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DIRECTORY

Best Picture Book Book Publishing Companies in UK

Showing 17 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 →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 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

💥 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

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

💥 Hit titles
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Roald Dahl

Double Fudge

Judy Blume

The Outsiders

S. E. Hinton

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Quarto Publishing Group

Genres: Cookbook, Art, Travel, Biographies & Memoirs, Sports & Outdoors, Architecture, DIY, Math & Science, Picture Book, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.quarto.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Emmeline Pankhurst: Little People, Big Dreams

Lisbeth Kaiser

The Complete Grimoire

Lidia Pradas

Quick Keto

Martina Slajerova

Balzer and Bray

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

Part of: HarperCollins > HarperCollins Children's Books > Balzer and Bray

Location: Edinburgh, GB

Website: https://www.harpercollins.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Becky Albertalli

Dumplin'

Julie Murphy

Little Tiger Press

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

Part of: Penguin Random House > Random House Children's Books > Little Tiger Press

Location: London, GB

Website: https://littletiger.co.uk/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
My So-Called Bollywood Life

Nisha Sharma

Charlotte Says

Alex Bell

Patron Saints of Nothing

Randy Ribay

Imagine That Publishing

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

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.imaginethat.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
I Love My Grandma

Robyn Gale

Superheroes LOVE Bedtime!

Katie Button

Animal ABC

Amber Lily & Zhanna Ovocheva

Black & White Publishing

Genres: Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Romance, Women's Fiction, Young Adult, Biographies & Memoirs, Humor, Sports & Outdoors, True Crime, Picture Book, Middle Grade, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: Edinburgh, GB

Website: https://blackandwhitepublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Becoming Mila

Estelle Maskame

Summer Bird Blue

Akemi Dawn Bowman

Bride Squad Runaway

Caroline Grace-Cassidy & Lisa Carey

Bloomsbury Children's Books

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

Part of: Bloomsbury > Bloomsbury Children's Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/childrens/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Sarah J. Maas

Ruby Has A Worry

Tom Percival

Laurence King Publishing

Genres: Art, Architecture, Photography, DIY, Environmental, Sports & Outdoors, Picture Book, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.laurenceking.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals -

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Short Story of the Novel

Henry Russell

Yayoi Kusama

Robert Shore

Tarot For All Ages

Elizabeth Haidle

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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