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DIRECTORY

Best Women's Fiction Book Publishing Companies

Showing 46 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

Forever

Genres: Romance, Women's Fiction, LGBTQ+, Diverse Literature, and Fiction

Part of: Hachette > Grand Central Publishing > Forever

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.read-forever.com/

Diversity: Diverse Literature

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Trouble With Hating You

Sajni Patel

When a Duchess Says I Do

Grace Burrowes

Then There Was You

Miranda Liasson

Berkley

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

Part of: Penguin Random House > Penguin Publishing Group > Berkley

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.penguin.com/publishers/berkley/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
The Kiss Quotient

Helen Hoang

Beach Read

Emily Henry

Dial A for Aunties

Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Harlequin

Genres: Romance, Women's Fiction, and Fiction

Part of: HarperCollins > Harlequin

Location: London, GB

Website: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/index.html

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries - View guidelines →

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Tough To Tame

Diana Palmer

The Flipside of Perfect

Liz Reinhardt

Meant To Be

Jude Deveraux

Aria Publishing

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Crime, and Fiction

Part of: Head of Zeus > Aria Publishing

Location: London, GB

Website: https://ariafiction.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

No

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

Faith Hogan

One Last Greek Summer

Mandy Baggot

The Girl from Vichy

Andie Newton

Allen and Unwin

Genres: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Sports & Outdoors, True Crime, Health & Wellbeing, Self-Help, Humor, History, Environmental, Politics, Business, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Medical, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's

Location: Sydney, AU

Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Manuscript entries & contests - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

Love Objects

Emily Maguire

Crazy Rich Asians

Kevin Kwan

Atria Publishing Group

Genres: Urban Fiction, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Literary Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Self-Help, Narrative Nonfiction, Cookbook, Health & Wellbeing, African-American, Diverse Literature, BIPOC, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Part of: Simon and Schuster > Atria Publishing Group

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://www.atriabooks.biz/

Diversity: Diverse Literature, BIPOC

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes

Mid size

💥 Hit titles
My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult

The Japanese Lover

Isabel Allende

Lethal Agent

Vince Flynn

Madville Publishing

Genres: Action & Adventure, African-American, Biographies & Memoirs, BIPOC, Diverse Literature, Fantasy, Feminism, Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Narrative Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller & Suspense, and Women's Fiction

Location: Houston, US

Website: https://madvillepublishing.com/

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
Sonju

Wondra Chang

What a Wonderful World This Could Be

Lee Zacharias

Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology

Julie E. Bloemeke and Dustin Brookshire

Inimitable Books

Genres: Action & Adventure, BIPOC, Diverse Literature, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery & Crime, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Women's Fiction, and Young Adult

Part of: Ulysses Press > Inimitable Books

Location: New York City, US

Website: https://inimitablebooksllc.com

Accepts unagented submissions

Yes Book queries - View guidelines →

Indie publisher

Small press

💥 Hit titles
The Legionnaire

Samantha Traunfeld

Down the Well

Veronica King

The Storm Gathers

Maelan Holladay

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

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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