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DIRECTORY

Best Westerns Book Publishing Companies

Showing 13 publishers that match your search.

Tor/Forge

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Westerns, and Fiction

Part of: Macmillan > Tor/Forge

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.torforgeblog.com

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke

Wheel of Time

Robert Jordan

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

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

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Desert Palm Press

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Westerns, and Women's Fiction

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: https://desertpalmpress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Scatter

Molly J. Bragg

Evil's Echo

Jane Alden

Back in the Saddle

Toni Draper

Speaking Volumes

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Westerns, Romance, and Fiction

Part of: Zenerji Media Group > Speaking Volumes

Location: Naples, US

Website: http://www.speakingvolumes.us/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Signal Thirty-Two

MacKinlay Kantor

Wicked Secrets

Justine Davis

The Ex

John Lutz

Supposed Crimes

Genres: LGBTQ+, Action & Adventure, Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Westerns, Diverse Literature, and Fiction

Location: Raleigh, US

Website: https://supposedcrimes.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Penumbra

Dan Ackerman

How to Steal a Star

Geonn Cannon

For by Grace

Adrian J Smith

Black Horse Westerns

Genres: Westerns and Fiction

Part of: The Crowood Press > Black Horse Westerns

Location: London, GB

Website: https://bhwesterns.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Deception Point

Alex Frew

Return of the Buffalo Hunter

Ralph Hayes

The Sitka Killings

Paul Bedford

Kensington Publishing

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Education & Reference, African-American, History, Religion & Spirituality, Self-Help, Mystery & Crime, Thriller & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Romance, Urban Fiction, Westerns, True Crime, Diverse Literature, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, LGBTQ, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Crimson Phoenix

John Gilstrap

After Francesco

Brian Malloy

Plain Jane

Fern Michaels

Piccadilly Publishing

Genres: Westerns and Fiction

Location: London, GB

Website: http://piccadillypublishing.org/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Comanche

Matt Chisholm

Benedict and Brazos

E. Jefferson Clay

Bodie: Across the High Divide

Neil Hunter

Shalako Press

Genres: Westerns and Fiction

Location: San Francisco, US

Website: http://shalakopress.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Cattle, Cards, Barbed Wire & Gold

Wiley Joiner

Mokelumne Gold

Major L. Mitchell

California Ranger

Michael G. Lynch

Westerns Publishers in Other Countries 🌎

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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Reedsy | Looking for a publisher? | 2024-09

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