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DIRECTORY

Best Book Publishing Companies

Showing 533 publishers that match your search.

Dundurn Press

Genres: Art, Architecture, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Health & Wellbeing, History, Humor, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Politics, Sports & Outdoors, Travel, True Crime, Young Adult, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Children's

Location: Toronto, CA

Website: https://www.dundurn.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Persephone's Children

Rowan McCandless

Lost Shadow

Claire Gilchrist

Nothing Will Be Different

Tara McGowan-Ross

Tor.com

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Novella, and Short Story

Part of: Macmillan > Tor/Forge > Tor.com

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.tor.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Binti

Nnedi Okorafor

Every Heart a Doorway

Seanan McGuire

The Red Threads of Fortune

Neon Yang

Titan Books

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Biographies & Memoirs, Manga, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Part of: Titan Publishing Group > Titan Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://titanbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Hall of Smoke

H. M. Long

The Archive of the Forgotten

A. J. Hackwith

Witherward

Hannah Mathewson

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Grove Atlantic

Genres: Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, History, Humor, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Religion & Spirituality, Math & Science, Sports & Outdoors, Travel, True Crime, Politics, Westerns, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://groveatlantic.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart

Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Tilbury House

Genres: Picture Book, Education & Reference, DIY, Health & Wellbeing, Environmental, Diverse Literature, Children's, and Nonfiction

Location: Thomaston, US

Website: https://www.tilburyhouse.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter?

Shani King

Calvin Gets the Last Word

Margo Sorenson

Waiting For a Warbler

Sneed B. Collard III

Aria Publishing

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Crime, and Fiction

Part of: Head of Zeus > Aria Publishing

Location: London, GB

Website: https://ariafiction.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

Faith Hogan

One Last Greek Summer

Mandy Baggot

The Girl from Vichy

Andie Newton

Tor Teen

Genres: Young Adult, Diverse Literature, and Children's

Part of: Macmillan > Tor/Forge > Tor Teen

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.torteen.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Extraordinaries

TJ Klune

The Rithmatist

Brandon Sanderson

Little Brother

Cory Doctorow

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

Akashic Books

Genres: Politics, Urban Fiction, Literary Fiction, African-American, LGBTQ+, True Crime, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: New York City, US

Website: http://www.akashicbooks.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Bivouac

Kwame Dawes

A Student of History

Nina Revoyr

Addis Ababa Noir

Maaza Mengiste

TouchWood Editions

Genres: Art, Photography, Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbook, History, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Travel, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Short Story, and Fiction

Part of: Heritage Group > TouchWood Editions

Location: Vancouver, CA

Website: https://www.touchwoodeditions.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC, LGBTQ

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Distilleries of Vancouver Island

Marianne Scott

Show Me the Honey

Dave Doroghy

The Little Prairie Book of Berries

Sheryl Normandeau

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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