Book Publishing Companies Accepting Submissions

This is a list of book publishing companies we have checked one by one on their own websites. Every publishing house here is a traditional publisher: it pays you, and you never pay it. For each one you can see whether it is open, whether it takes authors without an agent, what to send and how long it takes to reply. Use the filters to narrow the list of book publishers by genre, location and submission rules, and open any card for step-by-step instructions.

Book publishers for new authors and first-time authors

Yes, traditional publishers do look for new authors. Many of them simply want you to arrive through a literary agent. Right now 89 of the 134 publishers in this directory take submissions from authors without an agent, and 88 are open to submissions.

The best book publishers for new authors share three things: an open submissions page, a clear list of what to send and a stated reply time. Start with the filters above. Choose No agent needed and Open now, then pick your genre. Every card shows the date we last checked the publisher’s own site.

Publishers that accept unagented submissions

An unagented submission is one you send yourself, without a literary agent. Publishers that accept unagented submissions usually say so on a page called submissions, guidelines or write for us. Smaller and specialist houses are the most likely to read them. Examples in this directory include Crossway for evangelical nonfiction, Holiday House for children’s books and Hurst Publishers for serious nonfiction in the UK.

Some large houses also keep one door open. Hachette Book Group runs Forever, which reads romance and women’s fiction from unagented BIPOC writers, and Simon & Schuster runs Salaam Reads for children’s books. Each profile names these exceptions so you do not have to dig.

What is a publishing house?

A publishing house is a company that buys the right to publish your book, then pays for editing, design, printing and distribution. In return it pays you an advance, royalties or both. A large publishing house is usually a group of imprints, each with its own list and editors. A small one may be a team of a few people with one list.

Publishing companies and publishing houses mean the same thing here. What matters is the business model: a traditional publisher takes the financial risk. If a company asks you to pay for publishing, it is a paid service, not a traditional publisher, and we do not list it.

Do the Big Five publishers accept submissions?

Mostly through agents. The Big Five are Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan. We have checked four of them so far, and their main imprints read work sent by literary agents, not unsolicited manuscripts. A few imprints run their own open programs or contests from time to time. See the profiles for Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Hachette for the current rules.

Book publishers and publishing companies near me

Not much. Book publishers near you are no more likely to take your book than ones across the country, because nearly all submissions now go by email or online form. Location matters in three cases: some publishers only take authors from their own country, regional presses look for books about their area, and a few houses still ask for printed submissions by mail.

To see local publishing companies near you, use the location filter at the top of the list. It covers US states, the UK, Canada, Australia and more. Each profile shows where the publisher is based and whether it limits who can submit, as Orca does for Canadian writers.

Types of book publishing companies

Every company here is one of the traditional publishing companies: none charge authors. This list of publishing companies falls into a few groups. Knowing which group a publisher belongs to tells you a lot about how to approach it.

• Big Five houses: the largest publishers, each with dozens of imprints. They mostly read agented work.
• Mid-size and independent publishers: smaller lists and more open doors. Many read submissions directly.
• Specialist and religious publishers: houses that publish one subject or serve one faith community, often with detailed guidelines.
• University and academic presses: scholarly books, usually sold on a proposal and reviewed by experts.

Use the size filter to see each group, and open a profile to see how that publisher wants to hear from you.

How to submit to a book publisher

1. Finish the book or the proposal. Fiction and picture books are usually sent complete. Nonfiction is often sold on a proposal; our book proposal guide shows what goes in one.
2. Shortlist the right publishers. Filter by genre and agent rule, then read each profile’s “Look elsewhere if” box.
3. Read the publisher’s own guidelines on the day you send. Rules change. The official submissions page is linked on every profile.
4. Send exactly what it asks for. Query, proposal, sample chapters or the full manuscript, in the format and length it gives.
5. Record the date and the reply time. Many publishers say that no reply means no. Our profiles tell you which ones.

Prefer to go through an agent first? Our guide to how to get a book published walks through querying agents step by step.

How book publishers pay authors

A traditional publisher pays you. Most pay royalties, a share of each copy sold, and many also pay an advance against those royalties before the book comes out. Some smaller presses pay royalties with no advance. Each profile shows what the publisher states, and says “not stated” when its site does not say. For the full picture of what you earn and what rights you sign over, compare self-publishing and traditional publishing.

Publishers that charge you are not on this list

Some companies call themselves publishers but charge authors for packages, editing or printing. They are vanity presses or paid services, so we leave them out, even when they also take submissions. Learn the warning signs in our guide to what a vanity press is.

How we check every listing

We read each publisher’s own website: its submissions page, guidelines and imprint pages. Every field has a source and the date we checked it, and a second checker who has not seen the research confirms the facts. We recheck the whole directory every month. If a publisher’s site does not state something, the profile says so instead of guessing.