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DIRECTORY

Best Science Fiction Book Publishing Companies

Showing 77 publishers that match your search.

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

DAW Books

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and Fiction

Part of: Penguin Random House > Penguin Publishing Group > DAW Books

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://astrapublishinghouse.com/imprints/daw-books/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries -

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Wise Man's Fear

Patrick Rothfuss

Shadowrise

Tad Williams

The Unkindest Tide

Seanan McGuire

Montag Press

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: https://www.montagpress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
5 Clones

Edward Bonilla

Anarchy and Other Lies

Jesse McKinnell

M Against M

Declan Tan

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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

The Parliament House

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: Tampa, US

Website: https://www.parliamenthousepress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LBGTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Unspoken

Celia Mcmahon

Tidepool

Nicole Willson

The Other Side of Magic

Ester Manzini

Stairway Press

Genres: Math & Science, Science Fiction, Politics, Thriller & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Self-Help, Environmental, Biographies & Memoirs, Fantasy, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: Phoenix, US

Website: https://stairwaypress.com

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
In Global Warming We Trust: Too Big to Fail

Anthony Sadar

Failure To Fracture

Anthony Garone

Cyberwarfare

Larry Bell

Two Dollar Radio

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbook, Narrative Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, History, Horror, Humor, Mystery & Crime, Politics, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Westerns, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: Columbus, US

Website: https://twodollarradio.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
A History of My Brief Body

Billy-Ray Belcourt

Whiteout Conditions

Tariq Shah

Found Audio

N.J. Campbell

Saga Press

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Fiction

Part of: Simon and Schuster > Gallery Books > Saga Press

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://sagapress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
This Is How You Lose the Time War

Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

The Hollow Places

T. Kingfisher

The Grace of Kings

Ken Liu

Jo Fletcher Books

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and Fiction

Part of: Quercus Books > Jo Fletcher Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.jofletcherbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Highfire

Eoin Colfer

The Beautiful Ones

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Radio Life

Derek B. Miller

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

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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