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Best Book Publishing Companies in UK

A comprehensive directory of the best publishers in 2023, vetted by the team at Reedsy. Showing 93 publishers.

Hot Key Books

Young Adult, Fantasy, Children's, Fiction

Part of - Bonnier Publishing > Hot Key Books

Location - London, GB

Size - Mid size

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Website - http://hotkeybooks.com/

💥 Hit titles

Sabriel

Garth Nix

Clap When You Land

Elizabeth Acevedo

The Cruel Prince

Holly Black

Harlequin

Romance, Women's Fiction, Fiction

Part of - HarperCollins > Harlequin

Location - London, GB

Size - Mid size

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Submission format - Manuscript entries - Submit here

Website - https://www.harlequin.com/shop/index.html

☑️ Accepts submissions

💥 Hit titles

Tough To Tame

Diana Palmer

The Flipside of Perfect

Liz Reinhardt

Meant To Be

Jude Deveraux

Jo Fletcher Books

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction

Part of - Quercus Books > Jo Fletcher Books

Location - London, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Submission format - Manuscript entries - Submit here

Website - https://www.jofletcherbooks.com/

☑️ Indie publisher

☑️ Accepts submissions

💥 Hit titles

Highfire

Eoin Colfer

The Beautiful Ones

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Radio Life

Derek B. Miller

Palgrave Macmillan

Business, Politics, History, Religion & Spirituality, Academic, Politics, Medical, Law, Math & Science, Nonfiction

Part of - Springer Nature > Palgrave Macmillan

Location - London, GB

Size - Mid size

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks, Audiobooks

Submission format - Book proposals - Submit here

Website - https://www.palgrave.com/us/journals

☑️ Accepts submissions

💥 Hit titles

The UN At War

John Karlsrud

Persian Gulf

Lawrence G. Potter & Gary G. Sick

Political Asylum

Carol Bohmer & Amy Shuman

David Fickling Books

Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Children's

Location - Oxford, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks, Audiobooks

Website - https://www.davidficklingbooks.com/

☑️ Indie publisher

💥 Hit titles

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Mark Haddon

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

John Boyne

The Book of Dust

Philip Pullman

Aria Publishing

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

Part of - Head of Zeus > Aria Publishing

Location - London, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Website - https://ariafiction.com/

☑️ Indie publisher

💥 Hit titles

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

Faith Hogan

One Last Greek Summer

Mandy Baggot

The Girl from Vichy

Andie Newton

Tilted Axis Press

Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, Fiction

Location - London, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Diversity - Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Website - https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/

☑️ Indie publisher

💥 Hit titles

Manaschi

Hamid Ismailov

Black Box

Shiori Ito

Strange Beasts of China

Yan Ge

Saraband

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

Location - Manchester, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Diversity - Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Website - https://saraband.net/

☑️ Indie publisher

💥 Hit titles

Shocked Earth

Saskia Goldschmidt

Westering

Laurence Mitchell

Bleak

R.M. Murray

Zed Books

History, Law, LGBTQ+, Feminism, Politics, Travel, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Architecture, Diverse Literature, Nonfiction

Part of - Bloomsbury > Zed Books

Location - London, GB

Size - Small press

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks

Diversity - Diverse Literature

Website - https://www.zedbooks.net/

☑️ Indie publisher

💥 Hit titles

The War on Disabled People

Ellen Clifford

United Queerdom

Dan Glass

Pablo Trapero and the Politics of Violence

Douglas Mulliken

Taylor & Francis Publishing

Medical, Psychology, Math & Science, Law, Sports & Outdoors, Politics, Environmental, Business, Art, Nonfiction

Location - London, GB

Size - Largest

Formats - Physical Books, Ebooks, Audiobooks

Website - https://taylorandfrancis.com/

💥 Hit titles

How Learning Happens

Carl Hendrick & Paul Arthur Kirschner

Closing the Reading Gap

Alex Quigley

Motivational Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Paul Earnshaw & Cathy Atkinson

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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