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DIRECTORY

Best Book Publishing Companies

Showing 551 publishers that match your search.

Farshore Books

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Children's

Part of: HarperCollins > Farshore Books

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.farshore.co.uk/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

💥 Hit titles
Minecraft

Nick Eliopulos

The Forgettery

Rachel Ip

This Can Never Be Real

Sera Milano

The Parliament House

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: Tampa, US

Website: https://www.parliamenthousepress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LBGTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Unspoken

Celia Mcmahon

Tidepool

Nicole Willson

The Other Side of Magic

Ester Manzini

Knopf Doubleday

Genres: Cookbook, Architecture, Art, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Historical Fiction, History, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Environmental, Politics, Math & Science, Religion & Spirituality, Sports & Outdoors, Travel, Self-Help, Comics & Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, and Fiction

Part of: Penguin Random House > Knopf Doubleday

Location: New York City, US

Website: http://knopfdoubleday.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Americanah

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Secret History

Donna Tartt

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

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Harvest House Publishers

Genres: Christian, Cookbook, Health & Wellbeing, Religion & Spirituality, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: Portland, US

Website: https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Risen Motherhood: Gospen Hope for Everyday

Laura Wifler & Emily Jensen

Israel and the Church

Amir Tsarfati

Jesus Every Day

Mary E. DeMuth

Soho Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Diverse Literature, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://sohopress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Fame Thief

Timothy Hallinan

Clark and Division

Naomi Hirahara

Blue Skinned Gods

SJ Sindu

Dzanc Books

Genres: Literary Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Narrative Nonfiction, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: Raleigh, US

Website: https://www.dzancbooks.org/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
We Five

Mark Dunn

Gun Needle Spoon

Patrick O'Neil

In the Event of Contact

Ethel Rohan

Graywolf Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Poetry, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://www.graywolfpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Wild Fox of Yemen

Threa Almontaser

Her Body and Other Parties

Carmen Maria Machado

The Twilight Zone

Nona Fernández

Mysterious Press

Genres: True Crime, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, and Fiction

Part of: Grove Atlantic > Mysterious Press

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://groveatlantic.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Coronation

Boris Akunin

She Lover of Death

Boris Akunin

Girl Running

Lawrence Lariar

Stairway Press

Genres: Math & Science, Science Fiction, Politics, Thriller & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Self-Help, Environmental, Biographies & Memoirs, Fantasy, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: Phoenix, US

Website: https://stairwaypress.com

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
In Global Warming We Trust: Too Big to Fail

Anthony Sadar

Failure To Fracture

Anthony Garone

Cyberwarfare

Larry Bell

Harper Voyager

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fiction

Part of: HarperCollins > William Morrow > Harper Voyager

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.harpervoyagerbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Poppy War

R. F. Kuang

Queen of Storms

Raymond E. Feist

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Becky Chambers

What do book publishers do?

Sure, a book publisher prints and sells your book. But what they do behind the scenes encompasses much more than that. Publishers handle the entire publishing process for books, including: 

  • Editing the book, i.e. developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading; 
  • Designing the book, i.e. book cover design and any necessary interior book design;
  • Promotion and marketing, i.e. writing the book’s blurb, email marketing, setting up media interviews, etc.; and
  • Production and distribution, i.e. formatting and distributing hardback, paperback, and ebook versions of the book to stores, both online and brick-and-mortar. 

Note that the structure of publishing companies may differ, depending on their size. Bigger book publishers may be made up of publishing houses which may, in turn, be made up of imprints — each of which will have its own brand identity in terms of the type of books it publishes. 

However, regardless of a publisher’s size, the scope of their work shouldn’t change. Once you sign with a publisher, they will do everything that it takes to bring your book to market. 

What are the most prominent book publishing companies?

If we define success by sheer sales volume, then we might point towards the "Big 5" presses and educational publishers (who rake in a LOT of money). Over the past few decades, these giant publishing companies have merged with and acquired most of the mid-sized publishers in the industry. However, a few still remain. Here are today's biggest book publishing companies:

  • Penguin Random House (Big 5)
  • Hachette Book Group (Big 5)
  • HarperCollins (Big 5)
  • Macmillan Publishers (Big 5)
  • Simon & Schuster (Big 5)
  • Scholastic Corporation
  • Pearson Education
  • McGraw-Hill Education
  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Cengage Learning

Together, these largest publishers dominate the publishing landscape. Countless beloved books come from their imprints, many of which you’ll find in our directory. 

The rest of the publishing landscape is largely made up of small publishers, or independent publishers. Most big publishers don’t directly accept unsolicited submissions without a literary agent — but smaller publishers do, making them a realistic and worthwhile route to publication. 

I have a long list of publishers. What next?

Congratulations! Now take a moment to thoroughly vet every publisher on your longlist. Scams are a dime a dozen in the publishing industry, and you want to make 100% sure that you’re dealing with a legitimate publishing company. Again, we strongly recommend reading this post and Writer Beware to know what red flags to watch out for.

When you’re confident in all of the publishers on your longlist, it’s time for the most nerve-wracking step: submitting your manuscript to them. 

Check out our free resources if you’re feeling daunted by what comes next. Whether you’re learning how to research publishers or how to personalize a submission, we've got you covered.

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