publishing opportunities for writers in the Kansas City metro area. The imprint was founded in 2014 with the opening of The Story Center, and Woodneath Press has currently published 20 titles. Each spring we publish an anthology of short stories organized around a genre or theme. Our first anthology, Heart of America, included eight stories set in Kansas City that revealed a little about the city and its character throughout the years. Our second anthology, Matters of the Heartland, included nine romance fiction stories celebrating Kansas City’s hub of bookstores, writers, and readers of romance.
Offering a specialized anthology opportunity every spring provides more publishing opportunities for local writers, and it encourages our writing community to explore different genres and prompts. To further engage with our community, we partner with local bookstores for distribution and showcase programming, like our summer author panels.
Outside of our anthologies, Woodneath Press also offers open submissions annually for one full-length, single-authored book to be published. Our first novel published within this community-focused framework was Planet Sickness by Kat Giles, a science fiction novel that explores themes of storytelling and what happens when stories are erased from the archive. This publishing opportunity allows a local author to gain experience with the publishing process, including working with a paid editor and designer, as well as speaking at author events throughout the MCPL system.
If you are a local author who wants to publish your novel through an independent press and connect with Kansas City’s local literary community, we invite you to submit your query letter and sample chapters for review. Submissions are open now through September 30th at 11:59 pm CT.
Kyndall T.
The Story Center Publication Manager
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