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DIRECTORY

Best Thriller & Suspense Book Publishing Companies

Showing 75 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

Mysterious Press

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

Part of: Grove Atlantic > Mysterious Press

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://groveatlantic.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Coronation

Boris Akunin

She Lover of Death

Boris Akunin

Girl Running

Lawrence Lariar

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

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Soho Teen

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Children's, and Fiction

Part of: Soho Press > Soho Teen

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://sohopress.com/soho-teen/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Mercury Boys

Chandra Prasad

Orpheus Girls

Brynne Rebele-Henry

Hope is Our Only Wing

Rutendo Tavengerwei

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

Titan Books

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Biographies & Memoirs, Manga, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Part of: Titan Publishing Group > Titan Books

Location: London, GB

Website: https://titanbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Hall of Smoke

H. M. Long

The Archive of the Forgotten

A. J. Hackwith

Witherward

Hannah Mathewson

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

Bonnier Books

Genres: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Self-Help, Picture Book, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Fiction, and Children's

Location: Stockholm, SE

Website: https://bonnierbooks.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Largest

💥 Hit titles
The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Heather Morris

10 Rules For Talking

Tim Harkness

The Foundling

Stacey Halls

Text Publishing

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Romance, Fantasy, Health & Wellbeing, Historical Fiction, History, Humor, Self-Help, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, Environmental, Math & Science, Sports & Outdoors, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Location: Melbourne, AU

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

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Loner

Georgina Young

Soldiers

Tom Remiger

A Constant Hum

Alice Bishop

Canelo

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Thriller & Suspense, LGBTQ+, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, and Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.canelo.co/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book proposals - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Tracer

Jason Dean

The Lucky Eight

Sheila Bugler

One Good Lie

Jane Isaac

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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