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DIRECTORY

Best Literary Fiction Book Publishing Companies in UK

Showing 20 publishers that match your search.

And Other Stories

Genres: Literary Fiction and Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.andotherstories.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Divorce

CΓ©sar Aira

What You Could Have Won

Rachel Genn

Barn 8

Deb Olin Unferth

Tilted Axis Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, and Fiction

Location: London, GB

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

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Manaschi

Hamid Ismailov

Black Box

Shiori Ito

Strange Beasts of China

Yan Ge

Comma Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: Manchester, GB

Website: https://commapress.co.uk/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
You Should Come With Me Now

M. John Harrison & Lara Pawson

Thirteen Months of Sunrise

Rania Mamoun

The Well of Trapped Words

Sema Kaygusuz

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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

Severn House

Genres: Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Romance, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Horror, and Fiction

Part of: Canongate Books > Severn House

Location: London, GB

Website: http://severnhouse.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Murder Ink

Betty Hechtman

Best Laid Plans

Gwen Florio

A Choir of Crows

Candace M. Robb

Claret Press

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Narrative Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Novella, Politics, Thriller & Suspense, Travel, and Women's Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.claretpress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No Book queries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Black Tea

Stephen Morris

Daisy Chain

Justine Gilbert

Opera

Julie Anderson

Conduit Books

Conduit Books is an independent press seeking to publish literary fiction and memoir of the highest quality.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Fiction, and Literary Fiction

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles

Northodox Press

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Urban Fiction, Women's Fiction, and Young Adult

Location: Manchester, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Partial manuscript entries - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Clockwork Magpies

Emma Whitehall

Out of Human Sight

Sophie Parkes

Airedale

Dylan Byford

Peepal Tree

Genres: Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, African-American, Fiction, and Poetry

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.peepaltreepress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC, AfricanAmerican

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Indie publisher

Small press

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
Madwoman

Shara McCallum

Daylight Come

Diana McCaulay

Modern, Age, &c.

Raymond Ramcharitar

Oxford University Press

Genres: Education & Reference, Academic, Math & Science, History, Politics, Art, Architecture, Literary Fiction, Medical, Law, Nonfiction, and Fiction

Location: Oxford, GB

Website: https://global.oup.com/?cc=us

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines β†’

Largest

πŸ’₯ Hit titles
The Perfect Fit

Naomi Jones

Tsunami

James Goff & Walter Dudley

Principles of Cost Accounting

Johan Hefer

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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