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DIRECTORY

Best Book Publishing Companies

Showing 532 publishers that match your search.

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

Forever

Genres: Romance, Women's Fiction, LGBTQ+, Diverse Literature, and Fiction

Part of: Hachette > Grand Central Publishing > Forever

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.read-forever.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Trouble With Hating You

Sajni Patel

When a Duchess Says I Do

Grace Burrowes

Then There Was You

Miranda Liasson

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

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Coffee House Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://coffeehousepress.org/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
I Hotel

Karen Tei Yamashita

Indecency

Justin Phillip Reed

Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife

Sam Savage

Stone Pier Press

Genres: Cookbook, Environmental, DIY, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: https://stonepierpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Growing Good Food: A Citizen's Guide to Climate Victory Gardening

Acadia Tucker

Growing Perennial Foods

Acadia Tucker

Gwen the Rescue Hen

Leslie Crawford

Macmillan Publishers

Genres: Literary Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Politics, Cookbook, Self-Help, Picture Book, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Novella, and Children's

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://macmillan.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

💥 Hit titles
What Happened to You?

Oprah Winfrey & Bruce D. Perry

Aquarium

Yaara Shehori

Me

Elton John

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

Small Beer Press

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: Boston, US

Website: https://smallbeerpress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Never Have I Ever

Isabel Yap

Terra Nullius

Claire G. Coleman

In Other Lands

Sarah Rees Brennan

Mighty Media

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

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://mightymediapress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Monster Needs to Go to School

Paul Czajak

Stingray City

Ellen J. Prager

The Ugly Dumpling

Stephanie Campisi

C&R Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, History, Biographies & Memoirs, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: Raleigh, US

Website: https://www.crpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Selling the Farm

Debra Di Blasi

A History of the Cat in Nine Chapters or Less

Fu Shivani

In the Room of Persistent Sorry

Kristina Marie Darling

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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