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Looking to publish? Meet your dream editor, designer and marketer on Reedsy.
Find the perfect editor for your next book
1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.
DIRECTORY
Showing 37 indie publishers that match your search.
Publisher of: Fiction and Nonfiction
Brooklyn-based Akashic Books was founded by the post-hardcore bassist Johnny Temple in 1997. It still operates out of the borough’s trendy Old American Can Factory, putting out galleys in the same industrial complex where electronica acts jam and indie painters hang their canvases. But in the last decade, they’ve started selling books all over the country. Dedicated to “reverse-gentrification of the literary world,” they highlight marginalized and anti-establishment authors, giving them an outlet for work considered too niche (or too incendiary) for corporate publishing.
🔥 Hit title: A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes
⭐️ Best known for: Mysteries, Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes. View guidelines →
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction
This independent publisher emerged in the 1970s, out of second wave feminism’s heyday. Its first print runs were dedicated to foundational women’s studies texts, biographies, and rediscovered feminist literary classics like "The Yellow Wallpaper." These days, FP’s growing list speaks to a much more modern brand of feminism, sensitive to issues of race, sexuality, and gender identity. Since 2017, the press has been headed by Jamia Wilson, its youngest-ever director — and the first woman of color to serve at the organization’s helm. Under her leadership, the press puts out exciting, impeccably crafted books by diverse writers.
🔥 Hit title: Training School for Negro Girls by Camille Acker
⭐️ Best known for: Biography, Essay Collections, Literary Fiction
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Book Proposals. View guidelines →
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction
This Massachusetts-based press prides itself on the high production value of its titles, which range from novels and creative nonfiction to poetry. They treat their books as art objects — “a joy,” in the press’s own words, “to hold as well as read.” Crack open those impeccably printed pages, and you’ll find artful language, unsurpassed lyricism, and playful experimentation with form, no matter what the genre. The bulk of Tupelo Press's catalogue consists of poetry collections, although they also publish literary fiction and creative nonfiction.
🔥 Hit title: Good Bones by Maggie Smith
⭐️ Best known for: Poetry Collections
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Contest Entries. View guidelines →
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction
Founded in 1974, Graywolf Press is a jewel among independent publishers. The 35 or so titles it releases every year are regularly showered with laurels, from rave NYT reviews to “best of the year” nods. It’s no exaggeration to call Graywolf one of the top publishing houses of any size, despite its relatively modest, $4 million annual budget. No wonder established writers, who have the name recognition to court the Big 5, often opt to stick with this storied small press instead.
🔥 Hit title: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction, Memoirs
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Contest Entries. View guidelines →
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction
Tin House’s legendary literary magazine may have shuttered its doors 2019, but their book publishing program is still going strong. Originally launched as an Bloomsbury imprint, Tin House Books spun off into an indie publisher in 2005. They release around 12 books a year often from first-time authors. Tin House Books publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and they have a penchant for lush, character-driven contemporary novels, playful essay collections, and memoirs that delve into complex relationships with uncompromising insight.
🔥 Hit title: Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco
⭐️ Best known for: Essay Collections, Literary Fiction, Memoirs
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Fiction
This San Francisco-based small press has been publishing thoughtful speculative fiction since 1995, sweeping up a full slate of high-profile nominations on the way, from the Hugo to the Nebula and beyond. Their sustained excellence has earned them legendary status in the eyes of hardcore sci-fi fans, although they occasionally dip into other, less speculative genres like memoir and mystery. Tachyon Publications’ bread and butter are its famous science fiction short story collections, which routinely earn glowing reviews from the likes of Booklist and Library Journal.
🔥 Hit title: In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle
⭐️ Best known for: Science Fiction & Fantasy, YA
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No
Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction
This indie publisher got its start because Ezra Pound didn’t believe in a certain Harvard undergrad’s future in poetry. James Laughlin, then a college sophomore, went to the legendary modernist for advice. And Pound, who had been critiquing his work all semester, urged him to give up writing and “do something useful” instead. Thus New Directions Publishing was born. Laughlin retained a love for verse, so the budding press’s first books were poetry anthologies and collections by the greats — including Pound. These days, New Directions boasts a rich collection of fiction and criticism as well, especially works in translation.
🔥 Hit title: The Emissary by Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani (translator)
⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction, Poetry Collections
💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No
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