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DIRECTORY

Best Biographies & Memoirs Book Publishing Companies

Showing 134 publishers that match your search.

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

Yale University Press

Genres: Academic, Photography, Art, Math & Science, Education & Reference, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Economics, History, Law, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, African-American, Law, and Nonfiction

Location: Hartford, GB

Website: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & book proposals - View guidelines →

University press

💥 Hit titles
Atlas of AI

Kate Crawford

Reimagining Time

Tanya Bub & Jeffrey Bub

Radical Vision

Soyica Diggs Colbert

Crown Publishing

Genres: Cookbook, Art, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, DIY, Health & Wellbeing, Sports & Outdoors, History, Humor, Politics, Self-Help, Religion & Spirituality, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Nonfiction, and Fiction

Part of: Penguin Random House > Random House > Crown Publishing

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://crownpublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Becoming

Michelle Obama

A Promised Land

Barack Obama

Devil in the White CIty

Erik Larson

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Ventura Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Health & Wellbeing, Diverse Literature, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: Sydney, AU

Website: https://www.venturapress.com.au/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Night Letters

Denise Leith

The Cubs Roar

Blanche d'Alpuget

The Women's Circle

Karyn Sepulveda

Saraband

Genres: Environmental, Biographies & Memoirs, Narrative Nonfiction, Self-Help, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: Manchester, GB

Website: https://saraband.net/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Shocked Earth

Saskia Goldschmidt

Westering

Laurence Mitchell

Bleak

R.M. Murray

Allen and Unwin

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Sports & Outdoors, True Crime, Health & Wellbeing, Self-Help, Humor, History, Environmental, Politics, Business, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Medical, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: Sydney, AU

Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

Love Objects

Emily Maguire

Crazy Rich Asians

Kevin Kwan

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

Catapult

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

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://books.catapult.co/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
All You Can Ever Know

Nicole Chung

The Manningtree Witches

A.K. Blakemore

Lean Fall Stand

Jon McGregor

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

Future Tense Books

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

Location: Portland, US

Website: https://futuretensebooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Excavation

Wendy C. Ortiz

Liar

Rob Roberge

User Not Found

Felicity Fenton

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.

Free online materials

💡 Shortlist publishers to save them.