Building a Sustainable Horror Press: Gatekeepers, Quality and the Long Game with Jennifer Barnes

In this episode, Daniel sits down with Jennifer Barnes — managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, longtime champion of off-kilter horror, and a key force behind two decades of cross-genre, boundary-pushing publishing.

Together, they dig into what it really takes to keep a small press alive for twenty plus years, how Raw Dog Screaming Press grew out of the early online zine era, and why “gatekeeping” is a more complicated conversation than most people want it to be.

They talk sustainability over hype, why small presses collapse when they overextend, and how Jennifer protects quality (and her sanity) by scaling releases to reality. The conversation also hits horror poetry, novellas, writing craft, the rise of AI, and why community energy often comes more from writers than readers.

This is a grounded, honest look at the publishing side of horror — full of practical insight, hard-earned perspective, and the kind of transparency writers wish they heard more often.

💀 In this episode you’ll discover:

• How Raw Dog Screaming Press began from the Dream People zine era and a love of cross-genre work

• Where the name “Raw Dog Screaming Press” came from, and how language shifts over time

• Why the “gatekeepers” conversation is more nuanced than it used to be

• The biggest reason small presses burn out or implode, and how to avoid it

• Jennifer’s approach to sustainability, self-sufficiency, and not overcommitting

• Why horror poetry mattered to Raw Dog’s legacy, and how it helped shape the scene

• What Jennifer looks for in standout horror, voice, craft, and character

• The reality of novellas in the market, and why they’re gaining traction again

• Why AI is unpredictable, and why she’s sticking to the same quality-first plan

• What excites Jennifer most right now, including the upcoming Abandoned: Asylum anthology

Links & Resources:

Raw Dog Screaming Press: https://rawdogscreaming.com

Raw Dog Screaming Press on socials: @RDSPress

Horror Writers Association (mentioned): https://www.horror.org

Abandoned: Asylum (edited by James Chambers): https://rawdogscreaming.com/book-deal-abandoned-asylum-anthology/

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📚 About the Guest

Jennifer Barnes is the managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, a small press publishing off-kilter, cross-genre books for more than two decades. She began her editing career in the early 2000s as an editor for Dream People Literary Magazine, and later helped build Raw Dog Screaming Press into a respected home for dark, distinctive fiction and award-nominated work.

She is also an accomplished graphic designer, a longtime advocate for horror poetry, and co-chair of the Maryland Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Jennifer graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in English and a concentration in poetry, and she continues to work across editing, production, and publishing with a focus on craft, originality, and quality.

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