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DIRECTORY

Best Poetry Book Publishing Companies

Showing 82 publishers that match your search.

Autumn House Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, History, Biographies & Memoirs, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

Location: Philadelphia, US

Website: https://www.autumnhouse.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
No One Leaves the World Unhurt

John Foy

American Home

Sean Cho A.

speculation, n.

Shayla Lawz

Graywolf Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Poetry, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://www.graywolfpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Wild Fox of Yemen

Threa Almontaser

Her Body and Other Parties

Carmen Maria Machado

The Twilight Zone

Nona Fernández

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

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Copper Canyon Press

Genres: Literary Fiction and Poetry

Location: Seattle, US

Website: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Book of Questions

Pablo Neruda

Crushing It

Jennifer L. Knox

Water I Won't Touch

Kayleb Rae Candrilli

Ensorcellia Publishing

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Short Story, and Poetry

Part of: Odyssey Books > Ensorcellia

Location: Wellington, NZ

Website: https://www.odysseybooks.com.au/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
When No One Is Watching

Linathi Makanda

How to Wake a Butterfly

Loic Ekinga

The Universe Made the Stars And Then Made You

Kylie Gifis

HarperCollins

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History, Cookbook, Religion & Spirituality, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime, Business, Self-Help, Picture Book, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Novella, and Children's

Location: New York City, US

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

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

💥 Hit titles
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Charlie Mackesy

The Children's Train

Viola Ardone

The Viscount Who Loved Me

Julia Quinn

Small Beer Press

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: Boston, US

Website: https://smallbeerpress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Never Have I Ever

Isabel Yap

Terra Nullius

Claire G. Coleman

In Other Lands

Sarah Rees Brennan

McSweeney's Books

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Humor, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Indelible in the Hippocampus

Shelly Oria

Of Color

Jaswinder Bolina

The Fire In His Wake

Spencer Wolff

Melville House

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Politics, History, Art, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.mhpbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Cat Out of Hell

Lynne Truss

Debt: the First 5,000 Years

David Graeber

Fiasco

Imre Kertész

Grove Atlantic

Genres: Horror, Biographies & Memoirs, Business, History, Humor, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Religion & Spirituality, Math & Science, Sports & Outdoors, Travel, True Crime, Politics, Westerns, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://groveatlantic.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart

Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen

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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