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DIRECTORY

Best Middle Grade Book Publishing Companies

Showing 96 publishers that match your search.

Quirk Books

Genres: DIY, Cookbook, History, Horror, Humor, Mystery & Crime, Politics, Sports & Outdoors, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, True Crime, Comics & Graphic Novels, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, Children's, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Novella

Location: Philadelphia, US

Website: https://www.quirkbooks.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries & manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Seth Grahame-Smith

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Ransom Riggs

Geekerella

Ashley Poston

Macmillan Publishers

Genres: Literary Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Politics, Cookbook, Self-Help, Picture Book, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Novella, and Children's

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://macmillan.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

💥 Hit titles
What Happened to You?

Oprah Winfrey & Bruce D. Perry

Aquarium

Yaara Shehori

Me

Elton John

Enchanted Lion Books

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

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://enchantedlion.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Cry, Heart, But Never Break

Glenn Ringtved

Ballad

Blexbolex

Bertolt

Jacques Goldstyn

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Chronicle Books

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Cookbook, Photography, Art, DIY, Architecture, Self-Help, Health & Wellbeing, Travel, Humor, Diverse Literature, Children's, and Nonfiction

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: https://www.chroniclebooks.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
From Crook to Cook

Snoop Dogg

Dolly Parton, Songteller

Dolly Parton & Robert K. Oermann

Men to Avoid in Art and Life

Nicole Tersigni

Hachette Livre

Genres: Literary Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Politics, Cookbook, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Novella, and Children's

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.hachette.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes

Largest

💥 Hit titles
Talking to Strangers

Macolm Gladwell

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

I Am Malala

Malala Yousafzai

Versify

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

Part of: HarperCollins > Versify

Location: Boston, US

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

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries -

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Anya and the Nightingale

Sofiya Pasternack

The Year I Flew Away

Marie Arnold

Emmy in the Key of Code

Aimee Lucido

Allen and Unwin

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Sports & Outdoors, True Crime, Health & Wellbeing, Self-Help, Humor, History, Environmental, Politics, Business, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Medical, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: Sydney, AU

Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

Love Objects

Emily Maguire

Crazy Rich Asians

Kevin Kwan

Penguin Random House

Genres: Literary Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Politics, Cookbook, Romance, Picture Book, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Novella, and Children's

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes

Largest

💥 Hit titles
The Testaments

Margaret Atwood

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

The Guardians

John Grisham

Candlewick Press

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

Part of: Walker Books > Candlewick Press

Location: Boston, US

Website: https://www.candlewick.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Where's Waldo?

Martin Handford

The Tale of Despereaux

Kate DiCamillo

Judy Moody and Stink

Megan McDonald

Chicago Review Press

Genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult, African-American, Biographies & Memoirs, DIY, History, Politics, Sports & Outdoors, True Crime, Feminism, Education & Reference, Self-Help, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Children's, and Nonfiction

Location: Chicago, US

Website: https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Abe & Fido

Matthew Algeo

Absinthe & Flamethrowers

William Gurstelle

The Admiral and the Ambassador

Scott Martelle

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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