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DIRECTORY

Best Short Story Book Publishing Companies

Showing 64 publishers that match your search.

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

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

TouchWood Editions

Genres: Art, Photography, Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbook, History, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Travel, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Short Story, and Fiction

Part of: Heritage Group > TouchWood Editions

Location: Vancouver, CA

Website: https://www.touchwoodeditions.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC, LGBTQ

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Distilleries of Vancouver Island

Marianne Scott

Show Me the Honey

Dave Doroghy

The Little Prairie Book of Berries

Sheryl Normandeau

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Catapult

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://books.catapult.co/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
All You Can Ever Know

Nicole Chung

The Manningtree Witches

A.K. Blakemore

Lean Fall Stand

Jon McGregor

Coffee House Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Location: Minneapolis, US

Website: https://coffeehousepress.org/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
I Hotel

Karen Tei Yamashita

Indecency

Justin Phillip Reed

Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife

Sam Savage

Soho Press

Genres: Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Diverse Literature, Fiction, and Short Story

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://sohopress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Fame Thief

Timothy Hallinan

Clark and Division

Naomi Hirahara

Blue Skinned Gods

SJ Sindu

C&R Press

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

Location: Raleigh, US

Website: https://www.crpress.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Selling the Farm

Debra Di Blasi

A History of the Cat in Nine Chapters or Less

Fu Shivani

In the Room of Persistent Sorry

Kristina Marie Darling

Unnamed Press

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, History, Diverse Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: Los Angeles, US

Website: https://www.unnamedpress.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Border of Paradise

Esmé Weijun Wang

The Confession of Copeland Cane

Keenan Norris

A Certain Hunger

Chelsea G. Summers

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

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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