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DIRECTORY

Best Fiction Book Publishing Companies

Showing 293 publishers that match your search.

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 β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ 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

Turner Publishing

Genres: Self-Help, Business, Young Adult, History, Romance, Mystery & Crime, Cookbook, Health & Wellbeing, Art, Nonfiction, and Fiction

Location: Nashville, US

Website: https://www.turnerpublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Emperor's Sword

Andrew Klavan

One Stupid Thing

Stewart Lewis

My Mistress' Eyes Are Raven Black

Terry Roberts

Berkley

Genres: Women's Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, and Fiction

Part of: Penguin Random House > Penguin Publishing Group > Berkley

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.penguin.com/publishers/berkley/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Kiss Quotient

Helen Hoang

Beach Read

Emily Henry

Dial A for Aunties

Jesse Q. Sutanto

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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

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Becoming

Michelle Obama

A Promised Land

Barack Obama

Devil in the White CIty

Erik Larson

Quirk Books

Genres: DIY, Cookbook, History, Horror, Humor, Mystery & Crime, Politics, Sports & Outdoors, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, True Crime, Comics & Graphic Novels, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, Children's, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Novella

Location: Philadelphia, US

Website: https://www.quirkbooks.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries & manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Seth Grahame-Smith

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Ransom Riggs

Geekerella

Ashley Poston

Bonnier Books

Genres: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Self-Help, Picture Book, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Fiction, and Children's

Location: Stockholm, SE

Website: https://bonnierbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Heather Morris

10 Rules For Talking

Tim Harkness

The Foundling

Stacey Halls

Galley Beggar Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing

Eimear McBride

Ducks, Newburyport

Lucy Ellmann

Mordew

Alex Pheby

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

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Shocked Earth

Saskia Goldschmidt

Westering

Laurence Mitchell

Bleak

R.M. Murray

Entangled Publishing

Genres: Romance, Diverse Literature, Fiction, and Novella

Location: Denver, US

Website: https://entangledpublishing.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Back in the Burbs

Avery Flynn & Tracy Wolff

Crush

Tracy Wolff

Ember of Night

Molly E. Lee

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

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart

Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen

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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