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DIRECTORY

Best Catholic Book Publishing Companies

Showing 18 publishers that match your search.

Library Tales Publishing

Genres: Academic, Action & Adventure, African-American, Architecture, Art, Biographies & Memoirs, BIPOC, Business, Catholic, Children's, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cookbook, Diverse Literature, DIY, Economics, Education & Reference, Fantasy, Feminism, Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, Historical Fiction, History, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Novella, Picture Book, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, True Crime, Urban Fiction, Women's Fiction, and Young Adult

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.librarytalespublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
How to Draw Cool Stuff

Catherine V. Holmes

The Thought Exchange

David Friedman

The Vanishing

David Michael Slater

Liguori Publications

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Location: Liguori, US

Website: https://www.liguori.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
And God Said, "It's Good!"

Gary Graf

A Bad Catholic's Essays on What's Wrong With the World

Marc Barnes

Dare to be More

Colleen Swaim & Matt Swaim

Emmaus Road Publishing

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Part of: St. Paul Center > Emmaus Road Publishing

Location: Columbus, US

Website: https://stpaulcenter.com/emmaus-road-publishing/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Parousia

St Paul Centre

A Church in Crisis

Ralph Martin

Friendship and the Fathers

Mike Aquilina

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Sophia Institute Press

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Part of: Sophia Institute > Sophia Institute Press

Location: Nashua, US

Website: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals & manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Under Siege

Austin Ruse

The Lost Art of Sacrifice

Vicki Burbach

Contagious Faith

Philip Lawler

Liturgical Press

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://litpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Angels in the Bible

George M. Smiga

Desire, Darkness, and Hope

Laurie Cassidy & M. Shawn Copeland

The Life of Jesus Christ

Milton T. Walsh

Ave Maria Press

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Location: Indianapolis, US

Website: https://www.avemariapress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Stumbling Into Grace

Mary Pezzulo

Finding Sanctuary

Jennifer Hubbard

A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More

Sam Fatzinger & Rob Fatzinger

Paraclete Press

Genres: Christian, Catholic, Nonfiction, Fiction, Children's, and Poetry

Location: Boston, US

Website: https://paracletepress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
My Baptism Book

Sophie Piper

The Fire Within

Ronald Rolheiser

Looking From the Precipice

Botrus Mansour

Pauline Books and Media

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Part of: Daughters of St. Paul > Pauline Books and Media

Location: Boston, US

Website: http://www.pauline.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
In Caelo Et In Terra

Daughters of St Paul

30 Days With Married Saints

Kent Lasnoski & Caitlin Lasnoski

Millennial Nuns

The Daughters of Saint Paul

The Word Among Us Press

Genres: Catholic and Nonfiction

Part of: Word Among Us, Inc > The Word Among Us Press

Location: Washington DC, US

Website: https://wau.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Catholic Grandparents Handbook

Lorene Hanley Duquin

The Busy Person's Guide to Prayer

Deacon Greg Kandra

Pope Francis Speaks to Families

The Word Among Us Press

William Carey Publishing

Genres: Islam, Religion & Spirituality, Christian, Catholic, and Nonfiction

Location: Los Angeles, US

Website: https://missionbooks.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Only One

Curtis Sergeant

Expectations and Burnout

Sue Eenigenburg & Robynn Bliss

Expect Great Things

Marvin J. Newell

Catholic Publishers in Other Countries 🌎

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

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