Conium publishes innovative writing. We lean toward unconventional plots, bizarre settings, and experimental language. Get weird with it.

We think books should take risks, and we gravitate toward titles that might get overlooked elsewhere. We believe books come in all shapes and sizes, and we love compressed narratives (call it a chapbook if you want, but we just call it a book). The press is especially interested in work from women, LGBTQIA2S+ authors, writers of color, and writers with disabilities.

Conium is a boutique literary publisher, publishing between one to three standalone titles per year. Titles are distributed through Ingram Book Group and submitted for review to most trade (Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, etc.) and small press (Foreword Reviews, Rain Taxi, etc.) review outlets. Conium is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association.

If you have questions about our small press, please e-mail coniumreview@gmail.com.

The Conium Review was our flagship periodical for the first ten years (2011 through 2021). Early on, we built consignment and direct-sale relationships with independent bookstores, including Powell’s Books, Elliott Bay Book Company, Quimby’s Bookstore, Skylight Books, and others. Copies of The Conium Review were also donated to prison libraries and charities like Open Books and Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. As the magazine’s circulation grew, we distributed nationwide through Ingram Book Group.

We also published flash fiction and marginalia through The Conium Review Online Compendium (i.e. our blog with a pretentious-sounding name). Work from the site was selected for the Queen’s Ferry Press Best Small Fictions anthology, placed in the Vestal Review Award, long-listed for the Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions, and selected for the Ploughshares “Best Short Story” feature.

As The Conium Review evolved and gained wider readership, Conium Press was born and published a handful of books whenever funding allowed. In its current iteration, Conium has moved away from serialized publication to focus exclusively on single-author titles. Managing editor James R. Gapinski (they/them) handles all submissions personally and works with writers from preproduction to final release.