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DIRECTORY

Best True Crime Book Publishing Companies in UK

Showing 5 publishers that match your search.

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

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

Oldcastle Books

Genres: True Crime, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Literary Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Travel, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Part of: Oldcastle Books Group > Oldcastle Books

Location: London, GB

Website: http://oldcastlebooks.co.uk/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
After Agatha

Sally Cline

A Statue for Jacob

Peter Murphy

UFOs, Aliens, and the Battle for Truth

Neil Nixon

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No Exit Press

Genres: True Crime, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Part of: Oldcastle Books Group > Exit Press

Location: London, GB

Website: https://noexit.co.uk/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Mercenary

Paul Vidich

American Sherlocks

Nick Rennison

Nick

Michael Farris Smith

Headpress

Genres: Politics, True Crime, History, Art, and Nonfiction

Location: Manchester, GB

Website: https://headpress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Bleeding Skull!

Joseph A. Ziemba & Dan Budnik

Small Town Skateparks

Clint Carrick

The Town Slowly Empties

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

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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Reedsy | Default — Editors with Marker | 2024-05

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