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DIRECTORY

Best Children's Book Publishing Companies in UK

Showing 27 publishers that match your search.

Flying Eye Books

Genres: Picture Book and Children's

Part of: Nobrow Press > Flying Eye Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://flyingeyebooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries & manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space

Dominic Walliman & Ben Newman

Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue

William Grill

Shackleton's Journey

William Grill

David Fickling Books

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Children's

Location: Oxford, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ 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

Hot Key Books

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Children's, and Fiction

Part of: Bonnier Publishing > Hot Key Books

Location: London, GB

Website: http://hotkeybooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Sabriel

Garth Nix

Clap When You Land

Elizabeth Acevedo

The Cruel Prince

Holly Black

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Puffin Books

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Children's

Part of: Penguin Random House > Penguin Young Readers > Puffin Books

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Roald Dahl

Double Fudge

Judy Blume

The Outsiders

S. E. Hinton

Shepheard-Walwyn

Genres: Academic, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, Children's, Christian, Economics, Education & Reference, Environmental, Historical Fiction, History, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Religion & Spirituality

Location: London, GB

Website: https://shepheardwalwyn.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposal or manuscript submission - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Secret Life of Real Estate and Banking

Phillip J. Anderson

Taken For a Ride: 2nd Edition

Don Riley with Fred Harrison

The Corruption of Economics: 2nd Edition

Mason Gaffney and Fred Harrison

Watkins

Genres: Children's, Cookbook, Diverse Literature, Environmental, Health & Wellbeing, History, Narrative Nonfiction, and Self-Help

Location: London, GB

Website: https://watkinspublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book pitches - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Soberish

Kayla Lyons

Rebel Gardening

Alessandro Vitale

England on Fire

Stephen Ellcock and Mat Osman

Hatch Press

Genres: Children's and Nonfiction

Part of: Bonnier Books UK

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/news-and-media/hatch-press-takes-flight-with-bonnier-books-uk/?mc_cid=45e3184702&mc_eid=19f692a020

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Isaac Newton and Gravity

Alex Woole and Annalise Stoney

Luna Press Publishing

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, Short Story, and Children's

Location: Edinburgh, GB

Website: https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
One Cog Turning

Anthony Laken

The Forever Man

Allen Stroud

Steampunk Writers Around the World

Josué Ramos et al

Hogs Back Books

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, and Children's

Location: London, GB

Website: http://www.hogsbackbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Croc on the Rock

Marion Clark & Tanya Fenton

Where Is My Bear?

Darcy Coxall & Menno Wittebrood

Hugh's Blue Day

Karen Hodgson & Ross Collins

ACC Art Books

Genres: Art, Architecture, Business, Picture Book, DIY, Cookbook, Travel, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.accartbooks.com/us/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Mid size

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
David Bowie: Icon

George Underwood

Loving

Hugh Nini & Neal Treadwell

Best Buildings Britain

Matthew Freedman

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

Reedsy | Children's Book Editors | 2023-12

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