DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company therefore 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, the company published numerous books by well-respected authors in the 1970s, including such luminaries 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, which gained the publishing house increased respect within the industry.
Until July 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.