DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, along with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy." The first DAW Book published was the 1972 short story collection Spell of the Witch World by Andre Norton. In its early years under the leadership of Wollheim and his wife Elsie, DAW gained a reputation of publishing popular, though not always critically acclaimed, works of science fiction and fantasy. Nevertheless, in the 1970s the company published numerous books by award-winning authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley, Fritz Leiber, Edward Llewellyn, Jerry Pournelle, Roger Zelazny, and many others. In 1982, C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station was the first DAW book to win the Hugo Award for best novel. Until June 1984, all DAW books were characterized by yellow spines, and a prominent yellow cover box containing the company's logo as well as a chronological publication number. When the design was changed, the chronological number was retained, but moved to the copyright page and renamed the DAW Collectors' Book Number. Although it has a distribution relationship with Penguin Group and is headquartered in Penguin USA's offices in New York City, DAW is editorially independent and closely held by its current publishers, Betsy Wollheim (Donald's daughter) and Sheila E. Gilbert. In July 2022, DAW was acquired by Astra Publishing. Authors Ben Aaronovitch Saladin Ahmed Camille Bacon-Smith Bradley Beaulieu Marion Zimmer Bradley Kristen Britain Kenneth Bulmer C. J. Cherryh Julie Czerneda Emily Drake Kate Elliott Jane Fancher M. A. Foster C. S. Friedman Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear David Gerrold ElizaBeth Gilligan Tracy Hickman Jim C. Hines Tanya Huff Katharine Kerr Gini Koch Mercedes Lackey Laura Lam Fritz Leiber Stephen Leigh Karen Lord Violette Malan John Marco Marshall Ryan Maresca Seanan McGuire R. M. Meluch Lisanne Norman Nnedi Okorafor Fiona Patton Melanie Rawn Mickey Zucker Reichert Laura Resnick Mike Resnick Jennifer Roberson Deborah J. Ross Patrick Rothfuss Diana Rowland Sean Russell Michelle Sagara/Michelle West Sherwood Smith John Steakley S. Andrew Swann Margaret Weis Tad Williams References External links Official website Fan listing of DAW Books (first page) Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) listing of DAW Books American speculative fiction publishers Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Fantasy book publishers Science fiction publishers