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DIRECTORY

Best Book Publishing Companies in London

Showing 74 publishers that match your search.

Zed Books

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

Part of: Bloomsbury > Zed Books

Location: London, GB

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

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The War on Disabled People

Ellen Clifford

United Queerdom

Dan Glass

Pablo Trapero and the Politics of Violence

Douglas Mulliken

Palgrave Macmillan

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

Part of: Springer Nature > Palgrave Macmillan

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The UN At War

John Karlsrud

Persian Gulf

Lawrence G. Potter & Gary G. Sick

Political Asylum

Carol Bohmer & Amy Shuman

And Other Stories

Genres: Literary Fiction and Fiction

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Divorce

César Aira

What You Could Have Won

Rachel Genn

Barn 8

Deb Olin Unferth

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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

💥 Hit titles
Murder Ink

Betty Hechtman

Best Laid Plans

Gwen Florio

A Choir of Crows

Candace M. Robb

Canelo

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Thriller & Suspense, LGBTQ+, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, and Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.canelo.co/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Tracer

Jason Dean

The Lucky Eight

Sheila Bugler

One Good Lie

Jane Isaac

Joffe Books

Genres: Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, True Crime, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.joffebooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Lantern Boats

Tessa Morris-Suzuki

The Sister's Twin

Jane A. Adams

The Darkest Hours

Margaret Murphy

Titan Books

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Biographies & Memoirs, Manga, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Part of: Titan Publishing Group > Titan Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://titanbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Hall of Smoke

H. M. Long

The Archive of the Forgotten

A. J. Hackwith

Witherward

Hannah Mathewson

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 →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing

Eimear McBride

Ducks, Newburyport

Lucy Ellmann

Mordew

Alex Pheby

Harlequin

Genres: Romance, Women's Fiction, and Fiction

Part of: HarperCollins > Harlequin

Location: London, GB

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Tough To Tame

Diana Palmer

The Flipside of Perfect

Liz Reinhardt

Meant To Be

Jude Deveraux

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

💥 Hit titles
Sabriel

Garth Nix

Clap When You Land

Elizabeth Acevedo

The Cruel Prince

Holly Black

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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