The 2024 Guide To Manuscript Publishers

Authors Publish
The 2024 Guide to

Manuscript
Publishers
285+
Traditional Publishers
No Agent Required
Emily Harstone
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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 15
How to Submit Your Manuscript for Publication ....................................................... 21
Nonfiction Publishers.................................................................................................. 25
Affirm Books .......................................................................................................... 26
Arcade Publishing ................................................................................................... 27
Art/Books ................................................................................................................ 29
Agate Publishing ..................................................................................................... 30
Allworth Press ......................................................................................................... 31
Beacon Press ........................................................................................................... 33
BearManor Media ................................................................................................... 35
Amberley................................................................................................................. 37
BenBella.................................................................................................................. 38
Between The Lines Publishing ............................................................................... 40
Black & White Publishing ...................................................................................... 42
Big Sky Publishing ................................................................................................. 44
Blue Star Press ........................................................................................................ 45
Carrel Books ........................................................................................................... 46
Chelsea Green ......................................................................................................... 48
Chicago Review Press............................................................................................. 49
Dover Publications .................................................................................................. 51
Duckworth Books ................................................................................................... 52
Duke University Press............................................................................................. 54
The Experiment ....................................................................................................... 56
ECW Press .............................................................................................................. 57
Equinox Publishing ................................................................................................. 58
Entrepreneur Press .................................................................................................. 59
Fair Winds Press ..................................................................................................... 60
The Feminist Press .................................................................................................. 61
Feral House ............................................................................................................. 62
Free Spirit Publishing ............................................................................................. 64
G Editions ............................................................................................................... 66
Gill Books ............................................................................................................... 67
Gingko Press ........................................................................................................... 69
Grub Street .............................................................................................................. 70
Gryphon House ....................................................................................................... 71
Hamilcar Publications ............................................................................................. 73
Hatherleigh .............................................................................................................. 74
Haymarket Books.................................................................................................... 76
Headpress ................................................................................................................ 77
Hohm Press & Kalindi Press .................................................................................. 78
Inanna Publications and Education Inc ................................................................... 79
Icon Books .............................................................................................................. 81
Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) .......................................................................... 82
Korero Press ............................................................................................................ 83
Lantern Publishing & Media................................................................................... 84
Laurence King ......................................................................................................... 86
Llewellyn ................................................................................................................ 87
LSU Press................................................................................................................ 89
McFarland & Company Inc. ................................................................................... 91
Michael O'Mara Books ........................................................................................... 93
Measure Press ......................................................................................................... 94
Microcosm .............................................................................................................. 95
New Harbinger ........................................................................................................ 97
The New Press ........................................................................................................ 98
New Village Press ................................................................................................. 100
No Starch Press ..................................................................................................... 101
North Atlantic Books ............................................................................................ 102
Oneworld Publishing ............................................................................................ 103
Overcup Press ....................................................................................................... 105
Oxford University Press ........................................................................................ 107
Parallax Press ........................................................................................................ 108
Press Box Books ................................................................................................... 109
Princeton University Press .................................................................................... 110
Prometheus Books ................................................................................................ 111
The Quarto Publishing Group ............................................................................... 112
Rowman & Littlefield ........................................................................................... 113
Saraband ................................................................................................................ 114
Shambhala Publications ........................................................................................ 115
Skyhorse Publishing.............................................................................................. 116
SmartPop Books.................................................................................................... 118
Source Books ........................................................................................................ 119
Steerforth Press ..................................................................................................... 120
Storey Publishing .................................................................................................. 121
Square One Publishers .......................................................................................... 123
Thames & Hudson ................................................................................................ 124
Timber Press ......................................................................................................... 125
Titan Books ........................................................................................................... 126
Thread ................................................................................................................... 127
Ulysses Press ......................................................................................................... 128
UNO Press ............................................................................................................ 129
Victory Belt Publishing......................................................................................... 130
Wayne State University Press ............................................................................... 131
Wesleyan University Press ................................................................................... 132
Yale University Press ............................................................................................ 133
Literary Fiction Publishers ........................................................................................ 134
404 Ink .................................................................................................................. 135
11: 11 Press ........................................................................................................... 136
Able Muse ............................................................................................................. 138
Acre Books............................................................................................................ 139
Apocalypse Party .................................................................................................. 140
aunt lute................................................................................................................. 141
BlazeVOX ............................................................................................................. 142
Bluemoose Books ................................................................................................. 144
CLASH Books ...................................................................................................... 145
Coffee House Press ............................................................................................... 146
Deep Vellum ......................................................................................................... 148
Delphinium Books ................................................................................................ 150
Douglas & McIntyre ............................................................................................. 152
époque press .......................................................................................................... 153
Fairlight Books...................................................................................................... 154
Game Over Books ................................................................................................. 156
Jaded Ibis .............................................................................................................. 158
Mad Creek Books ................................................................................................. 159
Outpost19 Books................................................................................................... 160
Persea Books ......................................................................................................... 162
Publishing Genuis Press........................................................................................ 164
Repeater Books ..................................................................................................... 166
Unnamed Press...................................................................................................... 168
Multi-Genre Publishers ............................................................................................. 169
Aethon Books........................................................................................................ 170
Agape Editions ...................................................................................................... 172
AK Press ............................................................................................................... 174
Alcove Press.......................................................................................................... 176
AM Ink .................................................................................................................. 177
Andrews McMeel.................................................................................................. 179
Apollo Publishers .................................................................................................. 181
Arsenal Pulp Press ................................................................................................ 182
Artemesia Publishing ............................................................................................ 184
Ashland Creek Press ............................................................................................. 186
Baobab Press ......................................................................................................... 188
Bella Books ........................................................................................................... 191
Berkley .................................................................................................................. 192
Biblioasis............................................................................................................... 193
Black Beacon Books ............................................................................................. 194
Black Lyon Publishing.......................................................................................... 196
Blackwater Press ................................................................................................... 198
Blair....................................................................................................................... 200
Blind Eye Books ................................................................................................... 201
Bold Strokes .......................................................................................................... 202
Bookouture............................................................................................................ 204
Brother Mockingbird Publishing .......................................................................... 205
CamCat Books ...................................................................................................... 207
Camel Press ........................................................................................................... 209
Castle Bridge Media ............................................................................................. 210
Chronicle Books.................................................................................................... 211
City of Light Publishing........................................................................................ 213
City Owl Press ...................................................................................................... 215
Cleis Press ............................................................................................................. 217
Codhill Press ......................................................................................................... 218
Coffeetown Press .................................................................................................. 219
Dancing Lemur Press ............................................................................................ 220
Double Dagger Books ........................................................................................... 222
Encircle Publications ............................................................................................ 223
Familius................................................................................................................. 224
Farrago .................................................................................................................. 225
GemmaMedia ........................................................................................................ 226
Flame Tree Press ................................................................................................... 228
Flashpoint Publications ......................................................................................... 229
Gibbs Smith .......................................................................................................... 230
Handheld Press...................................................................................................... 231
Hera ....................................................................................................................... 232
Ig Publishing ......................................................................................................... 233
Immedium ............................................................................................................. 234
Kensington Publishing .......................................................................................... 236
Legend Press ......................................................................................................... 237
Literary Wanderlust .............................................................................................. 238
Lyrical Press.......................................................................................................... 240
Mirror World ......................................................................................................... 241
Monkfish ............................................................................................................... 243
NineStar Press ....................................................................................................... 245
Nobrow Press and Flying Eye............................................................................... 247
The O'Brien Press ................................................................................................. 248
One More Chapter................................................................................................. 250
Owl Canyon Press ................................................................................................. 252
Page Street Publishing .......................................................................................... 253
Pan Macmillan Australia....................................................................................... 255
Pelican Publishing Company ................................................................................ 256
Polis Books ........................................................................................................... 257
PM Press ............................................................................................................... 259
Princeton Architectural Press ................................................................................ 260
Quirk Books .......................................................................................................... 261
Radix Media .......................................................................................................... 262
Rogue Phoenix Press............................................................................................. 263
Roxane Gay Books ............................................................................................... 264
Santa Monica Press ............................................................................................... 266
Sapere Books ........................................................................................................ 267
Shadow Mountain ................................................................................................. 268
Schaffner Press...................................................................................................... 270
Small Town Girl ................................................................................................... 271
Stone Pier Press..................................................................................................... 272
The Story Plant ..................................................................................................... 274
Sword and Silk ...................................................................................................... 275
TCK Publishing .................................................................................................... 277
Tell-Tale Publishing.............................................................................................. 279
Three Rooms Press ............................................................................................... 280
Tin House .............................................................................................................. 282
Tiny Fox Press ...................................................................................................... 284
Tule Publishing ..................................................................................................... 286
Turner Books ........................................................................................................ 288
Ylva Publishing..................................................................................................... 289
Vine Leaves Press ................................................................................................. 290
Wesleyan University Press ................................................................................... 292
Wildhouse Press .................................................................................................... 293
Woodhall Press ..................................................................................................... 295
Yale University Press ............................................................................................ 296
Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Publishers ...................................................... 297
Angry Robot.......................................................................................................... 298
Android Press ........................................................................................................ 300
Aqueduct Press...................................................................................................... 303
Baen ...................................................................................................................... 305
Brain Jar Press....................................................................................................... 307
Candlemark & Gleam ........................................................................................... 309
Cemetery Gates Media .......................................................................................... 311
The Evil Cookie .................................................................................................... 313
Fractured Mirror Publishing ................................................................................. 314
Haunt Publishing................................................................................................... 316
HellBound Books .................................................................................................. 318
Hydra Publications ................................................................................................ 319
Jo Fletcher Books .................................................................................................. 321
Luna Press ............................................................................................................. 322
Orbit Works .......................................................................................................... 323
The Parliament House ........................................................................................... 325
Severed Press ........................................................................................................ 326
Sourcebooks Horror .............................................................................................. 328
Tartarus Press ........................................................................................................ 329
Tenebrous Press .................................................................................................... 330
Three Ravens Publishing ...................................................................................... 332
Mystery Publishers.................................................................................................... 334
Agora Books ......................................................................................................... 335
The Book Folks ..................................................................................................... 336
Brash Books .......................................................................................................... 338
Crooked Lane ........................................................................................................ 340
Fahrenheit Press .................................................................................................... 341
Hard Case Crime ................................................................................................... 342
Joffe Books ........................................................................................................... 344
Severn River Publishing ....................................................................................... 346
VERVE BOOKS ................................................................................................... 348
Children and Young Adult Book Publishers ............................................................ 349
Albert Whitman & Company ................................................................................ 350
Annick Press ......................................................................................................... 352
Arbordale Publishing ............................................................................................ 354
August House ........................................................................................................ 356
Bala Publications .................................................................................................. 357
Kane Miller ........................................................................................................... 358
Capstone Publishing.............................................................................................. 359
Cardinal Rule Press ............................................................................................... 360
Charlesbridge Publishing ...................................................................................... 362
Creston Books ....................................................................................................... 364
Deep Hearts YA .................................................................................................... 365
Enchanted Lion ..................................................................................................... 367
Entangled Teen ..................................................................................................... 368
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers .................................................................... 370
Flashlight Press ..................................................................................................... 372
Flux ....................................................................................................................... 373
Flyaway Books...................................................................................................... 375
Holiday House ...................................................................................................... 376
JollyFish Press ...................................................................................................... 377
Levine Querido ..................................................................................................... 378
Maverick Children's Books ................................................................................... 379
Monarch Educational Service's ............................................................................. 380
New Frontier ......................................................................................................... 382
Owl Kids ............................................................................................................... 384
Pajama Press ......................................................................................................... 385
Pelican Children’s Books ...................................................................................... 387
Reycraft Books...................................................................................................... 388
Sleeping Bear Press............................................................................................... 389
Sky Pony Press...................................................................................................... 390
Tilbury House ....................................................................................................... 391
Tiny Ghost Press ................................................................................................... 393
Tradewind Books .................................................................................................. 395
Walker Books........................................................................................................ 396
Christian Publishers .................................................................................................. 398
Abingdon Press ..................................................................................................... 399
Anaiah Press.......................................................................................................... 400
Enclave Publishing................................................................................................ 402
The Good Book Company .................................................................................... 403
Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense .......................................................... 405
Orbis Books .......................................................................................................... 407
Paulist Press .......................................................................................................... 408
Pelican Book Group .............................................................................................. 409
Plough Publishing House ...................................................................................... 411
Prism Books .......................................................................................................... 412
Upper Room .......................................................................................................... 413
Veritas Publishing ................................................................................................. 414
Westminster John Knox Press .............................................................................. 416
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing ............................................................................... 417
Zondervan ............................................................................................................. 418
Romance and Erotica Publishers .............................................................................. 420
Afterglow Books ................................................................................................... 421
Boroughs Publishing Group.................................................................................. 422
Carina Press .......................................................................................................... 424
Changeling Press ................................................................................................... 425
Decadent Publishing ............................................................................................. 427
Deep Desires ......................................................................................................... 429
Dragonblade .......................................................................................................... 430
Entangled Publishing ............................................................................................ 432
Evernight ............................................................................................................... 434
eXtasy ................................................................................................................... 436
Forever Yours ....................................................................................................... 437
Harlequin............................................................................................................... 439
Inkspell Publishing................................................................................................ 441
JMS Books ............................................................................................................ 442
Mills & Boon ........................................................................................................ 445
Siren Bookstrand................................................................................................... 446
Sourcebooks Casablanca ....................................................................................... 447
The Totally Entwined Group ................................................................................ 449
Vinspire Publishing............................................................................................... 451
Additional Publishers ................................................................................................ 453
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) ......................................................................... 454
Glossary .................................................................................................................... 460
About Emily Harstone .............................................................................................. 465
Authors Publish The 2024 Guide to
Manuscript Publishers
Introduction
Over the past decade, I have reviewed a publisher almost every week for Authors
Publish Magazine. Some of these publishers are nearly household names, while
others are fledgling companies still trying to figure out their identity. Many of the
publishers fall between these two extremes.
All of the reviews in this book were originally published in our magazine or are
scheduled to be published in the near future.
The reviews in this book are updated to reflect major changes that have occurred
within the company since the original review took place. This is an important and
time-consuming project.
Over one hundred publishers have been removed since the first edition of this book
was published nine years ago, because they either started charging submission fees,
tried to redirect submitters to their hybrid or vanity imprint, closed to unsolicited
submissions, or went out of business entirely.
During the last three years there has been an ongoing and marked increase in scams
targeting hopeful authors. One of the ongoing issues is scammers taking Big Five
publishers’ names, another is scammers pretending to be legitimate agents.
There has also been a significant increase in vanity imprints behaving aggressively
and misleading writers.
15
We do review a number of traditional publishers with a vanity or hybrid imprint, but

we limit these reviews only to those who don’t attempt to redirect potential authors
from the traditional imprint to the vanity one.
If a traditional publisher tries to redirect you to the vanity arm of the same company,
please do not be redirected, instead report it to us (support@authorspublish.com). We
will update their review to include an explicit warning about the practice.
There’s good news too. More imprints of Big 5 presses are having open reading
periods, sometimes just for historically underrepresented authors, sometimes for
everyone. If it’s just for historically underrepresented authors, we don’t include those
listings in this book, but we have a list article focused on these opportunities that goes
out on the second Thursday of every month in our free magazine.
In general, established small presses seem to be trying to have more open reading
periods as well, realizing that agents aren’t the only or best way forward.
All the information in this book is as up to date as possible at the time of publication,
but details can change at any time, so verify specific information on the company’s
website if you are serious about submitting to them. Not all of the publishers
reviewed here are currently open to submissions, but the majority of them are.
If you want to know additional information about a publisher, there are a number of
watchdog sites that are extremely helpful to know about. We always refer to these
sites before reviewing a company, but things can change over time. Also, these
websites are a great place to visit if you are considering going with a manuscript
publisher not reviewed in this book. You can also always reach out to us at
support@authorspublish.com with the name of a press we don’t currently cover.
16
The best place to go for third party feedback about publishers is the thread known as
“the index” at Absolute Write. Keep in mind that they have had to deal with a
number of month-long hacks in the past and because of that, they’ve been less active
than they were previously. They also block access from individuals in certain
countries because of these hacks, which is a far from ideal solution.
It’s important to note that it is a forum, and like many forums, a lot of speculation
occurs there, so take unverified information with a grain of salt. It is important to note
that because they rely on forum member contributions, some publisher’s threads are
woefully out of date, although others are up to the minute.
Another good resource is the site Writer Beware, which contains a lot of good
information. They have a lot of detailed information about publishers that they share,
particularly on their blog.
The book is divided into the following categories: nonfiction publishers, literary
fiction publishers, multi-genre publishers, science fiction and fantasy publishers,
mystery publishers, children and young-adult book publishers, Christian publishers,
and romance publishers.
When reading this guide, it is important to know that every publisher we review must
meet a number of standards.
All of the publishers must be open to any author regardless of their nationality and
country of residence.
All of the publishers must be traditional publishers, which means that they must pay
their writers for their work. It also means that they must never charge their writers
anything to publish their books. This eliminates all vanity publishers, including
17
companies that claim to be traditional publishers but charge their writers extra for
cover design, editing, or other services. If a publisher tries to make you pay them,
they are a vanity publisher.
As I mentioned earlier, all of the publishers must check out as legitimate on watchdog
sites such as Writers Beware, and forums like Absolute Write’s Water Cooler.
This does not just eliminate vanity publishers, it also helps to keep track of companies
that have done unethical things in the past or are late paying their authors. We never
review companies that have a serious mark against them. If the issue is minor, we will
review them, but we include the incident in the review, so that readers can take that
into consideration.
We also receive helpful feedback from readers who act as sources, informing our
reviews and allowing them to be as honest and up to date as possible.
We never review a publisher before they’ve been actively publishing books for at
least one calendar year, usually two. Even if we list a publisher as new, they are at
least a year old.
All of the publishers we review must be open to submissions without an agent at

some point in the year. It is not that we don’t like agents, some are great, some are
not. There are pros and cons to having an agent, and we leave that decision up to you.
Almost all the publishing companies we review are open to agented submissions as
well. We have heard from a number of authors who have found a publisher through
our resources, alerted their agent about it, and their agent placed the book with that
publisher.
18
Sometimes people call the reviews this book contains “recommendations.” That very
much isn’t the case. I’m not endorsing a publisher when I’m reviewing them. Instead,
I am trying to provide as useful information, so that writers can come to their own
conclusion. Authors shouldn’t submit to publishers just because I review them.
Authors need to figure out what they want in a publisher first, and then submit to
publishers that match what they are looking for.
It’s important to note that you should never ever mass submit. Mass submitting means
submitting to a bunch of publishers at once even if they aren’t a good fit for your
manuscript. You can learn more about mass submissions here.
One of the reasons we stress this is that every year we hear from publishers who close
to direct submissions because our reviews lead to mass submissions, or they ask to be
de-listed for this reason. Always think of your fellow writers and only submit if you
think your manuscript is a good fit for what they publish.
At the end of the book there’s a section called Additional Publishers. It links to three
lists of publishers that we haven’t reviewed in depth, either because their focus is too
niche (this includes poetry only presses), or because they have geographic limitations
in terms of who they publish. This is why there is a + sign after the number of
publishers in the subtitle of the book.
There is also a section, entitled FAQ, that addresses all of the questions we receive on
a reoccurring basis about this guide.
We initially compiled the reviews into this guide in the hopes that it would keep our
archives up to date, and also that it would be helpful to readers who miss issues or
19
subscribed later on. Back issues are always available on our website, but in the
manuscript guide the information is much easier to access and better organized.
We plan to update this year’s edition of the guide again in the fall, to keep this guide
as up to date as possible.
If you are new to publishing, it will be helpful to read the chapters, How to Submit
Your Manuscript for Publication and the Glossary before searching the book for
publishers. It’s even better to read The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript
Submissions which is more in-depth.
It is also important to note that I review one manuscript publisher per week for
Authors Publish on an ongoing basis, which means that all our subscribers receive
one new manuscript publisher review a week throughout the year. If you are not
already a subscriber, you can become one for free here.
I truly hope this book gives you a more grounded view of the traditional publishing
industry, but even more than that, I hope this book helps you find the right publisher
for your manuscript.
If you do find a publisher for your manuscript, please send me an email at

support@authorspublish.com, so I can congratulate you, and perhaps talk you into
writing an article for our ongoing case studies series.
20
How to Submit Your Manuscript for Publication
This is just an overview of the submission process. I go into much more details about
this process in The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions
When I finish the first draft of a novel, I always have a great surge of adrenaline.
When I was younger, I would enjoy the thrill of completion for days and then start on
a new project. It should surprise no one that my early efforts were not published
(thank goodness).
Now that I am older and wiser, I know that the first draft is just that, a draft.
If you’re not sure if your work is ready to submit, this article can really be helpful. It
covers the three steps you need to follow to make sure that your manuscript is ready
to be sent out to agents or publishers.
I do usually hire a professional freelance editor to edit my manuscripts before I

submit them, but that is not always financially possible. Some authors find friends to
exchange manuscripts with, others find beta readers online or among their friend
group. Beta readers aren’t the same as editors, but they do provide feedback on your
work and can help catch errors. .
Once you are sure that your manuscript is ready, you can start submitting it. But
realize that you still might have to make changes for it to be accepted by a publisher
or an agent.
For a long time, submitting seemed strange and mysterious to me. It seemed too
overwhelming to actually do.
In fact, for the most part submitting is relatively easy.

21
Most publishers want the same two things – a query letter and a synopsis. They also
expect an excerpt of your book, generally the first two chapters.
There are specific requirements that differ from publisher to publisher and from
agency to agency, however it is good to have a basic query letter and synopsis that
you modify to meet the needs of the given agent or publisher. Just make sure you
send the correct version to the right person. It really annoys a publisher to receive
submissions with another publisher’s name on it. The same goes for agents.
You should spend a lot of time and consideration crafting the cover letter. This is the
first impression you will make on agents and publishers. This article is very helpful to
read before starting your cover letter. It is written from the perspective of submitting
to agents, but all of that information can easily be applied to a small publisher as well.
It is important to note that most publishers expect information about your author
platform or marketing plan. Don’t know where to start in terms of an author
platform? Building an Author Platform by Chantelle Atkins is a great place to start.
A publication history also really helps. A lot of writers are stumped by this
requirement. If most publishers expect a publication history, how does one get a first
book published? The answer is largely through creating a publication history outside
of books, this includes anthologies, literary journals, and magazines. You can learn
more about how to get started doing this here.
If you meet a publisher or an agent directly at a conference, most want a pitch. A

pitch can also be handy to include in your cover letter. Don’t know what a pitch is?
This article talks about what a pitch is, and more importantly, how to make a good
one. I always include my pitch in my cover letter.
22
Not all publishers and agents require a synopsis, but many do. Most want a complete
synopsis of the plot that fits on one page. By complete synopsis, I mean that they
want spoilers. They also generally want information about character development.
This article explains exactly how to write a novel synopsis.
It should go without saying, but edit and polish the query letter and synopsis. If you
can afford an editor, get them to review the query letter, the synopsis, and also the
first twenty pages. Twice. Or more. The first twenty pages of the novel are all that
most agents and many publishers will initially see, so make sure they are compelling
and error free.
Once you have completed a query letter and a synopsis that you are happy with, start
to research where you are going to submit your book. You can start your research
earlier if you want.
You should decide early on if you want to submit directly to publishers or if you want
to submit to an agent.
If you are focusing on finding an agent, you should read the article The Safest Way to
Search For an Agent before proceeding. One of the best free reputable search engines
for agents is Agent Query, so you can start looking for an agent there.
If you are looking at submitting a manuscript directly to a publisher, our index of

manuscript publishers is a good place to start. We always check other watchdog sites
before reviewing a publisher.
Remember, there is no such thing as a legitimate traditional publisher that charges its
writers. You should be paid by your publisher, not the other way around.
When examining a publisher’s website this article will help you know what to keep
an eye out for.
23
Some publishers can respond to submissions within weeks, others within years, so
keep that in mind. If you have not heard from a publisher in six months, you should
email them to ask about the status of the manuscript, unless they explicitly say they
will take longer on their website.
Once you find agents or publishers you feel would be a good fit, you should check
and double check their submission guidelines.
Often after we review a publisher, we receive an email from that publisher stating that
many of the submissions they received because of our reviews, did not follow their
guidelines, and much of the material that was submitted was not even in the same
genre that they publish. Some publishers close to submissions because of this.
Most publishers accept electronic submissions through email or a submission

manager, but a few still require submissions through the post. Either way, the
publisher’s submission guidelines should walk you through the steps. The same goes
for agents.
It is important not to submit to an agent or publisher if they say they are closed to
unsolicited submissions. Your manuscript will not be read and, in all likelihood, you
will annoy the person or persons who receive it, which could hurt your chances in the
future.
Hopefully this helps give you the courage, the motivation, and the information to start
taking steps to turn your manuscript into a published book.
24
Nonfiction Publishers
The following section collects all of the publishers we have reviewed that primarily
accept nonfiction work. The type of nonfiction works they are interested in publishing
varies wildly. Some are only interested in academic work; others are interested in
memoirs and others are more interested in cookbooks. Make sure the nonfiction
publisher you are submitting to is open to the kind of nonfiction work you are
submitting to them.
All of the following publishers specialize in nonfiction books. That does not mean
that they are not open to certain kinds of fiction, but what they are willing to accept in
terms of fiction will be made very clear in the review.
If you are looking for nonfiction publishers of Christian books, those publishers can
be found in the Christian section of this book. Some of the publishers in the multi-
genre section of the book also publish nonfiction books.
It’s also important to note that nonfiction publishers tend to represent the most stable
group of independent presses. This year and the previous year, there were no small
nonfiction presses that went under on the list, or had to be removed for other reasons.
25
Affirm Books
Affirm Books is a Melbourne, Australia based publisher of local and international

authors that is open to direct submissions. They publish a broad range of non-fiction
work and have a smaller, more focused fiction list for adults and children. They are
only open to nonfiction and children’s book submissions from non Australian authors.
They have good national and international distribution. You can get a good feel for
their staff experience here.
They only accept submissions on the first Monday of each month. Note that
submissions received outside this window will not be assessed.
To get a better feel for what they specifically publish, visit their catalogue here.
Submissions must be made by email. Make sure to carefully review all their
requirements before you submit.
If you have not heard back from them in six months, assume rejection.
To read their full submission guidelines, go here.
26
Arcade Publishing
Arcade Publishing is an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, a large independent

publisher with a number of imprints. They have good distribution, and while there
have been complaints about their behavior in the past, over the past two years they
seem to have cleaned up their act. To learn more about Skyhorse as a whole, please
read this review. In this review I am only focusing on the Arcade imprint. Arcade
publishes fiction and nonfiction.
They accept proposal submissions. If you are submitting nonfiction, your book does
not need to be complete in order to submit it. If you are submitting fiction your
manuscript must be complete, even though you are only submitting a partial one.
They accept work in the following categories:
• Adventure and Travel

• Fiction
• History
• Literary Nonfiction
• Military History
• Business
• Memoir
• Arts
• Nature and Science
• Food and Wine
• Current Events
It is a good idea to get a feel for what they publish by browsing their catalog here. To
learn more about Arcade as an imprint go here.
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When you submit make sure to include a brief query letter, a one to two page
synopsis, an annotated chapter outline (for nonfiction, I don't think this is for fiction),
market analysis (this should be more in-depth for nonfiction proposals), a sample
chapter or two, and your CV or Bio including a list of all your previous publishing
credits.
All submissions must be made via email. If they are interested in seeing more, they
should contact you around the 4 week mark. If they do not respond to your
submission within 6 weeks, assume rejection. Do not query.
To learn more visit their website here.
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Art/Books
Art/Books is an independent UK based publisher of books on art, architecture, design,

photography, and contemporary culture. They were founded in 2012. You can get a
feel for what they are currently publishing by visiting this page. It's important to note
that they appear to have published very few books during the peak of the pandemic,
and none at all during 2020, but they published three books in 2022, and are still
clearly active. Their website is regularly updated.
I do think it's also important to note that on their about us page they say, "We also
provide a full range of publishing services, offering specialist expertise and advice for
museums, galleries, artists and others who want to create the finest illustrated books
and to reach new audiences for their publications. For further information about our
publishing services, click here."
This is fine, as long as they don't redirect authors submitting work to their publication
services. Please reach out to us if that happens.
They accept proposals of incomplete and complete projects. They allow summaries of
the project you are proposing, to be submitted via email. If they are interested in what
you submit they will reach out to you, often seeking a more detailed proposal. They
only respond to submissions they are interested in.
To learn more, go here.
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Agate Publishing
Agate Publishing is a small press located in Evanston Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

They started in 2002 with their Bolden imprint and initially published only African
American authors before expanding from there.
They have good distribution within the United States. They are only open to queries,
which means that you can only send your query letter and not a partial manuscript.
They accept all submissions via email and they ask that you do not phone them to
follow up on your manuscript.
Their covers are generally well designed and attention catching and their book’s
authors have become more established over time.
To get a feel for what they publish, visit their website here.
Agate is open to queries in select areas. For their Agate line they are seeking work
general areas of food, cooking, and nutrition-related nonfiction, For their Surrey
imprint; business-interest nonfiction, with a particular focus on improving workplace
experience and improving workplace performance, and nonfiction on Midwestern
topics or by Midwestern authors, for its Midway imprint. Submissions in other
content areas will not be considered.
You can learn a little more about submissions here.
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Allworth Press
Allworth Press is a non-fiction imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. They have major

distribution, and while Skyhorse's past reputation has been a little mixed, they seem
to be doing well for a while now.
They have good distribution, decent cover design, and marketing.
Allworth publishes books in the following categories:
• Graphic Design
• Business
• Performing Arts
• Interior Design
• Art
• Theater
• Web Design
• Book Arts
• Photography
• Crafts
It is work looking through their back catalog and their recently published sections of
their website to get a good idea for what they are looking for.
You must submit a proposal to them initially. Your proposal should include a brief
query (cover) letter, a one-to-two page synopsis, an annotated chapter outline, and
market analysis, including competitive research, up to two sample chapters and your
CV including all previous publishing credits.
Outside of the CV the proposal information is pretty standard for a nonfiction

publisher.
If they are interested they respond within 4-6 weeks. If they are not interested they do
not respond at all.
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All proposals must be made through email. You can learn more, or submit, here.
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Beacon Press
Beacon Press is an established publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. However

they are only open to direct submissions of nonfiction proposals. Works of fiction,
poetry, and self help, will not be considered.
Beacon Press was established in 1854. They have published a number of bestsellers
and seminal works. They've published a number of respected authors including James
Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mary Oliver.
Their current program emphasizes religion, history, current affairs, political science,
gay/lesbian/gender studies, education, African-American studies, women's studies,
child and family issues and nature and the environment. They are a department of the
Unitarian Universalist Association. They have excellent distribution.
The mission of Beacon Press is "to affirm and promote these principles: the inherent
worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
acceptance of one another; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the
right of conscience and the use of the democratic process in society; the goal of world
community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; respect for the interdependent web
of all existence; and the importance of literature and the arts in democratic life."
You can learn more about the specifics of what they publish by starting off on their
home page and accessing their list on the upper left corner of the banner.
Please do not submit a query to them unless it seems like a good fit within the
parameters of what they currently publish.
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All queries describing proposals must be made via email. They can be no longer than
250 words in length. They will respond to you within three weeks if they are
interested in seeing your full proposal.
To learn more or to submit, go here.
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BearManor Media
BearManor Media is an independent press that focuses on publishing nonfiction

books about the entertainment industry. This includes work about radio, old movie, or
television genres. This is how the founding editor describes what they are currently
seeking:
“We'd love to see books on voice actors, Muppet/Sesame Street performers, Harry
Morgan, Victor Buono, Frank Nelson, Russ Tamblyn, Joe Flynn, Don Adams, David
Tomlinson, and any of the unheralded supporting players.
We are also seeking more modern television titles. If you’re a fan of a TV show that’s
been broadcast within the last 25 years, and you can interview crew/cast members to
produce a detailed, quality manuscript, please let us know. One of our bestselling
titles is The Gilmore Girls.”
They publish in print, some work is hardback and other is softcover. I'm not sure
about their distribution, as they never disclose who their distributor is.
For me the biggest warning sign on the site is on their about us page, where they say
the following without backing any of it up:
The staff boasts fewer than a dozen top industry artists, publicists, and media experts.
Our dedicated staff support authors as they head their own campaigns to generate
reader excitement through targeted book signings, social media presence, and
Internet-based channels.
BearManor Media continues to be a full-range publisher big enough to command

respect in the market, yet small enough to preserve reader, writer, and independent
retailer loyalty.
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Most of the more recent books had a few reviews, but none in the double digits.
To learn more about their submission guidelines, go here.
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Amberley
Amberley is a UK based publisher that focuses on publishing historical books. They

only publish nonfiction. The books they publish include regional history, specialist
history and general history. They have published well over 2,000 titles.
Their distributor is Casemates, and their books are widely available, particularly in
the UK.
They offer writers an advance, but it is not particularly generous, considering the
amount of research that goes into this kind of nonfiction.
They are open to submissions on local history and sport, but these have to be by
historians that focus on the UK. It's not explicitly stated in their submission
guidelines but it is very clear based on what they have previously published. They ask
that you submit a 1,000 word outline of the book along with 4-6 sample images.
They are also interested in specialist history (transport, industry, collectables,

pastimes), this too focuses on the UK. They want at least 4-6 sample images along
with an outline of the planned book.
They also publish general history, including biographies. The submission guidelines
for this are very broad. They ask that you send an outline of no more than 3,000
words about the planned book. This outline should include a summary of the subject,
your approach to it, a contents list if possible, and also the target readership.
You can get a good feel for what they publish here.
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BenBella
BenBella is a niche publishing company run by Glen Yeffeth. Yeffeth has a

marketing background, and he is also a lover of books. They have a good distributor
and are a marketing-oriented company. The editors receive high praise for their
ability to edit books. They only publish works of nonfiction. They publish between
30-40 books a year. Fourteen of their books have been number one on the New York
Times Best Sellers list. The books they publish cover a range of topics, including
cookbooks for herbivores, self-help books, and books about pop culture. By focusing
on niche topics, they are able to successfully market books to the right audiences.
If your nonfiction topic appeals to a wide audience and covers a broad topic, it is
most likely not for BenBella. They are interested in books by entrepreneurs,
celebrities, and by individuals that are knowledgeable about specific events or ideas.
They are interested in books focused on pop culture, not in a general way, but on a
specific show, movie, or book that already has an established fan base. For example,
their Smart Pop line has had a lot of success by publishing books like The Psychology
of Harry Potter, and the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook. For more ideas of what
kinds of authors and works they are looking for, visit their submission page and also
browse through their catalog.
As a marketing-focused house, they have a team of seven full-time marketers, and

they also work with a range of outside publicists. They work with each author to
create an individual marketing plan.
They offer advances between $5,000 and $20,000 dollars. But their focus is on paying
high royalties either in the form of royalty escalators or profit sharing. For all books,
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they pay standard big-house royalties (10%) or better.
It is not that difficult to pitch a book to BenBella. In the pitch, you have to convey
that you have a clear understanding about what your book is about and how it
distinguishes itself from other books. You should also include a statement about why
you are qualified to write this book. Make it clear why you think this book would sell.
To learn more, visit their submission page here.
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Between The Lines Publishing
This small Canadian press's motto is "Books without bosses since 1977". Please do
not confuse them with Between the Lines Publishing, which is fiction-focused and
which we have not reviewed.
They only publish nonfiction books in these subject areas: "politics and public policy,
social issues, activism and social movements, development studies, critical race
studies, Indigenous issues, history, sociology, popular education, the environment,
gender and sexuality, social work, labour, globalization, criminology, technology,
media, and culture". You can learn more about their history as a press here.
They describe themselves as "proudly left-wing". They also say that their authors are
"academics, journalists, artists, and activists—all our authors hope their books will
spark political and social change." If this description does not resonate with you,
please do not submit.
The books they publish cover both the academic and trade market. Some of their
books have won prestigious academic awards, but they still always emphasize
broader accessibility. You can get a feel for what they have published by spending
time with their catalog here. Please only submit if you can see your book fitting
within their current catalog.
Unlike many Canadian small presses, they do publish international authors although
they do link mostly to Canadian resources for authors, and they do publish more
Canadian authors than authors from outside of Canada.
They ask that interested authors submit proposals, and much prefer them to
manuscript submissions.
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They ask that all proposals include the following
• a cover letter stating your primary intent in writing the work, its main themes
and objectives, your sense of its potential market including courses for which
it might be appropriate, an explanation of what makes this a BTL book, a
timeline for completion of the manuscript, and an estimate of its length;
• a 2-page outline of the whole manuscript—either its table of contents, if
sufficiently detailed, or a schematic summary;
• a sample of your writing, ideally the introductory chapter and one other
representative chapter;
• a brief list of the existing literature on the topic and an indication of how your
book would be different;
• your resume (no more than 5 pages long).
You can learn more here.
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Black & White Publishing
Black & White Publishing was founded in 1995 and is now one of the largest Scottish
publishers. They currently have over 200 books in print. They are based in Scotland,
but they are open to publishing work by authors of any nationality or geographical
location. They are an established publisher; among the many books they have
published is the “Scots” edition of the first Harry Potter Book.
They have good distributors, and they are starting to break into the e-book publishing
world. They publish general nonfiction, biography, sports, and humor, as well as
selected fiction, crime novels, young adult, and children’s books.
They are currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts that are nonfiction. They say
they re-open to fiction occasionally, but I have never seen them do this. They have
published a number of established authors of various nationalities. Their covers are
generally well designed and appealing.
The nonfiction they are interested in, includes the following:
• celebrity memoirs
• sports books (with a particular focus on the UK and Ireland)
• lifestyle, humour, gift and activity books
• food and drink titles
• Scottish non-fiction
• Irish non-fiction
• nature and wild places
They prefer receiving submissions by email. Attach to your email (that contains a
query letter) a detailed synopsis outlining the whole manuscript and the first three
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chapters or first thirty pages of your manuscript. Attachments should all be Word
documents.
They try to respond to all queries within three months. If you have not heard from
them by that time, you must assume that your work has been rejected.
To learn more about Black & White Publishing, visit their website here. To learn
more about submitting work, visit their submission guidelines here.
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Big Sky Publishing
Big Sky Publishing is an Australian based publisher that focuses on publishing

nonfiction books for adults. They also publish children’s books, although they are
only open to children’s book submissions at certain times.
They focus on publishing manuscripts focusing on the following areas: History,

Military History, Self-help, Autobiography, Business, Careers, Environment, How
to/Practical Guides, Health, Humour, Lifestyle, Indigenous Studies, Women’s and
Men’s Interest, Corporate Publications.
They insist that everyone who submits indicates their market and the key
differentiators of their manuscript.
Their covers are very hit and miss to me. Some are good, most feel dated, and some
are very generic. They are one of the rare nonfiction publishers that don’t consider
incomplete manuscripts.
I couldn’t find anything out about their distribution but I suspect they are limited to
Australia. Their corporate and bulk sales link on their website wasn’t working —
their link for school discounts was, however.
Their website was geared towards readers, not writers, which is generally a good sign.
I couldn’t find out very much about the editors, the owners, or the history of the
company, which was frustrating. The website did imply that most of the editors they
worked with were freelance.
They accept submissions only via email. They only respond to submissions they are
interested in. They have detailed submission guidelines you can review on their
website. You can learn more here.
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Blue Star Press
Blue Star Press is based out of Bend, Oregon, and is distributed by Penguin Random
House Publisher Services. The work they publish includes work focused "on the arts,
creative processes, wellness, and witty non-fiction". They were founded in 2015 in
San Antonio Texas, and you can learn more about the company and their imprints
here. They link to press coverage about their books here.
All submissions must be made via email. Their submission details are on their contact
page here, and you have to download a document they link to, to learn more. They
primarily want to know the scope and purpose of your book, along with an outline or
a sample table of contents. They also want a writing sample.
It's also clear they want authors who already understand their target market and are
connected to it in some way, as an expert, an influencer, or otherwise. They ask that
you attach your resume as well.
Spending some time on their books page can give you a good feel for what they are
actively publishing now. I don't know how else to say this, but as a millennial I think
the site makes a very "millennial impression," in terms of aesthetics, and attitude. A
lot of what they publish I'd categorize as gift books (and games!), not necessarily
something someone would buy for themselves, but something you would buy for
others.
Please only submit to them if you feel like your work is a good fit, and you carefully
follow their downloaded guidelines which you can access here.
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Carrel Books
Carrel Books is a non-fiction imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. They have major

distribution and while Skyhorse's past reputation has been a little mixed, they seem to
be doing well for a while now.
Carrel Books was founded in 2014. It's an unusual imprint because, while its books
are available for purchase from the public, they aren't distributed in brick and mortar
stores the way most other imprints of Skyhorse are. Instead, their focus is on selling
to libraries.
This is what the publisher of Skyhorse Tony Lyon shas to say about the Carrel
imprint on their website -- "We appreciate the support we've received from librarians
and the wholesalers that supply them. Without their support, our recent growth would
have been impossible. With an imprint whose editorial and marketing team focuses
on the needs of librarians and library patrons, we expect further growth and an even
closer working relationship with the library community."
Carrel Books focuses on being authoritative, well-written, and accessible.
The subjects they cover include the following:
• Sports (Team and Individual)

• Outdoor Sport (Hunting, Fishing, and Camping)
• Adventure and Travel
• Health and Fitness
• House and Home
• History
• Humor
• Military History
• Business
• Games and Gambling
• Horses
• Pets and Animals
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• Nature and Science

• Food and Wine
• Aviation
• True Crime
• Current Events
To learn more about what proposing to them involves, please visit their website here.
They try to respond to submissions within 6 weeks, if interested. If they are not
interested, you will not hear from them.
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Chelsea Green
It has come to our attention that Chelsea Green has been publishing and promoting
disinformation about COVID-19 as well as other controversial books along with their
more traditional catalogue, and that even though they bill themselves as employee
owned the truth seems to be more complicated. To learn more go here. They still
technically meet our guidelines for review, but I want potential submitters to be aware
of the situation.
Chelsea Green is a non-fiction publisher that focuses on publishing books that

promote the “politics and practice of sustainable living.” Chelsea Green was founded
in 1984. As of 2012 they are employee owned. Their books have won numerous
awards, and you can learn more about their history here.
To get a better feel for what they have published in the past, go here. They have
excellent distribution, good marketing, and well designed covers.
They are not interested in any work outside of that market. On average they receive
over 800 submissions a year, and publish only 30 (give or take).
Books that do not follow their guidelines will not be considered or acknowledged.
They accept via email and post. They accept based on queries and proposals.
They have very detailed submission guidelines that include specific details about
what they do and do not publish, and what they expect all proposals to include. You
can read their full guidelines here.
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Chicago Review Press
Chicago Review Press was founded over 40 years ago. They are an established
independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction and memoir. They also publish
books for children (but not picture books). They are only open to non-fiction in terms
of unsolicited submissions.
They were founded by Curt Matthews and his wife, Linda Matthews. Curt was the
former editor of the literary journal the Chicago Review.
What was once a basement operation is now large and established. They publish
about 60 books a year under a number of imprints. They employ a number of
publicists as well as editors.
They publish print and electronic editions of all of their books. Their website is easy
to navigate. Their books have good distribution, which is not surprising because they
own the distribution company.
Their submission guidelines are both very extensive and very helpful. They go into
details about how their publicists work. What their authors are expected to do, and
what they are not. They also have information about their various editors. They are
very specific about what they are interested in. You can read their submission
information here. Please review it carefully before submitting.
They are currently seeking the following categories of nonfiction:
• music, film, pop culture

• history
• feminism
• LGBTQ+ interest
• true crime
• outdoor and nature
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• African American history and the Black experience

• parenting
• children's and YA history, science, literature, and art
They stress the submission of a very specific proposal instead of a query. They
outline what the proposal must contain on their site.
It is very helpful to visit their website and browse the books that they have previously
published. You can visit their website here.
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Dover Publications
Based in New York, Dover Publications was founded in 1941. They publish a wide
range of books including fiction but are only open to unsolicited nonfiction
submissions.
All submissions must be made by post and they only respond to submissions if
interested. They cannot return materials to the author.
They do not disclose who their distributor is but I've long encountered their work,
particularly in art supply stores, gift shops, and stationary stores as well as
bookstores. My kids own a number of their sticker books.
The nonfiction work they publish covers a wide range of topics, including but in no
way limited to, spirituality, cooking, mathematics, music and how to books on art,
drawing, and crafts. They publish a wide range of nonfiction, and it's worthwhile to
spend time with their catalogue to see if they are the right fit for your work.
You can learn more about their submission guidelines here.
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Duckworth Books
Warning: This review briefly discusses childhood sexual assault.
Duckworth Books was started in 1898, is one of Britain’s oldest independent presses,
and it has published many well-known and influential authors over the years.
They have one of the most in-depth histories of a publishing company that I have ever
seen online, and you can access it here. In the history section they focus on the fact
that Gerald Duckworth, Virginia Woolf’s half-brother, started Duckworth Books, and
that he published her first two books. They do not mention that Gerald Duckworth
sexually abused Virginia Woolf as a child. It strikes me as odd that not only have
they’ve not changed their name, but they have tried to skip over this publicly known
history, while emphasizing Gerald Duckworth’s familial relationship with Virginia
Woolf.
They have good distribution, and for the most part, excellent covers. Their website is
polished and professional. They accept only a very small percentage of the
submissions they receive.
Their areas of current focus are memoir, biography, popular science, psychology,
history and historical fiction. They are only accepting work that falls clearly into one
of these categories.
If you are considering submitting, I would encourage you to spend some time
scanning their main page, which lists recently published books. Only submit work to
them if you feel like your manuscript is a good fit.
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In order to submit, please include a one-page synopsis of the manuscript highlighting

the main storyline, key selling points, and how the book fills gaps in the market, or
compliments books already on the market.
Also include two to three sample chapters, or the completed manuscript. Make sure to
include your CV, outlining any books published, awards, or writing experience.
At the time of this update they are closed to submissions, but that may change in the
future. You can visit their submission page to check if they’ve reopened.
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Duke University Press
Duke University Press is a respected academic press. Like most academic presses,
they publish well-researched books on a wide variety of subjects.
The list of subjects they publish books on include: Latin American studies, social
movements, gender environmental studies, anthropology, postcolonial theory, lesbian
and gay studies, construction of race, gender and national identity, social studies of
science, new media, literary criticism, film and television, popular music, visual
studies political theory, sociology and social theory, geography, cultural studies,
gender studies, American studies, literary theory and criticism, Asian American
studies, science and technology studies, food studies, religion, women's studies, world
history, and humanities.
Each editor has a different specialized area of study. There is some overlap between
editors. For example, two of the four editors focus on anthropology. When you
submit, you submit to a specific editor via post.
They try to respond to all submissions within two months. If you have not heard from
them after three months, please query.
All submissions must be submissions of book proposals, not manuscript proposals.

Your manuscript need not be completed before submitting your proposal. Your
proposal should include a cover letter that describes the project and notes the
anticipated length of the manuscript as well as the anticipated date of completion.
Your proposal should also include a prospectus with detailed chapter outlines, a CV,
and up to two sample chapters.
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Keep in mind that this is a serious academic press, and you should be an expert in the
field you are planning to write about.
To learn more about their submission process, visit their website here. To get a better
feeling for the press as a whole, visit their main page here.
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The Experiment
The Experiment is an independent publisher which was launched in 2008. Since 2011
they have been distributed by Workman Publishing. They publish a range of
nonfiction focusing on practical things, such as food (one of the bestsellers they have
published is the Forks over Knives Cookbook—including food), health and fitness,
psychology and personal development, parenting, relationships, sexuality, and nature.
They say "We’re called The Experiment because every book is a test of new ideas—
and because we’re motivated by the same curiosity and wonder that drive every
scientific experiment. Our books enlighten, empower, and entertain readers with new
or freshly presented ideas."
They publish both narrative and practically oriented nonfiction. They preferred
emailed submissions. They do accept postal submissions as long as they don't include
any original material.
It is important to browse their back catalog to get a good feeling for what they
publish, as they are clearly successful in their chosen niche. I would say most of what
they publish is very much in tune with current trends and areas of interest.
Submission guidelines are detailed. They make it clear that they want both a title and
a subtitle, as well as a one paragraph overview and a brief author biography, a
thorough assessment of closely competing books, and an annotated table of contents.
It is also important to include a sample chapter.
To learn more about their submission guidelines go here.
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ECW Press
ECW Press is an established Canadian publisher. They accept poetry, fiction, and
non-fiction submissions from Canadians. They only accept non-fiction submissions
from international submitters. I cannot stress this enough – if you are not a Canadian,
you can only submit non-fiction to them.
Within Canada, ECW Press has good distribution. They also have excellent covers.
To learn more about what they have previously published, review their catalog. In
terms of non-fiction, they lean towards books that focus on some aspect of pop
culture. But they also publish memoirs, including Jersey Tough: My Wild Ride from
Outlaw Biker to Undercover Cop. The novels they publish range from literary to
genre, including fantasy.
They accept submissions by post and email, but much prefer to receive submissions
through email.
If you have not heard back from them in three months, assume rejection. They have
clear detailed submission guidelines that they cover on their submission guidelines
page. When you submit to them, they do not want full manuscripts, just sample
chapters and poems.
To learn more about their submission guidelines, go to their website here. They
include information about their acquiring editors at the bottom of their submission
guidelines page, and I encourage you to read through that information before
submitting.
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Equinox Publishing
Equinox Publishing is an independent academic publisher based in the UK. They

publish books and journals for an international audience in the humanities and social
sciences.
They publish an average of 40 new books a year, and they have a back list of around
500 books across the subjects they specialize in: archaeology, linguistics, popular
music and religious studies.
They have good distribution internationally.
There are two types of books you can propose/submit. One is a title that will fit in
within a series that they already publish. The other is a book that exists outside of
their current series options, but is still about one of the subjects they specialize in.
Submit a proposal with sample chapters or draft manuscripts. These are peer
reviewed. They sometimes offer contracts just on proposals.
They pay royalties annually, but don’t offer much more details than that. They offer
some marketing support, but expect authors to play a role.
To learn more about work they’ve previously published, go here.
As always, only submit if you feel like your work is a good fit for them. Follow all of
their submission guidelines.
To learn more, please visit their website here.
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Entrepreneur Press
Entrepreneur Press is part of Entrepreneur Media that focuses publishing books with
"actionable solutions to help you excel in all your business". The books they publish
fall into three categories: Starting a business, running a business, and growing that
business.
They have been around for the last 40 years and now publish print, digital, and audio
books. They publish a number of well-known series including the No B.S. Books.
You can get a feel for what they've published here.
This is a specialized press, and if your experience and work does not match what they
are looking for, do not submit a proposal.
They ask that all submissions be made through their form, and they have clear
detailed submission guidelines you have to follow, listed here. Please scroll down to
where they say How to Submit a Book Proposal.
They only respond to submissions that they are interested in learning more about, so
if they do not respond within a few months, it is generally safe to assume they are not
interested.
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Fair Winds Press
Fair Winds Press is now an imprint of Quarto publishing, which we've reviewed here.
Fair Winds Press was originally founded in 2001 as part of the Rockport Publishing
Group. Fair Winds focuses on providing readers with authoritative and accessible
information that helps them live "a healthier life, both physically and spiritually."
This sounds specific but actually covers a wide range of topics including but not
limited to triathlon training, eliminating meat from your diet, gentle parenting and
witchcraft.
Their covers seem excellent and market appropriate. Their distribution is good.
You can see their imprint page here. Their submission guidelines are now listed with
the rest of Quarto Publishing's guidelines here.
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The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press was established as an independent nonprofit literary publisher in

1970. The Feminist Press is the oldest women’s publishing house in the world. They
are open to submission from female/female identifying, and non binary authors. They
publish literary fiction and works of nonfiction.
It is easy to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their new releases section,
although it can be helpful to note what was published as a result of a contest and what
was not. It is also helpful to read their mission statement. They host a number of
contests every year, as well as being open to submissions on an ongoing basis. They
are only interested in complete manuscripts.
They accept digital and mailed submissions, but prefer digital ones. All digital
submissions must be attached in the form of a PDF.
They ask that you submit a proposal, which includes a synopsis of your work, three
sample chapters (or at least 50 pages), a short author bio, and a brief marketing plan,
along with your contact information
They receive hundreds of submissions a year and only publish 15 books a year. They
don't say how long response times are, but they imply that they are considerable.
They are currently closed to submissions but strive for having one reading period per
year. Their last open reading period ended in January. The next reading period will be
in the summer of 2024. To learn more go here. You can subscribe to their email
newsletter for news about when they reopen to submissions.
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Feral House
Feral House is a small independent publisher based in Port Townsend, Washington

state. They were founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey who has since passed away. They
publish unique and unusual nonfiction and they are particularly interested in
documenting cultural movements. They publish memoirs, biographies, and many
other works of nonfiction including history not found in textbooks, nonfiction for
children, and work focused on mysticism and the occult. To learn more about what
they publish go here, and scroll down half way. They do not publish fiction
(excepting historical), poems, short stories, or plays.
Feral House also has a sister press called Process Media, which you can learn more
about here.
Feral House has good national and international distribution. Their covers generally
suit their subject. You can get a better feel for their covers and their general catalog
here.
They prefer to work directly with authors. Their manuscript submission requirements
are as follows.
"Please send a query email that includes:
1. Overview. A full description of the book and why it’s compelling and
interesting to all readers. Please keep to a single page.
2. Table of Contents.
3. Total word count.
4. Chapter Outline. A one or two sentence summary of each chapter.
5. Sample Chapter. We need to see a sample of your writing and how the book
is organized.
6. About Me. A short biography about you and why you’re the right person to
write the book.
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7. Images. Let us know if your proposed book intends to have images and how
many. Send an example of one or two images."
To learn more, or to submit, go here and scroll down.
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Free Spirit Publishing
Free Spirit Publishing is an established publisher with good distribution. They publish
primarily non-fiction, mostly curriculum based, where they have a number of niche
focuses.
They do publish fiction but only in the form of board books (aimed at infants to 4-
year-olds) and picture books (for ages 4 to 8) that focus on social skills and getting
along, early learning, character education, self-esteem, and other topics related to
positive early childhood development.
They are also open to non-fiction board and picture books with the same subject
matters.
Their areas of focus in non-fiction include the following topics: Gifted & special
education, bullying prevention & conflict resolution, character education, leadership
& service learning, educational games, posters, & jars, counseling & social-emotional
learning. More information about what specifically they are looking for is available
on their submission guidelines page.
They are also open to picture books, fiction and non-fiction books for kids and teens
that help them deal with grief and loss, health and wellness, depression as well as
other mental illnesses, stress, social skills and friendship, anger management, LGBTQ
issues, manners, family, self-confidence, and more.
If you are interested in submitting, you must first submit a proposal.
It is important to note that they do not write rejections. If you do not hear from them
after six months or so, consider your proposal rejected. They always contact authors
whose work they are interested in. This is particularly frustrating, considering the fact
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that they do not accept electronic submissions. All submissions must be made through
the post.
If you are submitting a proposal it must include the following:
• A cover letter briefly outlining your project, the intended audience (including
age ranges), and your relevant expertise
• A current résumé
• A market analysis with a comprehensive list of similar titles and a detailed
explanation of how your project differs from available products
• A detailed chapter-by-chapter outline
• At least two sample chapters (if a full manuscript is available, you may send
it) Note: For early childhood submissions, the entire text is required for
evaluation. Bracketed art suggestions are appreciated, though illustration
samples should not be sent unless professionally competent.
• A description of your personal promotion plan for the proposed book
(including both in-person and social media outreach)
To learn more about Free Spirit and see the books they have previously published,
visit their website. They also run a yearly contest for Black Writers in the US, with
Strive. You can learn more about it here.
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G Editions
G Editions is a small press that focuses on publishing books in the following areas of
interest: fine art and popular culture, fashion and photography, architecture and
design, cooking and gardening, children's interests, and lifestyle.
Their website is beautiful, easy to use, and well organized. It is focused on selling
books, and you can get a good feel for what they publish by going to the main landing
page and scrolling down. In terms of artists, they mostly publish well known and
established ones, like Mister Finch.
I'd only submit a proposal to them after spending time on the site and establishing that
your work is a good fit.
They ask that submitters send "proposals in the form of an annotated table of contents
(three-to-four-page table of contents with a brief description of every chapter). Also
included should be author’s C.V. and/or biographical statement. Please note if you
own the rights to the illustrations, and if not, if you have access to the required
illustrations. "
Do not submit original material. They used to receive submissions via email, but they
recently removed their email address from their site. Even though they haven't
tweaked all the wording in their submission guidelines yet, they appear to only be
accepting work via the post at this time.
They have good distribution, and I've seen their books in several bookstores.
To learn more, please visit their submission guidelines here.
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Gill Books
Gill Books is one of Ireland's leading publishers of content in terms of both the
Primary and Secondary schools market, but they also publish nonfiction for adults.
They accept proposals for adult nonfiction and children's books.
They are a division of Gill Education and are based out of Dublin. They have good
distribution within Ireland, and they do focus on books with Irish interests in mind,
although they also publish books outside of that scope. They also have a committed
marketing team and editorial staff.
To get a good feel for what they are currently publishing, please visit their catalogue
here. Do not submit unless you feel like your book fits within their larger catalogue.
They ask that all proposals include the following components:
• A descriptive outline or synopsis of the work highlighting any unique features
(not more than 500 words)
• A table of contents or chapter outline
• Two sample chapters
• A brief biography of you the author, with reference to your qualifications for
writing the book and the connection to your potential audience
• Phone and email contact information
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Proposals are preferably submitted by email but can also be sent by post. They try to
respond to all submissions within three months.
To learn more or to submit, please visit their website here.
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Gingko Press
Gingko Press is a nonfiction publisher that has published work by a number of well
known authors and brands. They are the official publisher of Marshall McLuhan and
they have worked with his estate since 1999. You can read more about their other
partnerships and imprints here.
They were founded in 1985 by Mo Cohen and Julie von der Ropp in Hamburg,
Germany. In 1991 they launched their larger incorporated company in Santa Rosa,
California. After one more California move, they settled in Berkeley, California,
where their offices are currently located.
They also mention in their submission guidelines that before "submitting your
proposal, please have a look around our website and try to imagine where your book
might fit in." Please do this. Most of what they publish is illustrated books on specific
topics.
Please spend time with their catalog to get a good feel for what they currently publish.
They accept print and electronic submissions and have good distribution.
They try to reply between 8-12 weeks. Please read their submission guidelines and
follow them. To learn more, go here.
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Grub Street
Grub Street is a small UK based press, not to be confused with the creative writing
center in Boston. Grub Street publishes nonfiction, but only in two niche markets.
The books they publish are either on Cookery (recipes), or Military Aviation history.
They are not interested in any nonfiction outside of these areas, or fiction at all.
Within these niche markets, they are well known, and award winning. They have
even been voted International Cookbook Publisher of the Year at the World
Cookbook Awards in 2000. You can learn about their history here.
Their covers are wonderful and topic appropriate. They seem to have good
distribution within the UK. It's very easy to get a feeling for what they publish in
terms of both niche markets by visiting their main page here.
They put in effort in terms of promoting their authors and sporadically host events
which you can see listed here. They are active on social media.
You can submit your work via email or post.
For Military Aviation submissions, they ask that you email a synopsis, a sample
chapter and brief author biography. For Cookery submissions they ask that you email
a contents page, up to 10 sample recipes and a brief author biography to a different
email address. You can see both email addresses, and the postal address listed here.
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Gryphon House
Gryphon House is a non-fiction publisher that focuses on publishing resources that

"address top current issues in early childhood and help teachers, administrators,
teacher-educators, policymakers, caregivers, and parents enrich the lives of children
from birth through age 8". Anything outside of this scope is not a good fit for them,
neither are books aimed directly at kids. Their audience is adults that work with
and/or have kids. They are an imprint of Kaplan which bills itself as the Early
Learning Company.
They have a lot of international partners for distribution, but they do their own
distribution within the states, which makes sense given that they are a niche publisher
that isn't ever likely to publish the kind of work that gets placed on display tables in
Barnes & Nobles. Instead they seem to really understand their audience, and how to
reach them. You can learn more about the books they've recently published here.
When submitting a proposal make sure you make it clear that you have an
understanding of the market, and the other books on similar topics that are out there,
as well as first hand experiences with the topic. This can include leading workshops
and webinars on the topic, or receiving a degree related to it.
When you submit a proposal to them, please include the following:
• The purpose of the book

• The intended audience
• A working table of contents
• Introductory material
• 20-40 sample pages of the actual book
• Your résumé
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In addition, please describe why educators, policymakers, or parents will want to buy
it; how it is different from other similar books already published; and what
qualifications you possess that make you the appropriate person to write the book.
Your work need not be finished when you submit the proposal.
To learn more please visit their website here.
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Hamilcar Publications
Hamilcar Publications is a small Boston-based non fiction publisher. They are

primarily focused on the following categories: professional boxing, true crime, hip-
hop, and jazz. It was founded by an experienced editor, and an experienced book
designer. You can learn more about the company here.
They are distributed by the Two Rivers Press imprint of Ingram, which does a much
better job than the general company. Their books are well designed and appealing.
To get a feel for what they've recently published, go here.
It's easy to tell if your work would be a good fit or not, because they very much
inhabit a niche market.
To submit a proposal to them, or to learn more, go here.
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Hatherleigh
Hatherleigh is a nonfiction publisher focused on publishing books about health and

wellness, fitness and exercise, living with chronic diseases, as well self help books
and books focused on sustainability and green living. They are distributed by Penguin
Random House. They accept both ideas and proposals from authors, but unless you
have an exisiting platform I encourage you to submit a proposal. They mention that
they are open to ideas or proposals on this page.
You can get a good feel for what they publish just by browsing their landing page. It's
clear, well organized, and up to date. If you are serious about submitting, I really
encourage you to spend time in their books section, reviewing the categories that are
most relevant to your work.
With non-fiction it's easier to get a feel for what a company publishes without having
to read work that they've published in the past, but it's just as important to understand
what niche that publisher is focused on in the marketplace. That's why spending time
on the companies website is so important.
They do not publish fiction of any kind. This is what they ask that your proposal
includes:
• A synopsis (no more than 2 pages)

• A complete table of contents
• At least two, preferably three sample chapters
• A list of additional materials will be included in the book: Charts,
photographs, illustrations, case studies, etc.
• If you’re sending a cookbook proposal, please note total number of recipes
and if you’ll be providing photographs.
• Author bio information. Why are you qualified to write this book? What other
books have you written? What are your promotional skills? (public speaking,
television or radio appearances or seminars you have conducted on the
subject.) What is your social media presence?
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• A run-down of the book’s market potential: Who might read this book? Is it a
broad audience, (all men over age 30) or a niche audience (stamp collectors
between the ages of 30 and 32)?
• Analysis of the competition: What other books exist on the same subject?
How is yours different, the similar, better?
They do stress that they still accept proposals that do not have the previously
mentioned components. They do expect the proposal to seem professional and well
organized.
To learn more about what they require in terms of a proposal please visit this
page. Please do not submit unless you feel like your work is a good fit for them. They
accept proposals via post and email.
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Haymarket Books
Haymarket Books is an established nonfiction publisher with excellent distribution.

They are interested in publishing manuscripts that are accessible to a wide range of
progressive and radical political activists. These books should also be useful to an
academic audience. They do not publish dissertations.
They have published very established authors, including the journalist Naomi Klein,
the novelist Arundhati Roy, and the activist Rebecca Solnit.
It's a good idea to browse their back catalog to see what they've published in the past.
They use Submittable for all unagented submissions. They ask that you submit a
cover letter explaining your proposed topic and its relevance to their audience. They
also want a 1-2 page outline and summary of the book, and 1 or 2 (maximum) sample
chapters, and a brief annotated list of the existing literature on the topic as well as the
political work you hope your book will perform. They also want a timeline for
completion of the manuscript and any relevant experience you have in terms of
writing or activism.
They do not respond to submissions they are not interested in. But they do find a lot
of their books this way.
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Headpress
Headpress was established in 1991 although the publishing arm wasn't active till
1992, according to their FAQ. Headpress focuses on publishing nonfiction. The
subject matter they publish varies widely. They say "When Headpress first started,
much of this was considered the counterculture. Now it is pop culture. " They publish
work on cult film, strange music, pulp literature, fanzines, conspiracy theories, sex
and gender, occult and folklore, true crime, etc. It is still run by one of the three
founders, David Kerekes,
They are a little unusual as they do a mix of print-on-demand and traditionally

published books. They have electronic versions of most of their books. You can get a
good feel for what they publish by visiting the main page of their website. It's the
kind of niche independent publisher where it should be pretty easy to figure out
quickly if they are the right fit or not for your work.
Their covers seem like a good fit in terms of the content.
If you have a nonfiction book proposal or ideas that you think we may be interested
in, please email them. The email address is on this page.
In the initial email, submit a brief outline of the proposal plan, and any other relevant
info. Also include a short text sample. All of this must be in the body of the email. No
attachments.
They respond to all submissions within four weeks, and they allow for querying, if
you haven't heard from them in this time.
To learn more go here.
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Hohm Press & Kalindi Press
A small print publisher based out of Arizona, Hohm has been around for many years.
They are a respected press that has published a number of well-known authors. They
publish a wide variety of genres, including poetry, non-fiction, and children’s books.
They generally focus on health and wellness. They are not interested in fiction or
short story collections. They recently added the Kalindi Press imprint.
Their website was updated in the last two years and is much better than the original
site. It is not very easy to navigate, and it is hard to find out information about the
press itself on the website
The covers of their books are largely well designed and appealing.
You must query first. They are not interested in unsolicited manuscripts, only queries.
When you query them include a query letter and a small representative sample from
the book. It should not be more than 20 pages in length.
It is important to note that while they publish children’s books they are about nursing
and breastfeeding and they are aimed at children and parents, so this is not the best
place to submit most children’s book manuscripts to.
To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here. Before you submit your query, I
highly recommend that you review their catalog.
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Inanna Publications and Education Inc
Inanna Publications and Education Inc is a Canadian feminist press that was founded
in 1978 and is open to international submissions, they publish fiction, poetry, creative
nonfiction, and essay collections. Some of what they publish is academic, but much
of what they publish is not.
If you are curious as to how they define the word feminist this is what they have to
say about it -"While we do not restrict our always-expanding sense of what makes a
contribution “feminist” — we strive for a presentation of different perspectives — we
will not publish writing that is sexist, racist, homophobic or in any other way
discriminatory or harmful to women."
To get a good feeling for what they publish it's helpful to browse their catalog here.
They are an established press and appear to have good distribution within Canada. I'm
unsure of their international distribution.
Their website is geared towards readers not writers and their book covers are
generally excellent.
They respond to all submissions, even if they are rejecting the work, but they ask that
you don't check on the status of your submission. They have a turn around time of
approximately six months.
They ask that you tell them if you are simultaneously submitting your work
elsewhere, and they ask that you alert them if your work is accepted for publication
elsewhere.
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They have different detailed guidelines for fiction and non-fiction submissions so
please follow them closely. All queries should be made through email. If they are
interested in seeing your complete manuscript you should send a hard copy as well as
a digital one.
At the time of this update they are closed to new submissions, and have yet to
announce a reopening date. They do accept submissions from FOLD participants.
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Icon Books
Icon books is an adult non-fiction publisher that was founded in 1992. You can get a
good feel for the books they publish here. The books they publish tend to fall into the
following categories, Biography and Memoir, Business and Self Help, History and
Current Affairs, Lifestyle and Travel, Literature & Language, Philosophy, Popular
Culture, Popular Science, Psychology, and Sport.
They books they publish are distributed through Publishers Group West, an imprint of
Ingram that is pretty selective and actively distributes books in stores.
They are open to unsolicited adult non-fiction manuscripts only. They are not
interested in any work outside of that. Submissions are made via email and involve
downloading and filling out a submission form, which you can see here. The form is
pretty basic and only one page long. It covers most of the territory a proposal would.
They are not open to submissions via any other format, including mailed submissions.
They will send an email acknowledging that they’ve received the submission. They
will only contact you again after that if they are interested in seeing more. You will
not receive a rejection from them. See their submission guidelines here.
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Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP)
Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) is an established UK Press (with a US office) that

was purchased by John Murray Press/Hachette UK in 2017. You can read more about
this acquisition here. JKP focuses on publishing high quality books for professional
and general readers on a variety of subjects.
They are best known for their books on the autism spectrum, social work, arts
therapies, mental health, counseling, palliative care, practical theology and gender
diversity. They also publish graphic novels that cover these subject areas, and books
for children, on issues including depression and anger.
Their Singing Dragon Imprint focuses on Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Aromatherapy Fertility, Pregnancy & Birth Nutrition, as well as Yoga & Bodywork.
The authors who work for them generally seem happy with the experience. JKP helps
with marketing and has good distribution. The majority of their authors are
unagented. They much prefer submissions be made via their submittable portal,
although you can reach out to them directly if you cannot use the form.
To learn more about what kind of content they are seeking, visit their website here.
To learn more about their submission process go here.
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Korero Press
Korero Press is a London-based publisher. They describe themselves by saying "At

the heart of everything we do is a love of lowbrow and kustom kulture". What they
publish includes books about pop culture and street art, as well as erotica and horror
titles. You can get a feel for what they publish here. They have good international
distribution and have published established contemporary artists including Ron
English, Patrick J. Jones and Derek Yaniger.
Do not submit to them unless your book falls within the niche of what they
publish and you can find a comparable book already listed with them.
They only publish illustrated books. They ask that you include the following in in
your submission:
• your contact details

• a one-page covering letter giving a brief description of the project and
outlining why you think Korero Press should publish it.
• author/illustrator/photographer biography(s) that include publishing credits
and relevant credentials.
• a detailed synopsis/outline, including chapter headings, an introduction,
sample illustrations and/or photographs.
• a market analysis of the potential readership for the book. Who is the reader?
What appeal it has?, etc.
• a list of similar titles, if any, including the publisher, date of publication, and a
brief explanation of how your book differs from what’s currently available.
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Lantern Publishing & Media
Lantern Publishing & Media has a bit of unusual history, as they were initially
founded as Lantern Books in 1999, which was a traditional for profit press, that was
focused on the "principles of living with a greater depth and commitment to the
preservation of the natural world". Lantern Publishing & Media describes the work
they do a little differently, but there is overlap: "We publish books, develop content,
and promote ideas supportive of veganism, animal rights, humane education,
recovery, therapy, and spirituality".
The non-profit format of the company was founded in 2020. Non-profit presses of
this kind have become increasingly common, and they are open to donation. Non-
profit publishers still pay their authors via royalties. Along with being a non-profit
press Lantern Publishing & Media also fundraisers for other non-profits that align
with their values. In fact they feature those non-profits before their books on their
main landing page, which is more focused on their overarching mission than recent
releases. You have to scroll down a little, past two other sections, to reach their list of
new and forthcoming books, but the books themselves are well presented, even if the
covers are, in my opinion, very uneven.
I very much like that they go into details about their staff and board members and
many of them have relevant experience. You can learn more about them by going to
their About page and scrolling down. You can see their complete catalogue of books
here, and audiobooks here. This is very much a press with a focused and goal
orientated catalogue, so please spend time with it to decide if your work is a good fit.
I really appreciate the fact that they are actively publishing audiobooks.
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They have pretty good international distribution which they list on their contact page.
Their FAQ page implies they pay advances, at least to some authors, and it also
communicates a lot of other worthwhile information.
They have already locked down their publishing schedule for 2023 but are
considering work for publication in the years 2023-2028. I like that in their
submission guidelines they link to good resources in terms of learning more about
how to properly submit a manuscript. They also have clear proposal guidelines.
Submissions must be made via email.
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Laurence King
Founded in 1991 in London, Laurence King focuses on publishing books and gifts on
the creative arts. They have international distribution and recognition.
They are open to proposals for books or gift products for adults, students and
children. They focus particularly on the following areas: art and design, architecture,
fashion and beauty, film, photography, practical art including painting and drawing,
music and popular culture, nature and popular science.
They look at all proposals that are submitted to them, but they only follow through if
they are interested. So do not send them a follow up email if you do not receive a
response.
To get a good idea of what they publish go here. To learn a little more more about
their querying process go here, and scroll down.
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Llewellyn
Llewellyn is the oldest and largest publisher specializing in books for body, mind,
and spirit. They were founded in 1901. They publish books as well as other items,
like tarot card decks. They accept submissions on a wide variety of topics, listed
below. They try to focus on the practical and self-help aspect of this material.
Alternative health
Angels
Astral projection/OBE
Astrology
Chakras
Cryptozoology
Energy work
Ghost hunting
Intuition
Kabbalah/Qabalah
Life between lives
Magic/magick
Meditation
Paganism
Personal haunting stories
Psychic abilities
Psychic development
Reiki
Reincarnation
Shamanism
Spirit Guides
Spiritual Enlightenment
Tarot books
Tarot card decks
UFOs
Wicca
Witchcraft
Yoga
For a complete list of topics, you should visit their Browse by Category page. They
do explicitly note that they are not interested in poetry books, children’s books,
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spiritual or new age fiction, cookbooks, or channeled books. Their new releases list is
particularly helpful.
It is important to note that while they have been around for a long time, they haven’t
had nearly as positive a track record when it comes to imprints. Midnight Ink, one of
their imprints, was closed in 2019. Flux, their other imprint, has had a history of
mostly minor complaints, including a not particularly great contract, that you can read
about here.
I did not find any direct complaints about Llewellyn.
They have major distribution, generally good covers, and a long track record of
success in their area of focus.
Llewellyn accepts complete manuscripts and proposals. They accept submissions via
email and post.
Their complete guidelines are here. Please follow them carefully. Note that you must
keep scrolling down for the Tarot Deck submission guidelines, and the Almanacs,
Calendars, and Datebooks guidelines.
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LSU Press
LSU Press was founded in 1953 by Louisiana State University to help support the
work of the university. They publish scholarly and general interest books, mostly
about Louisiana and the south.
According to their site, their current areas of interest include:
• African American studies

• American history
• Atlantic World history
• Caribbean history
• Civil War studies
• Environmental studies
• Fan studies
• Foodways
• Landscape Architecture
• Literary studies
• Louisiana archaeology
• Louisiana history and culture
• Media studies
• Poetry
• Roots Music
• Southern environmental history
• Southern history
• Southern social justice issues
• World War II
You can visit their active series page here, to see what their current focus looks like.
A lot of the these imprints focus on the south but many also go beyond that scope.
They also publish poetry.
If you are serious about submitting I’d really focus on spending time browsing the
catalogue of the series your work would belong in. Each series page shares
information to the series editor, although all submissions are redirected to the relevant
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acquisitions editors who you can learn more about here.
You can not submit an un-revised thesis dissertation and they have specific advice in
terms of revising thesis dissertations.
They ask that poetry proposals include a cover letter, a one-page summary, as well as
a few sample poems that are part of the manuscript, and a current resume or CV.
All proposals that are not for poetry manuscripts should include a cover letter, title,
table of contents. information about competitive titles, and a resume or curriculum
vitae. They also want to know a rough total word count, and information about
proposed art. They do not want to see your whole manuscript at this time, but you
must include sample chapters also.
They will only reply if they are interested in seeing more.
To learn more about submitting to them, please visit their website here.
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McFarland & Company Inc.
McFarland & Company Inc. is an academic and nonfiction publisher that markets
primarily to libraries. They have much more expensive cover prices because of this,
and do not have good distribution in brick-and-mortar bookstores, but are widely
available at libraries throughout North America. They also have a good reputation
among librarians, which is a plus.
Their focus is to publish scholarly books on topics of popular appeal, including
sports, military, history, true crime, and literature, among many others. You can get a
better idea of what they publish by visiting their website here.
They do not offer advances, which is more unusual for nonfiction publishers. They
work primarily directly for authors and as such have a lot more resources for authors
than the average publisher. Their FAQ page is a good place to start.
They seem upfront about how they do business and even share a sample contract.
However, I've heard from a direct source and seen proof that they are not in any way
open to negotiating or changing that contract, even in minor ways. Usually if a
company has that approach they state that when offering the contract or while sending
it. McFarland does not do either of these things. Please review the contract carefully,
if you are not comfortable with the contract (and a few of their terms are not ideal for
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authors), do not submit to them, because they have shown they are not willing to
negotiate.
They accept book proposals, and you can learn more about what they expect in
proposals by scrolling down here to the section entitled Sending a Proposal. Please
read the guidelines carefully before submitting.
All proposals should be submitted via email.
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Michael O'Mara Books
Michael O'Mara Books (also known as MOM Books) is a UK based publisher of non-
fiction. They publish a wide range of books including history, popular science,
language, sport, lifestyle and biography. Outside of traditional books they also
publish coloring books, activities, puzzles, and stationery. You can get a feel for what
they publish here.
MOM Books was started in 1985 as a home business by Mrs. & Mr. O'Mara, out of
the spare room of their house. It is still a family firm, although now it publishes 150
books a year. They have put together a slideshow of their history which you can view
here, if you are curious.
They welcome submissions of non-fiction ideas from "authors, compilers and

illustrators". They do not allow submissions of fiction.
If you submit please include synopses and sample texts, rather than full manuscripts.
They are currently only accepting submissions via email.
They generally only respond to submissions they are interested in. They ask that
authors and illustrators familiarize themselves with the titles they publish before
submitting.
They are distributed by Hachette within the UK. Outside of the UK they do their own
distribution. Their books are beautiful, sturdy, and well designed.
Their submission guidelines are in no way detailed, but you can view them here.
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Measure Press
Measure Press is a small press that publishes poetry, criticisms, and poetry instruction
as well as a semi-annual literary journal that focuses exclusively on publishing formal
poetry. Measure Press is run by editors Rob Griffith and Paul Bone.
Measure Press requires that all poetry manuscripts be between 50 and 100 pages of
poetry in length. They have no fixed page limit rules for textbooks or books of
criticism.
Poems should be single-spaced and prose should be double-spaced. They do not

charge submitters any fees and, if your book is accepted, you will be issued a
standard royalty contract. What they mean by standard royalty contract is up for
debate. However, it is usually in the neighborhood of 10%. Because poetry books do
not tend to make a lot of money, this is not generally seen as a point of contention.
However, in terms of textbooks, it may be a bigger issue.
They permit simultaneous submissions, but you must notify them if your manuscript
is accepted elsewhere. Manuscripts should be submitted in one file. That file should
be formatted to be a .doc, a PDF, or an RTF. Include a cover letter, an
acknowledgments page, and your contact information in this file. Submit your
manuscript electronically through their website. Make sure you mark the genre as
"Book Submission."
To learn more or to submit work, please visit their website here.
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Microcosm
Microcosm is a Portland-based publisher that specializes in nonfiction DIY (Do-It-

Yourself) goods that focus on the reader and teach self-empowerment. They are on
Powell's 24 of Our Favorite Small Presses list. .
The authors they publish have to have expertise and lived experience in the subject
area they write about.
They are looking for work with strong visuals and leftist leanings, so if that is not for
you, read no further (we review a wide variety of publishers, not every publisher is
suited for every person).
They publish work in the following areas according to their website:
• Magick How To (Witchcraft, Paganism, Herbalism, and the like—also tarot

and oracle decks).
• The Good Life (DIY, how-to, self-care, hands-on skills—anything from how
to make or do something to parenting, mental health, and healthy
relationships).
• Scene History (what made a time and place into a unique climate for
creativity, social justice, gender, sexuality, struggle, or a different way of
thinking?).
• Building the Bicycle Revolution (nonfiction about the promise of the bicycle
to change society with a clear, new perspective on a familiar topic).
• Queering Consent (#ownvoices erotica short stories)
• Travel guides (what makes a place truly special without costing a lot of
money?).
• Punx (the hidden stories of the musical style that became a social movement
to fix shit up).
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• Comics Journalism (book-length nonfiction graphic novels that tell powerful

stories. We do not pair writers with illustrators but we do perform full
developmental edits for books that we publish. We'll sign a book based on
your idea and portfolio alone and can help you workshop it together).
• Gift (humor, animals, fun but educational).
They also publish zines and they say "If a book does not have a reachable audience of
at least 5,000 people or if the subject matter does not require 100 pages, we'd suggest
submitting your proposal for a zine (and you would not be required to list comp
titles)."
They accept pitches through their website's "send a note" feature. The initial pitch
should be very short. It should stress the benefit(s) of your books to readers and you
would tell them why you want to write this book and how it is unique. Make sure to
include a sentence about your expertise and lived experience that relate directly to the
work. Focus on the practical and emotional payoff that would come from reading
your work. Also compare it to three titles they have recently published.
They stress the importance of following submission guidelines to the letter, so please
review all of them on their website before submitting.
This is particularly helpful because they give examples of successful pitch letters and
really guide you through the stems of submitting to them.
To learn more and review their submission guidelines, go here.
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New Harbinger
New Harbinger is an established publisher of self-help books that focus on

psychology, health, and personal growth. The books they publish are grounded in
science, research, and clinical practice. They have been around for over 35 years.
They publish self help books, psychology workbooks, professional books, memoirs,
and gift books, all focused on mental health. Many but not all of their books are based
on the cognitive behavioral approach.
Their books are trusted by professionals and often recommended by therapists. They
act as their own distributor but their books are widely available in big box bookstores.
They have a focused marketing department.
They are very upfront about the numbers of books they plan on selling. On their
website they say "the average New Harbinger book sells 7,000 plus copies the first
year and then reaches steady sales of 4,000 to 10,000 copies in succeeding years.
Books we published six years ago have now sold 60,000 copies, and they will
continue to sell at steady rates for years to come."
They don't focus on just selling books in the States. They attend major events in other
countries and make connections that way. Their submissions page is very much
geared towards attracting a certain kind of professional author. They very much pitch
it as New Harbinger versus The Big 5.
They have very specific submissions guidelines so make sure to follow them closely.
They accept electronic and postal submissions.
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The New Press
The New Press published its first book in 1992. Since then, it has published many
more books by authors such as Alice Walker, Bill Moyers, and Noam Chomsky. They
are a nonprofit independent publisher. They have published books that have become
bestsellers and won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. They publish about
fifty books per year.
According to The New Press’s website, they focus on the following areas when
editing and publishing books that mean the following criteria:
The New Press focuses on a number of key program areas including: contemporary
social issues (with an emphasis on race relations, women's issues, immigration,
human rights, labor and popular economics, and the media); education reform and
alternative teaching materials; cultural criticisms; art and art education; international
literature; and law and legal studies. Across these disciplines, The Press has also
taken a leading role in publishing a wide range of new work in African American,
Asian American, Latino, gay and lesbian, and Native American studies, as well as
work by and about other minority groups.
The New Press accepts very few unsolicited manuscripts, but they do read everything
that is submitted to them. They generally do not publish American fiction or poetry.
You can submit to them electronically through a form on their website or via the post.
When you submit, send a proposal, an outline or table of contents, and no more than
the first two chapters of your manuscript. If you submit through the mail, please
include a self-addressed and stamped envelope.
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To learn more about The New Press, visit their website here. To learn more about
their submission guidelines visit this page.
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New Village Press
New Village Press was established in 2005. Since then they have focused on
publishing transdisciplinary books in urban sociology, community cultural
development, and healthy city design. Most of their books are actively focused on
community building and change making. Some of the books they publish are
academic, and others are aimed at a general audience. They particularly like to
publish books that "go beyond abstract policy and polemics to present the human
motivations and nitty-gritty work for making a certain part of the world a better
place." You can get a good feeling for what they've recently published here.
New Village press is a 502c3 nonprofit corporation. They are based in New York
City, their books are distributed by New York University Press.
New Village expects prospectuses rather than manuscripts. You can read their full
guidelines here.
They don't outline what they need in the query, but I would focus on taking their
advice for the proposal, and focus on conveying three points related to that in the
query letter. To learn more, please visit their website here.
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No Starch Press
No Starch Press is a small press that focuses on publishing work on technology,

particularly work with "a focus on open source, security, hacking, programming,
alternative operating systems, LEGO®, science, and math." Their motto is "the finest
in geek entertainment." They are distributed by Penguin Random House. You can get
a good feel for what they publish by going here.
They say that you can just send them an email with the basics of your project if the
proposal sounds overwhelming, but that they mostly want to see the following
information included in your proposal:
• Summary of Your Book. Describe your book.

• Outline. Provide a detailed outline listing at least chapter titles and first level
headings.
• Audience. Who is your target audience and how will your book meet their
needs?
• Competition. List any competing titles. How will your work compete?
• Market. Discuss the market for your book.
• You. Who are you? What are your goals in writing this book?
They also ask that you submit any writing samples for your project, if available, and
they stress that a clear description of what you want to write and your table of
contents are the most important factors.
Unlike most publishers they are very much upfront about royalties and the editorial
process, which are both disclosed here. Also on that page they link to a sample
publishing agreement, which they appear to always use, and is not up to negotiation.
So before submitting to that, review it carefully.
Please only submit a proposal if they feel like a good fit for your work.
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North Atlantic Books
North Atlantic Books is a publisher located in California. They have been publishing
books since the 70s. They started out rather small and independent but now they are
much larger and have excellent distribution through Penguin/Random House.
Over the decades they have focused on publishing a diverse range of books in the
areas of alternative medicine, ecology, and spirituality. They publish fiction, purely
academic books, and general nonfiction. They are only currently open to unsolicited
submissions of nonfiction accessible to most readers.
To get a good feeling for what they have previously published, visit their catalog.
Because their catalog is a little overwhelming with over 1000 books in it, it might
help to read through the categories listed on the right-hand side bar. These categories
include Celebrating Women, Martial Arts, and Society and Policy. There is also a
category called "coming soon" which is very informative in terms of what they are
publishing now.
It is pretty easy to figure out if they will be interested in your book based on what
they have previously published. This is much easier to figure out when approaching a
nonfiction publisher versus one that publishes fiction.
They try to respond to all submissions within 12 weeks of receiving them.

Submissions must be made through email. They have clear proposal guidelines so
make sure to follow them when submitting.
To learn more please visit their submission guidelines here.
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Oneworld Publishing
Oneworld Publishing is an independent print publisher. They were founded in 1986

by husband and wife team Juliet Mabey and Novin Doostdar. At the time, they only
published nonfiction. Now they publish over one hundred books a year. They still
publish nonfiction, but they also publish literary fiction. Their books are widely
available online, in bookstore chains, and independent bookstores. They try to have
an international approach in terms of authors and book distributors.
They publish a lot of literary fiction. But at the time of writing this book they are not
accepting any fiction submissions, but they hope to reopen to fiction at some point.
When it comes to nonfiction, make it clear why you are qualified to write the book
you are proposing. This does not mean you have to be an academic. Just demonstrate
that you are an expert in that field, or uniquely qualified to write the book. Their
nonfiction books cover a large range of topics, including self-help, anthropology,
science, and religion.
They are open to submissions from authors directly, as well as from agents. They
publish work by authors with a backlist and those that have never been published
before.
Because they have a curated feel to their publications, I highly encourage you to
browse through their catalog and look into the different series they publish before
submitting. They have very strict submission guidelines, and they imply that they will
not respond to queries unless those guidelines are met.
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When you submit work to them, you have to fill out a form that helps guide you
through the process, and includes all the information about what you need to submit
work.
To learn more about Oneworld Publishing and what they are looking for, please visit
their website here.
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Overcup Press
Overcup Press is a small independent press based in Portland Oregon. They say their
focus is "on literary nonfiction, art, travel, design, architecture, music, epicurean, and
gift titles." So far they've published eight books including two Children's picture
books, a cookbook, several books about place, an illustrated biography of
Buckminster Fuller, and a book best described by its title "99 Ways to Make a Pipe:
Problem Solving for Pot Smokers". You can view their full catalog here.
They have a great sense of design and all of the books are appealing to their various
audiences. The founder and publisher comes from a design background. One of my
few concerns about the press relates to this. On the website they have a custom
publishing page, that sells potential submitters on their ability to be paid to publish
your work. This is not uncommon for small presses to have a self publishing arm, but
it is becoming more uncommon than it once was. It's OK as long as the publisher
never redirects you to the self publishing arm. Please send me an email at
support@authorspublish.com and I will update the review accordingly.
The only other concern I have about them is that they mention having excellent
distribution, and they have a web page devoted to that distributor, labelled "our
distributor". This link is currently broken and there is no indicator of who this
distributor might be. I'm very happy to update the review if this distributor becomes
known.
They are currently open to submissions in the following categories:
• Creative nonfiction narrative and journalism

• Popular Science Writing
• Environmental/Nature Writing
• Regional U.S. Northwest Topics
• Travel (essay, other related)
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• Architecture and Design

• Contemporary Arts and Culture
• Music / Music History / Long-form Music Journalism
They accept submissions through Submittable. To learn more or to submit, go here.
At the time of this update they are open to submissions. To learn more please visit
their submission guidelines here.
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Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press, like most university presses, is open to direct submissions. It
has much better distribution systems than most university presses. They publish
nonfiction with an academic focus on a wide range of subjects. They are open to
proposals and manuscripts.
Their website is much more thorough in terms of helping outline how the process
really works, than most presses. On the page, submitting a proposal, they talk overtly
about being open to a wide variety of authors, professionals, and researchers, and it's
clear that they are trying to support that, by really taking the time to make it clear how
best one can succeed in terms of creating a compelling and appropriate proposal.
They go into details about what they are expecting in terms of a proposal and they
also disclose information about the review process.
There are many other helpful pages about the submission process including pages
focused on preparing your document, and submitting your manuscript.
In order to submit a manuscript to them, you have to find the appropriate editor to
submit to on this page.
They do not disclose royalty rates, and they seem to vary by region.
To learn more or potentially submit, go here.
Please note that university presses often encourage writers participate in open access
programs, and they ask authors to pay for that expense. If your institution pays for it,
that is fine, but otherwise approach with caution.
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Parallax Press
Parallax Press is a nonprofit publisher founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
They publish 15 books a year, focused on Engaged Buddhism and mindful living.
They've published many famous Buddhists, including Thich Nhat Hanh, and the
Dalai Lama. Most of what they publish is nonfiction aimed at adults, but they also
publish select children's books. Most of the authors whose work they publish are
active Zen Buddhists.
You can get a good feel for what they are interested in publishing, currently, here.
They do not respond to all submissions. Submissions must be made through their
Submittable account.
All proposals must contain the following elements:
1. Title, Subtitle, and Word Count of Project

2. Synopsis: A three-paragraph synopsis of the manuscript.
3. Audience: A paragraph describing the primary audience for your project.
Demonstrate that there is substantial interest in this subject in the market and
tell us why your book is right for Parallax Press.
4. Market: Give indicators of market interest, including examples of what other
books out there are comparable to this book and how your proposal is both
similar to and different from these books.
5. Author Biography, Resume, and Platform: Attach a current resume,
including relevant social media platforms. Along with a biography, address
specifically why you are the right person to write this book. Include your
writing experience as well as your credentials in the area you are writing
about and any boards, organizations, and networks of which you are an active
member.
6. Table of Contents and Sample Chapters: Include a full table of contents as
well as at least two sample chapters from the book.
They also run a journal called Mindfulness Bell.
To learn more about their submissions, go here.

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Press Box Books
Press Box Books is an imprint of North Star Editions.
North Star Editions is a Minnesota-based publishing company that publishes fiction

and nonfiction primarly for children and young adults. They have two other imprints
that we reviewed in the past, Jollyfish and Flux. None of their other imprints are
regularly open to submissions.
Press Box Books focuses on publishing nonfiction about sports. You can get a feel for
what they have published in the past by visiting their catalogue here. They publish
books for children, teens, and adults as part of the Press Box line, and when you look
at the individual sets and book listings they make it clear who the intended audience
is.
As part of their submission guidelines they state they are "always interested in new
projects that offer a fresh perspective or untold story in the sports realm."
In they body of the email they ask for a query letter that includes a 1-2 paragraph
synopsis, a short bio. They also ask that you share the names of 3-5 comparative
books published within the last 5 years with an explanation explaining what sets your
book apart. They also want your email address and phone number.
They also want a sample chapter attached. All submissions should be made via email.
You can read their submission guidelines here.
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Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an established academic press with excellent

distribution.
Not only are they currently open to proposals but they just started a Supporting
Diverse Voices Development Grant hoping to support historically excluded scholars
from around the world with the grant. This is how the grant will work: "In close
partnership with four book coaches, the grant will offer direct support and coaching to
scholarly authors preparing to draft a book proposal. The grant will cover all
associated costs of this process, with grantees able to select which coach they wish to
partner with."
Each year they have 2-3 grant giving cycles with different focuses. They are listed
here.
They are also open to general proposals on a wide variety of topics. You can see their
catalog here. You can read their full guidelines here. Please follow all of the
guidelines very carefully.
Please note that university presses often encourage writers participate in open access
programs, and they ask authors to pay for that expense. If your institution pays for it,
that is fine, but otherwise approach with caution.
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Prometheus Books
Prometheus Books is an established publisher of what they like to call “intelligent

non-fiction”.
They specialize in publishing non-fiction books that fall into the following categories:
Popular science, philosophy, atheism, humanism, and critical thinking.
They are distributed by Random House.
Prometheus books was started in 1969 by the philosopher Paul Kurtz, who was also
the founder of the Council for Secular Humanism. Since 1969 they have published
over 2,500 books
The authors they have published include Isaac Asimov, Pulitzer prize winner Tom
Toles, S. T. Joshi, Philip J. Klass, and Julian Huxley.
If you are interested in submitting, they request that you submit a letter of inquiry
first. The letter introduces your topic and briefly outlines your project. This letter
should also discuss relevant competing works, the potential market, the availability of
the complete manuscript (or its likely completion date), and the manuscript’s
(proposed) length. You should also submit a copy of your CV or resume that includes
publishing history.
They allow emailed queries and mailed queries, but prefer emailed.
You can read their complete submission guidelines here. You can get a better idea for
what they publish by browsing their catalog here. Make sure that you submit to the
editor of the correct imprint.
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The Quarto Publishing Group
The Quarto Publishing Group which is an international publishing house known for
its illustrated books. They publish most of their work through a number of niche
imprints each with their own focus. All of their US imprints are distributed by
Hachette.
Their imprints are all nonfiction. They publish a lot of cookbooks and gift books.
They also have imprints covering almost any nonfiction topic you can think of from
children's nonfiction to parenting to vehicles to architecture.
This is what their website has to say about all their imprints:
Each of our imprints has its own editorial focus and fits into one of the
categories below. To ensure that your book proposal winds up in the right
hands, please take a moment to review each category to determine where your
book best fits. Submitting to the category will send your idea to multiple
imprints. If your book idea fits into our focus areas we will contact you for
more details. Please bear in mind that we receive a large number of
unsolicited manuscripts, so our response time may vary and we ask for your
patience.
Their submission guidelines are very specific so please review them carefully before
submitting. You can read the full guidelines here.
Once you have carefully reviewed their guidelines you should start composing (or
editing) your book proposal.
Reviewing the catalog of the imprint you are planning to submit to is always a good
idea.
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Rowman & Littlefield
Roman & Littlefield is an independent publisher based outside of Washington, DC.

They focus on educational publishing, academic publishing with a focus on
Humanities and Social Sciences, and well as publishing government and official data.
Some of what they publish is very specific and niche, while other work is clearly
intended for a broad audience.
They also run the National Book Network, one of America’s largest book publishers.
They have published many respected books and authors. It’s easy to get a good feel
for what they publish by visiting their home page here.
They have a publishing partnership with the following institutes and organizations:
American Association for State and Local History, The American Foreign Policy
Council, Smithsonian Institution, The Center for Strategic and International Studies,
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Fortress Press, Lehigh University Press, Lord
Cultural Resources, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Their submissions guidelines are clear and detailed, and they ask that you submit
work to the correct acquisitions editor.
When you submit your proposal, make sure you follow their guidelines here. Make
sure to follow their guidelines precisely, if your work is a good fit for them.
If you scroll further down they also include the guidelines for submitting to
Lexington Books which publishes the best scholarly work in disciplines ranging
across the humanities and social sciences.
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Saraband
Saraband is an independent publisher that was founded in 1994 in Norwalk,

Connecticut. In 2000 they relocated to Glasgow, Scotland and they have since
relocated to Manchester, England.
Their focus has always been on nature, history, art and the mind/body connection. On
their website now, they divide their nonfiction into two categories, nature and culture.
If you are considering submitting work to them, please spend time with their catalog
to determine if your work would be a good fit.
They started publishing literary fiction in 2011 and have since branched out into more
mainstream fiction (which they label as contraband on their website), but are not
currently open to direct submissions of fiction. They have won a number of awards
over the years, and you can learn more about them here.
Their UK based distributor is Grantham Book Services (which is run by Penguin

Random House Distribution. Outside of the UK they are represented by Consortium
Book Group.
They are currently only open to non-fiction submissions and they ask that you send
via email "your book description, table of contents and a sample chapter together with
a brief CV relevant to your writing".
You can see their short submission guidelines and email address near the bottom of
this page.
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Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications is an independent publishing company based in Boulder,

Colorado. They are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. They
were founded in 1969 and “is dedicated to creating books, audio, and immersive
courses aimed at improving lives—in ways big and small—in the hope of
contributing to the development of a thoughtful, kindhearted, and contemplative
society”.
They have approximately 40 employees, and about 1,600 titles in print. The work
they publish often is focused on meditation, as well as a range of spiritual traditions
“from Buddhism and Taoism to contemplative traditions within Christianity, Judaism,
Hinduism, and Sufism.” They also publish books on health, wellness, yoga, and
martial arts, as well as books on psychology, emotional well-being, and mindfulness.
They allow authors to submit previously self-published books, which is very unusual.
All submissions must be made via email.
They ask that all authors, at minimum, include “a synopsis, a chapter outline, a brief
biographical statement or résumé, and two sample chapters”. They try to respond
within 12-15 weeks.
They also publish books for kids between the ages of 0-8 and you can learn more
about their guidelines for children’s books here.
To learn more about submitting work to them, go to their website here. Please read
their full guidelines carefully before submitting.
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Skyhorse Publishing
Skyhorse Publishing is one of the largest small presses in the United States. They
were founded in 2006. Over the past couple of years, they have started to acquire
other small presses. Skyhorse started out focused on publishing nonfiction and that is
still their primary interest. However, they have imprints that are interested in
publishing work in other genres that you can see on their site. This review is only
focused on Skyhorse.
Skyhorse has published a number of well-known best-selling books within the

nonfiction genre. They have wide distribution and you often see Skyhorse books on
the shelves of Barnes & Noble. The books range from serious research-based
nonfiction books, to diet books, to books written by celebrities.
More recently they’ve focused on publishing work by controversial figures,

politically or personally. They’ve also long received allegations of being a less than
ideal workplace and Vanity Fair recently published a comprehensive article about
their behavior, which is very much worth reading if you are considering submitting.
It is easy to sift through their back catalog to see if your book might fit. They do not
require agents or previous publication experience in order to submit a proposal.
They are currently looking for proposals in the following categories: sports, history,
humor, adventure and travel, health and fitness, house and home, business, food and
wine, pets, and current events. They are also interested in a number of sub categories
so make sure to check their website.
They take around a month and a half to respond to proposals.
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When you send them a proposal, it should consist of the following: a brief query
letter, a one-to-two-page synopsis, an annotated chapter outline, rudimentary market
analysis (focusing on what might be your literary competition), a sample chapter or
two, as well as a bio containing all previous publishing credits. That last portion is
why you should submit to literary journals and magazines. Even if you are not being
published in the same genre at all, any publishing experience really makes a
difference.
They accept all submissions through email. If you are interested in learning more or
submitting, please visit their website here.
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SmartPop Books
SmartPop Books is an imprint of BenBella Books, an established and respected non-

fiction publisher.
According to their website, SmartPop is "actively looking for smart, quirky, engaging
non-fiction titles on television, books, and film." They are open to anthologies, as
well as single author titles. The work could be an official, authorized guide, or an
unofficial one.
One of the great things about publishing with SmartPop is that they have a focused
audience already and they truly understand marketing within the niche they have
found. They have an excellent distributor, Perseus Distribution.
They have worked with well known and established authors including Cory
Doctorow, Lawrence Block, Dennis Lehane, and Jane Espenson.
You can get a good feel for what they have previously published by visiting their
catalog here.
They are looking for work that contains an intriguing idea, with a targeted subject that
already has fans (such as board game, a TV show, a band). They also want the author
to bring special knowledge, training, experience and or a relationship (in terms of the
subject or other members of the fan-base).
The work must also be written in an accessible way. They are not seeking work that's
unapproachable or academic.
In order to submit to them now, you must go to the main BenBella pitching page,
here.
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Source Books
A large independent publisher based out of Illinois, they also have offices in
Connecticut and New York. Source books was started in 1987 by Dominique Raccah.
They also have several imprints all founded within the last decade. They started out
publishing business books but then expanded to gift books.
A number of books they have published have been New York Times Bestsellers,
including We Interrupt This Broadcast, And The Crowd Goes Wild both by Joe
Garner.
They now publish fiction and nonfiction in a large variety of genres. A good way to
get a feel for what they publish is to browse their catalog here.
They often only accept unsolicited adult fiction in the romance and horror genres.
You can read their romance submission guidelines here. You can read their horror
guidelines here. Both imprints are also covered in detail later in this book.
They are interested in nonfiction submissions in the following categories: memoir,

history, college reference and study aids, entertainment, general self-help/psychology,
business, parenting and special needs parenting, health, beauty, reference, education,
biography, love, relationships, gift books and women’s issues.
All submissions must be made via email. They try to respond to all submissions
within 10 weeks.
To learn more about their submission guidelines you can go to their main page here.
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Steerforth Press
Steerforth Press was launched in 1993, with a catalog featuring a “Manifesto for a
New Press” which stated “Our interests fall into no category, no field, no niche; our
tests of a book’s worth are whether it has been written well, is intended to engage the
full attention of the reader, and has something new or important to say.”
The four founding partners were Michael Moore (1941 – 2014), Thomas Powers,
Alan Lelchuk, and Chip Fleischer. As individuals they were already established and
respected in their fields. They started out focusing on classic literature and new
fiction, and published a number of well known books, including the book of poetry
Close to Death by Patricia Smith, and I Heard You Paint Houses (the source material
for Netflix’s The Irishman) by Charles Brandt, and Under the Red Flag by Ha Jin.
More recently they have focused on publishing narrative nonfiction. For non-agented
submission they exclusively consider works of narrative nonfiction, such as
investigative or literary journalism, true crime, and history for a general
audience. You can see previous nonfiction books they’ve published listed here. Do
not submit to them unless you feel like your work is a good fit.
Their imprint Truth to Power Books, is still active and has the same submission
guidelines.
In the US and Canada, Penguin Random house is their distributor. Their covers are
mostly well designed.
Please send a query or proposal to submissions@steerforth.com. They do not accept

unsolicited manuscript submissions.
To learn more, or submit, go here.
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Storey Publishing
The founders of Storey Publishing, John and Martha Storey, bought the publishing
arm of Garden Way. They initially named their new business Storey Communications
before renaming to Storey Publishing. Their mission is to provide practical
information that encourages independence in a way that is harmonious with the
environment. The books they publish encourage and instruct readers of all ages of
ways to enrich their lives through hand-on activities and experiences. All of what they
publish is nonfiction and they covered such varied topics as home reference, crafts,
beer & wine, raising animals, homesteading, and mind/body/spirit.
Storey became a part of Workman Publishing family in 2000. In 2021 Workman

Publishing became part of the Hachette Book Group. Storey’s offices are located on
the campus of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in
the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts.
It is easy to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their back catalog here.
They try to respond to all submissions within three months. They ask that all
submissions include:
• A letter of introduction.
• A one-paragraph description of your book.
• A brief statement explaining why you think your book is needed and
describing the potential readers of the book.
• A list of recent books (if any) similar to your own, with a thorough
explanation of how yours will be different.
• A table of contents, including a brief description of each chapter, including a
complete list of projects, if appropriate.
• Your thoughts about the length, format, and photographic/illustrative
requirements of the book.
• A bio with a focus on your credentials for writing the book and your ability to
promote it to a wide audience.
• A sample chapter from the proposed book.
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• For craft books, please include photographs or samples of a few projects.
They prefer emailed submissions, but postal are allowed. To learn more visit their
guidelines here.
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Square One Publishers
Square One Publishers focuses on publishing adult nonfiction books. They are
looking for books by authors that are experts in their field. Their books are focused on
meeting the needs of niche audiences. They are not a publisher of bestsellers, they
have a specific market/markets and they cater to them.
Currently they are open to submissions about parenting, alternative health, personal
finance, collectables, cooking, gambling, postcards, health, self-help, writing, and
how to. They are based out of New York. They also publish memoir but are not
currently open to unsolicited submissions of it.
They have been around for a while and they focus on print work. They seem to
understand the markets they focus on and have a fair grasp of their readers. They
were founded in 2000 by former Avery Publishing Group president Rudy Shur, and
all of their editors had previous publishing experience before joining Square One.
They appear to have a strong grasp of marketing.
It is important to browse their catalog so you can get a better feel for what they have
previously published. You can do so here.
When you submit, make sure to include a detailed cover letter outlining the book and
its intended audience as well as a table of contents and an overview of the book. The
submission packet should also include biographical information about you and any
additional contributors. All submissions must be made by post and you must include a
self-addressed and stamped envelope.
To learn more or to submit, visit their submissions page here.
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Thames & Hudson
Thames & Hudson was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath. Their goal was
to create a ‘museum without walls’ and it is named after the rivers flowing through
London and New York. They have over 2,000 titles in print. They publish high-
quality books in the following categories: the arts (fine, applied, decorative,
performing), architecture, design, photography, fashion, film and music, archaeology,
history, popular culture and Children's books. Their head offices are in London.
They are open to suggestions and submissions from authors, photographers, designers
and illustrators with new proposals.
If you want your work to be considered by them, first spend some time on their
website in the category of work you wish to submit. On their website they state "Art,
Architecture, Photography, Design, Fashion, Popular Culture, History and
Archaeology are the best known areas of our adult list and we also have a highly
successful children’s list".
They also say that you should "make sure that you are contacting us with a proposal
for a book rather than an inquiry about T&H commissioning photography or
illustration. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to respond to emails from illustrators
or photographers offering portfolios of work and their services."
All proposals should be submitted digitally and the details of what they should
contain are outlined here.
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Timber Press
Timber Press was founded in 1978 and publishes work about the natural world by
experts in the fields of gardening, horticulture, and natural history. They were bought
by the Workman Publishing Company in 2006. In 2021 Workman Publishing became
part of the Hachette Book Group. Timber Press is recognized internationally as a
leading gardening publisher and their books have received awards from the American
Horticultural Society, the Garden Writers of America, the Garden Media Guild, and
the National Garden Club of America. They have published a number of bestsellers,
including Marta McDowell’s Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. They are based out of
Portland, Oregon.
You can get a good feel of what they publish by visiting their catalog here. Their
books are very visually impressive and they receive excellent distribution.
They have very clear requirements for all of the proposals they review. All must
include an overview, a table of contents, author information, sales and marketing
considerations, competing/comparable titles, and manuscript length and illustrations.
If you already have a professional photographer attached to the project, explain why
they are well suited to the project and include a link or sample images of their work.
They accept emailed and postal submissions.
To read their full submission guidelines, go here.
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Titan Books
Titan Books is a UK based publisher. They are part of Titan Entertainment Group
which you can learn more about here.
They publish a wide range of non-fiction, fiction, and graphic novels, but most of the
fiction and graphic novels they publish is licensed from overseas and they are only
open to direct submissions in the other categories, or on authors interested in working
on licensed fiction they have already contracted. You can get a good feel for what
they publish by going here.
This is what they are looking for currently in terms of nonfiction
Non-Fiction Film & TV

We are looking for strong proposals for popular, cult, science fiction, horror and
fantasy film and TV reference and tie-in titles. We prefer writers who have a proven
track record in this area (if not in books, then in newspapers or magazines) and good
contacts in the film and TV industry. We do not publish or commission original
scripts. We are also interested to hear from writers who would be interested in
working on licensed publications we have already contracted.
Non-Fiction Art & Comics Reference

We are looking for strong proposals for these titles, preferably creator or character-
led. We prefer writers who have a proven track record in this area, and good contacts
in the art & comics world. We are also interested to hear from writers who would be
interested in working on licensed publications we have already contracted.For all
submissions they are interested in a brief synopsis and covering letter only, not a full
manuscript. All submissions must be made through the post.
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Thread
Thread is a non-fiction imprint from Bookouture which is owned by Hachette. Thread

was launched in March 2020.
Thread focuses on a wide range of topics including self-development, personal

finance, parenting, and as they phrase it, “inspirational memoir”. They talk about the
first five titles they published here. It’s helpful to review that list to get a feel for what
they are interested in publishing.
Thread, like Bookouture, only publishes in digital formats. They publish both eBooks
and audiobooks, but do not offer print versions. Very successful books from
Bookouture have gone on to have print editions, often through imprints from
Hachette.
As far as eBooks and audio books go, Thread seems to be very successful at reaching
readers in terms of marketing. Their covers are satisfying. They have a respected
editing team. Because they are new it’s hard to tell about author retention, but many
authors have published multiple books with Bookouture, and some of those authors
have gone on to publish nonfiction with Thread.
Authors receive 45% of what Thread makes from retailers from their book sales. This
is higher than most traditional publishers.
You can learn more here. You can submit to Thread here.
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Ulysses Press
Ulysses Press is an independent publisher that has been around for almost a decade.
They focus on publishing non-fiction books aimed at niche markets. It is a good idea
to go through their catalog before submitting to see if your work is a good fit for their
press.
They are looking for books on the forefront of emerging trends, books that have a
unique angle on an established topic, or books that fill a demonstrated niche in the
trade book market. They publish a variety of books aimed at children and teens.
Occasionally they publish fiction for adults.
Submissions must be made by post. Submitters should expect to wait at least three
months before hearing a response. Make sure you include a self-addressed stamped
envelope and your email address. Acceptances, rejections, and other correspondence
may be conducted via e-mail. Inclusion of a working e-mail address may dramatically
reduce response times.
Please submit a brief synopsis of the project that is no more than 2 pages in length.
Include an annotated table of contents, 1-2 sample chapters, and an author biography.
Also include your market research that contains a description of the target audience,
and a brief comparison of competitive titles
To learn more or to submit visit their website here and their submission guidelines
here.
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UNO Press
Uno (the University of New Orleans) Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and
academic work that focuses on, but is not limited to, the southeastern region of the
United States.
It is easy to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their store. I do not know who
their distributor is, but most university presses have at least good regional
distribution.
They publish primarily non-fiction work of the academic and non-academic variety,
but the literary fiction they publish seems compelling, but at least based on their
website they really publish very little fiction; a book every couple of years. This
means that they are much more likely to accept non-fiction submissions.
Their covers are a bit of a mixed bag. I like the covers of their non-fiction better than
their fiction and poetry covers (they are not open to poetry submissions currently).
To submit to them a proposal containing a one-page description of the work, a table

of contents, and biographical information about the author. Do not send the full
manuscript unless requested.
They accept online submissions via email as well as postal submissions. It takes them
between six and eight months to respond to submissions. Do not query before eight
months have passed. They do not say anything about accepting or not accepting
simultaneous submissions.
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Victory Belt Publishing
Victory Belt Publishing is distributed by Penguin Random House, and are one of the
biggest publishers in terms of the Ketogenic and Paleo diets, and have published a
number of best selling cook books in those spaces, including Against All Grain by
Danielle Walker. They've also published a lot of other health and wellness books,
some directly related to diet, others to fitness. You can get a good feel for what they
publish here. They describe their mission as "Delivering cutting-edge resources that
empower people to make healthy changes in their lives". They were founded in 2006
by New York Times bestselling author Erich Krauss.
As far as I can tell they are a traditional press, and they are very much focused on
selling books rather than recruiting authors. They've also published a number of
bestselling books. Some of the language on their site directed at authors, is language I
associate with vanity presses, for example, the emphasis placed on partnership with
authors. In this situation I do think they use this language because they are a vanity
press, but because they largely publish authors that already have a foothold in the
health and wellness space.
Victory Belt only accepts book proposals in PDF formats and they only respond to
submissions they are interested in.
They ask that in the proposal you include "a Table of Contents, a sample of the
material (10-20 of the most compelling pages, 5-10 recipes,
photos/graphs/charts/illustrations, a sample chapter, etc) and the unique selling
proposition of your title. In addition, provide a letter that details the concept of your
book, the intended size/scope, your target readership, and your personal website/blog
and social media channels."
To learn more, or to submit if you feel like you and your work is a good fit, go here.
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Wayne State University Press
Wayne State University Press is a publisher committed to supporting its parent

institution’s core research, teaching, and service mission by generating high-quality
scholarly and general interest works of global importance. They focus on advancing
education and serving the local community.
Before submitting a proposal to them, you need to verify that your work fits their
mission. According to their website they are currently actively "acquiring books in
African American studies; fairy-tale studies; film, television, and media studies;
health humanities; Jewish studies; labor studies; and regional studies: books about the
state of Michigan, the city of Detroit, and the Great Lakes region. We also acquire
books of short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry written by Michigan authors in
our Made in Michigan Writers Series."
Do not submit creative work to them of any kind if you are not a Michigan author.
To get a feeling for what they have published in the past, go here.
Wayne State University Press does not publish unrevised dissertations or festschriften
(which is a collection of writing honouring an author).
They ask that you submit your proposal to the appropriate acquisition editor. They list
their acquisition editors here, along with the rest of their submission guidelines.
Please follow them exactly for your work to be considered. They respond to most
submissions within 12 weeks.
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Wesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press focuses on poetry, music, dance, science fiction studies,
film-TV, and Connecticut history and culture. They have been actively publishing
since 1957. Books they have published have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National
Book Award. They are an established and respected university press.
Currently they are accepting proposals for books in the areas of dance and music.
They are also open to submissions for their Hartford Books Imprint, which publishes
nonfiction work focused on the area Hartford Connecticut. You can see the three
previous titles they've published in this series here.
Poetry submissions are currently closed.
Please inquire by email and include the following:
• cover letter
• a table of contents
• a sample chapter or two
• the anticipated length of the manuscript
• the anticipated date of completion (if still a work-in-progress)
• anticipated market for your book
• CV
Do not submit your completed manuscript unless they have directly requested it.
To learn more, you can see their submission guidelines here.
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Yale University Press
Yale University Press (YUP), like most university presses, is open to direct
submissions and manuscript proposals. Yale University Press was established in
1908. You can learn more about their history here, and can see their current catalog
here.
When you submit to YUP, submit to only one editor. The editors are listed here.
Please do your research before picking which one to submit to.
They only focus on publishing nonfiction, outside of the Margellos World Republic
of Letters, an award-winning series of global literature in translation. That is overseen
by Abigail Storch who says, "I am particularly interested in works by writers in Latin
America, Africa, and the Caribbean."
Like most academic presses they are seeking qualified experts in their particular field
to write books on that topic. For that reason they ask you submit a CV along with a
more traditional submission packet.
To learn more of the details involved in submitting or proposing work to them, please
go here. Please carefully review their submission guidelines before submitting.
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Literary Fiction Publishers
The following publishers all focus on publishing literary fiction,
Some of these publishers are also open to poetry and short story collections. These
are mostly publishers that are only interested in publishing literary fiction, and not
multi-genre publishers (but there are some exceptions of course).
You can find additional publishers of literary fiction in the multi-genre publishers
chapter and in the nonfiction publishers chapter.
Most of these publishers have an established style or stylistic preference, so it is good

to keep that in mind when submitting to them, particularly with the smaller
publishers.
If you are really serious about publishing a work of literary fiction, it almost always
helps to buy a book from the publisher first before submitting, as this will give you a
lot more insight into how the publisher functions and what preferences they have.
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404 Ink
404 Ink is an Edinburgh based publisher that publishes fiction, nonfiction, short
stories, and poetry. They are a small press that has different reading periods every
year. You can check their website for the latest submission period.
404 Ink was founded in 2016 to support new and emerging writers. The press itself
has won a number of awards. Books they have published have received press in major
publications. You can learn more about the team and board behind 404 Ink here.
Outside of their full length manuscript submission window, they are also currently
open to nonfiction proposals for their pocket book series, titled Inklings. More
information on that series is available here.
To get a feel for the full-length manuscripts they've previously published, go here. Do
not submit to them unless you feel like your work fits within their larger catalogue.
Consider buying a book or two to verify that it does indeed fit.
They have good distribution within Scotland, and I like their covers, although they all
have a very similar feel.
Their full submission guidelines are listed here, and it's very important to follow
them. They are not open to submissions for full length manuscript submissions and
have yet to announce their reading period in 2024
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11: 11 Press
11: 11 Press is an independent literary publisher based in Minneapolis, MN that was

founded in 2018. They publish a wide range of literature but are currently only open
to submissions for their fiction series Nothing Exists Alone.
This is how they describe the series:
"Expanding on our catalog of risk-taking work, this fiction series will challenge
writers to explore themes of climate change, freshly. We are searching for stories that
anchor spaciousness within the emotional intensity of this crisis, helping readers to
confront and process its magnitude. Though the subject matter is urgent, the plots
may not be big nor loud. Instead, we envision they'll hold the door for shaky
relationships, common-store bargains, ambient loss, and all must lift the numbness we
hold in place of fear."
The series editor is Hanna Guido. The series was be open to submissions from
Saturday, January 1st 2023, till Friday, April 1, 2023. They will in all likelihood have
a reading period next year around the same time.
They are only interested in seeing complete manuscripts. To read full details in terms
of their guidelines go here. Please read them carefully.
This is what they have to say about reprints: "We are open to considering work that
has been previously published and has fallen out of print as well as works in
translation; if this is the case, please make a note in the cover letter including where
(or in what language) the work was originally published, how long it has been out of
print, confirmation that you control rights to the work and any other relevant
information"
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To get a feel for what they've previously published go here. They've put this very
handy submission advice page here. I like their covers. I wish they disclosed more
about their distribution but otherwise their FAQ is helpful.
To learn more or to submit to Nothing Exists Alone, go to their submission manager

here. For their general submissions page (currently closed), go here.
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Able Muse
Able Muse is a small literary press that has one free reading period every year, from
1st May through 15th July. They also publish a literary journal, and they host a
number of contests every year. They publish poetry and fiction primarily, and they
will consider non-fiction as long as you query first. Most of the fiction they publish is
short story collections and unlike other small presses, some of what they publish is
genre work.
Scanning through their online catalog here can give you a good feel for what they
generally publish. Their covers are usually well designed and appealing, but the
layout and design of their website leaves much to be desired.
They also don't have an "about us" page, which I always find frustrating, and I was
unable to find the names of the people who actually operate the press. However, they
have been around for a while and that is a good sign.
Literary presses as a general rule leave promoting up to the author (there are
exceptions, like Tin House and Copper Canyon Press) and Able Muse seems to fall
firmly into the self-promotion camp.
They accept submissions through their online submission system (preferred) and also
via email. Be careful to follow their instructions and always just submit a single
manuscript.
They take around nine months to respond to all submissions. Simultaneous

submissions are allowed, as long as you notify them if the work is accepted
elsewhere.
To learn more or to submit, visit their website here.
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Acre Books
Acre Books is an imprint of The Cincinnati Review. They focus on publishing literary
fiction and poetry. They are interested in novels and short story collections. They are
not accepting submissions of full manuscripts. They ask that authors query first.
While Acre Books is still new, they are an offshoot of the well respected and long-
established literary journal, The Cincinnati Review. Their website focuses on selling
books, not on recruiting authors. The books they have published so far are great and
have wonderful covers.
All submissions must be made through their online form. They respond to most
queries within three months.
The poetry and fiction editors both give detailed information about what they are
interested in publishing. The poetry editor is particularly looking for distinctive
voices. The fiction editor says craft is paramount to her. Reviewing their catalog is a
very good way to get a feel for what they are interested in publishing.
In order to be considered by either editor you have to submit a brief description of

your manuscript along with 10 sample pages, using their online contact form. They
are generally open to submissions except for the month of December, and from May
1st till August 1st.
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Apocalypse Party
A small press based out of Pennsylvania, Apocalypse Party says the following about
the books they publish: "Our books wobble in the frame of reality and dissect the
prism of surreality. These books tend to be difficult to categorize under one banner,
but together they form a kaleidoscopic mirror of an increasingly bleak world.
However, we're far from hopeless. We like to have fun, thrive on absurdity, and
believe in the power of art."
They have been actively publishing work since 2018. The work they publish includes
novels, novellas, short story collections, and hybrid work. They only publish a few
books a year, and they all fit the description I shared above.
To get a feel for what they publish, and their generally amazing covers, go here. They
are a small operation. Please spend time with the work that they've previously
published, and query only if you feel like your work would fit on the same shelf as
those books.
They ask that you submit your cover letter and manuscript via email.
They pay authors 50% of net revenue for print and eBooks. They ask for world wide
rights. They do not disclose who their distributor is.
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aunt lute
aunt lute is a multicultural women’s press. Their priority is to publish work by

women, both transgender and cisgender, particularly women of color. They publish
both fiction and nonfiction. They also publish poetry but only as part of an anthology
or a larger prose work. They were founded in 1982.
They are distributed by Small Press Distribution. I've seen some of the work they've
published in local bookshops. They have published a number of well-known authors
including Audre Lorde and Alice Walker.
aunt lute is based out of San Francisco. Their website is well organized and easy to
navigate. Their book cover design varies widely. To get a feel for what they have
previously published, you can browse their catalog here.
They do not accept submissions via email. All submissions must be mailed to them.
They ask that you include a cover letter, synopsis, a table of contents and two sample
chapters of your work (or approximately 50 pages). Don't staple pages together and
make sure your name and the page number are on top.
To learn more or visit their submission guidelines, go here.
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BlazeVOX
BlazeVOX [books] presents innovative fictions and wide-ranging fields of

contemporary poetry. Our books push at the frontiers of what is possible with
our innovative poetry, fiction and select non-fiction and literary criticism. Our
fundamental mission is to disseminate poetry, through print and digital media,
both within academic spheres and to society at large.
We seek to publish the innovative works of the greatest minds writing poetry
today, from the most respected senior poets to extraordinarily promising
young writers. We select for publication only the highest quality of writing on
all levels regardless of commercial viability. Our outlets of publication strive
to enrich cultural and intellectual life, and foster regional pride and
accomplishments.
BlazeVOX is a publisher based out of Buffalo, New York. They are a small
independent publisher. They are currently accepting poetry and fiction submissions.
In the area of fiction, they are only interested in collections of short stories and
experimental fiction.
They pay 10% royalties on fiction and poetry books based on net receipts. It is easy to
get a feel for what they publish by visiting their back catalog here.
They sell books to authors at a wholesale discount, and these copies may be sold
direct to consumers at readings and events. They also produce postcards, catalogues
and other promotional material at their expense.
They are not great at responding to submissions unless they are interested, even
though their website says otherwise, many of our subscribers have never heard back
from them.
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All submissions must be made via email. You can learn more about submitting here.
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Bluemoose Books
Bluemoose Books is an award winning independent publisher based in the UK. It was
founded by Kevin and Hetha Duffy. For a small press, the books they have published
have gone on to win major prizes, including the Walter Scott Prize, Portico Literature
Prize, and many more have been long and shortlisted. They are a small press that
focuses on publishing only a few literary novels per year.
You can get a feel for the books they publish here. They have excellent covers. They
don't disclose their distributor but because they've had books featured in major
reading programs in the UK, I assume that the distribution within the UK is good.
All submissions must be made via email. They only publish adult novels, generally of
the literary variety. They ask that you send the first three chapters and a synopsis.
They try to respond to all submissions within 24 weeks, but if you have not heard
from them during that span of time, they are not interested. Do not submit your work
for consideration unless you think it is a good fit.
To see their submission guidelines visit their about page, and scroll down.
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CLASH Books
CLASH started in 2015, they also publish CLASH Magazine. They publish fiction,
nonfiction, and poetry.
CLASH Books is a small press but they attend major conferences like AWP and they
host readings. They also offer wholesale discounts and they have provisional
distribution via Ingram Spark.
Their submission guidelines are very bare-bones and are as follows:
"We are looking for strong voices & POV's in any genre. Fiction, nonfiction, &
poetry. Especially looking for unique voices of female identifying & POC from all
over the world. CLASH Books is about global perspectives, contrasts,
& juxtapositions. "
All submissions must be made via email.
They have published an eclectic mix of books and the covers are generally excellent.
If you are considering submitting to them I highly encourage you to look through
their catalog. It's very easy to figure out what work they are interested in and what
they aren't.
They are much more focused on publishing books than recruiting authors on the web
page. The staff page on the website is not particularly informative.
To learn more visit their website here. They reopen to submissions on January 1st
2025.
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Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press (CHP) is a respected literary press with a great reputation. They
are only open for short submission periods. You have to sign up to be notified of the
next submission period on their website. These periods are capped at 300
submissions, so submit early. During the last open period they had reached 300
submissions on the first. Coffee House Press publishes emerging and midcareer
authors. They do not focus on bestsellers, but their books are often taught in academic
settings and available in libraries and independent bookstores.
All CHP authors have had works published in literary magazines or other publications
and they explicitly state on their website that a resume, including a list of prior
publications, can strengthen your submission. They publish literary novels, full-length
short story collections, poetry, creative nonfiction, book-length essays and essay
collections, and the occasional memoir, and are not interested in genre or children's
fiction.
They are very interested in community involvement and increasing accessibility to

books. To this end they have a number of community outreach programs. For
example, since 2011, CHP has donated 12,000 books to the Little Free Library
program and CHP's books have been distributed in over 40 countries because of this.
They have a small staff and publish 18 books a year, so it is a very competitive press.
All submissions must be made through Submittable. Do not send queries, they are
only interested in full manuscripts. They really publish a specific kind of book, so it is
advisable to either buy one of their books or borrow it from a nearby library. In any
case, spend some time with their online catalog. If none of the books in it appeal to
you, your book will most likely not appeal to them.
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To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here. They have no announced
forthcoming reading period at the time of this update.
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Deep Vellum
Deep Vellum is a press based in Dallas. They describe themselves as the "heart and
soul of the Dallas literary community". They were founded in 2013 and initially just
published works in translation. Now they publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry in
English and works in translation that fall into any of the previous categories. As of
2020 about half of that work is by international authors and half is work originally
published in English.
Deep Vellum is non-profit, and they explain why using these words: "Instead of
selecting a book for publication exclusively because of its sales potential, our
nonprofit status allows us to choose books for their artistic and social value. We are
dedicated to publishing socially engaged literature that fosters cross-cultural dialogue,
breaks down barriers between communities, and promotes empathy." You can donate
to help support them, you can also subscribe.
They also run a for profit "sister" bookstore which is located in Dallas. In 2021 they
acquired Dalkey Press and started to charge writers and/or the institutions they work
for. Please email us at support@authorspublish.com if you contact Deep Vellum and
they ask for money in order to publish your manuscript. This is not appropriate for a
traditional publisher.
The books they publish are diverse and eclectic and lean towards literary. You can get
a good idea for what they publish by visiting their catalogue here. Only consider
submitting if you feel like your manuscript is a good fit, based on thoroughly
reviewing their catalogue. The books they publish have wonderful covers and their
website is well designed.
They ask that you to contact them via a submission form first. They ask that you link
to the manuscript when submitting. The link could be to a dropbox, or a google doc.
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They don't have many guidelines in terms of submitting. Most of the language they
use is vague. They say that they respond to all submissions as soon as possible.
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Delphinium Books
Delphinium Books was founded in 1986 by Cecile Engel and Lori Milken. Their first
anthology featured a wide range of authors including E.L. Doctorow, Grace Paley and
Russell Banks. Today they focus on publishing literary fiction and the occasional
work of nonfiction. You can get a feel for what they have recently published here. If
you are serious about submitting to them please spend a lot of time with their catalog
first.
Their covers range from excellent to mediocre in my opinion, but most of them are
well blurbed and many have audiobook editions. I did notice that most books did not
have many ratings/reviews on Amazon. Their books have been finalists and award
winners for a number of literary prices.
On their about page they share the following: "Major book reviews and support from
booksellers and librarians have contributed to Delphinium’s growth and distinction.
Its unique distribution relationship with Harper Collins allows for editorial autonomy
paired with the resources of one of the globe’s leading trade publishing houses."
They don't go into details about what that relationship involves, and indeed I couldn't
find anything online, except it was clear that some of the books Delphinium
publishers are available through Harper Collins's website. I'm not sure if they are
distributed physically in stores as well.
They ask that unagented authors with complete manuscripts use their inquiry
submission form. If they are interested they will request a minimum of 50 pages or
several chapters. You are welcome at that time to include other information including
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your author bio and synopsis. If they are still interested they will request the full
manuscript at that point.
They don't have strict novel length guidelines, but 50,000 words is their minimum
length.
They also link to self publishing services they offer. This is becoming increasingly
common with small presses, and is fine as long as they don't redirect you from their
traditional publishing imprint to their self publishing services after you've submitted.
If that does happen please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com.
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Douglas & McIntyre
Douglas & McIntyre is one of Canada’s preeminent independent publishers, with

books that have won many national and international awards, including the
Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award. They filed for
bankruptcy a number of years ago. Harbour Publishing purchased Douglas &
McIntyre at that point.
They specialize in publishing respected nonfiction and literary fiction. They prefer
Canadian authors but are open to publishing the work of non-Canadians. They have
published some of the best-known Canadian writers over the years, including Douglas
Copeland.
They have good distribution in Canada. They also have distribution in the U.K. and
US, but they only do extended distribution with some books. So do keep that in mind.
They try to respond to most submissions with an acknowledgment within two

months. They publish approximately 20 books a year.
They accept submissions via Can-Submit. Browsing their catalog will give you a
good feel for what they publish.
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époque press
époque press is an independent publisher based between Brighton, Dublin and New
York. They publish literary fiction, and only literary fiction, but it can be novel length
or in short story format. They published their first volume in 2018.
They also run an online é-zine. So if you want to test the waters before submitting to
the press as a whole that can be a good place to start.
You can learn more about the é-zine here and you can read it here and get a better feel
for what they are interested in. Their issues are generally published around a theme.
You must follow their submission guidelines or your submission will be filtered out.
They ask that you submit your full manuscript plus a one page synopsis.
Only submit if your work is polished, has been thoroughly edited, and is a good fit.
It's easy to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their booklist here.
It's hard to get a feel for their current distribution. I suspect it is limited because no
distributor is listed on the site. But their covers are good, as are their blurbs, and some
of their books have been reviewed by respected publications.
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Fairlight Books
Fairlight Books is a publisher of literary fiction based in Oxford. They were founded
in 2017 and started publishing in 2018.
The company is run by an ex-energy chief, Louise Boland. Their goal is to promote
literary fiction, particularly by new authors, in the UK. You can learn a little bit more
about that here.
On record, Boland has said, "As well as working with agents, we’re happy to
continuously take submissions direct from authors, and we offer a nurture program
for talented new writers, where we work with them on their manuscripts and help
develop their writing ready for publication."
Fairlight has a large staff that now has around six years of experience. They also have
good distribution within the UK and excellent covers. They do not disclose royalty
rates.
Their authors have been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Walter
Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and
shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards, the Paul Torday Prize and the BBC National
Short Story Award.
As well as publishing manuscripts they also have a literary journal. At the time of
writing this, their literary journal is open to submissions of short fiction.
They are currently open to submissions of literary novellas (between 25,000 and
50,000 words) and novels. They accept submissions via email and post, but prefer
emailed submissions.
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For both novel and novella submissions they ask that you submit the first 10,000
words along with a query letter and a synopsis. Make sure to review their specific
guidelines before submitting.
They are open to previously self-published work, which is rare.
At the time of this update they are only open to short story submissions.
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Game Over Books
A small press based out of Boston, Game Over Books was founded in 2017 and has
funded their small press through a mix of Kickstarter fundraising and book sales.
They also have a Paetron. Their staff page is here, if you want to learn more about
their team.
They also have more recently started offering editing services. I’ve talked about this
before but I have really mixed feelings about this, and really warn anyone against
being re-directed from submissions to editing services. If that happens, please reach
out to me at support@authorspublish.com and I’ll update the review accordingly.
Their covers are generally excellent, and all of the books they’ve published that I’ve
read are terrific.
This is what they have to say about the type of books they publish “Game Over
Books is looking to publish work that is entertaining and thought-provoking, cheery,
dark, or otherwise. The type of work that makes you say “oh shit!” and you have to
pause and look around to make sure no one actually heard you say that out loud.”
I do really like that they’re transparent about contracts, and share a sample one here.
They do not have a distributor that I know of but they are very active at promoting
books through social media and regularly attend book fairs and writer conferences.
In 2024 they hosted their 8th open reading period during January and February.
They have not announced their 9th reading period yet.
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Please read and follow their detailed guidelines here. You can get a good feel for
what they’ve published in the past here.
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Jaded Ibis
Jaded Ibis press allows international submissions from women, writers of color,
writers with disabilities, queer writers, as well as other marginalized and
disenfranchised writers. They currently publish prose, both in terms of fiction and
non-fiction. They want work to be well written and also contain ideas that contribute
to the progress of social justice. This is very much a niche focus.
Jaded Ibis has been around for over a decade, but under new ownership since 2016.
The owner/editor before that gave an interview with Entropy while the press was in
the process of going under.
Going with a niche press like this one has risks but also rewards. The previous press
had a lot of community support and their back list is still available under the new
ownership.
Their publishing interests are also clear, both in terms of their guidelines and also
based on what they've previously published. You can view their catalog here. They
have published five books so far under the new ownership.
The covers are fine but not particularly inspiring. The website is easy to use.
They offer author royalties of 40% net profit on book sales. They also run a blog
called Scarlet. They pay 80 dollars for original poems and prose pieces that are
published there.
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Mad Creek Books
Mad Creek Books is the literary trade imprint of The Ohio State University Press.
With a mission to foster creativity, innovate, and illuminate, Mad Creek Books
champions diverse and creative literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
They charge 7 dollars for general submissions and 25 dollars for the contests they
run, but many of the imprint submissions are free, including their Latinographix
series and the Machete nonfiction series. We are only listing them because of the free
submission options.
This is what they say about their Latinographix series "This series showcases graphic
novels, memoir, nonfiction, comic books, and more by Latinx writers and artists. The
series welcomes projects with any balance of text and visual narrative, from larger
graphic narratives to collections of vignettes or serial comics, in color or black and
white, fiction or nonfiction."
The series editor is Frederick Luis Aldama, and you can learn more or submit to this
series here.
You can learn more about their other series here.
You can see what they've previously published here. Because they are part of a larger
university press they should have decent distribution, although I was unable to find
out who their distributor is.
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Outpost19 Books
Outpost19 Books is a publisher of novels, memoirs, biographies, short fiction and

essay collections, reportage and innovative hybrids. They are based in San Francisco
and were established in 2011 as a digital only publisher. They have since expanded to
print.
Their covers vary from excellent to amateurish. Many have received some press
coverage, which is always a good sign. Their website is professional, easy to
navigate, and geared towards readers, not writers.
You can get a feel for what they’ve published in the past by visiting their shop here.
Please get a feel for what they publish before submitting.
They ask, when you submit, to “Please prepare us for the work we’re about to
encounter. Describe it briefly, and tell us a bit about yourself, including any previous
projects, short or long, in print or other media.”
In the past they have left submitters without a response for a very long time, which is
frustrating. They are still actively accepting and publishing books, though.
One recent warning sign is that they started a new imprint in 2023 called The Shortish
Project which they describe “as a new publishing program dedicated to short novels
— original fiction from 75 pages to 200 pages in length.” But they charge 80 dollars
per submission and they describe it as “a paid “open-door” program, open to all styles
& genres, with limited gatekeeping, a low annual fee of $80 and paying royalties of
70% print and digital editions.” The Shortish Project is on a hiatus at the time of this
update, but they’ve now added in editorial services that they strongly promote. This is
fine in and of itself if it does not lead to re-direction.
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There are a lot of traditional presses that have vanity imprints, and as long the
traditional arm doesn’t re-direct to them, we still list them, but please reach out to us
at support@authorspublish.com, if you are redirected.
This imprint or project is also very unlike any I’ve encountered before.
To learn more about submitting to their traditional imprint go here.
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Persea Books
Persea Books is an independent book publisher based out of New York that was
established in the 1970s. Since then, they have gained a reputation for publishing
thoughtful books in a variety of literary genres.
They have an extensive catalog and a fairly good distribution network. You can often
find their books in bookstores, libraries, schools, and universities. They are not
interested in popular fiction, children's books, textbooks, self-help books, genre work,
social science, or psychology books.
They are open to receiving fiction and nonfiction submissions via the post or email
from authors directly. This includes queries regarding novels, novellas, short story
collections, biographies, essays, literary criticisms, literature in translations, memoirs,
neglected works that merit rediscovery, and anthologies that would interest the
general reader of literary books, as well as anthologies that could be assigned in
secondary and university classrooms.
At this time, they are particularly encouraging submissions to their growing young-
adult list in nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. These books are aimed at the educational
market as well as literary readers.
As of March 1, 2016, due to high volume, they no longer respond to email queries
unless they are interested.
Queries must include a cover letter, author background and publication history, as
well as a synopsis of the proposed work, and a sample chapter. You can
simultaneously submit to Persea, but please indicate it in your submission to them.
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They try to respond to proposals within eight weeks and, if your manuscript is
requested, they try to respond to that within twelve weeks, although it sometimes
takes them longer.
You should make sure to study their backlist before submitting, to get a better
understanding of what they are specifically looking for.
Submissions of poetry queries should be made only via email, and they are generally
interested only in poets with a publication history in terms of either literary journals
or previously published books or chapbooks. Submit no more than twelve pages for
their consideration. They will only contact poets if they are interested in seeing more
of the work.
To learn more about Persea or to submit, visit their submission guidelines here.
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Publishing Genuis Press
This small literary press was founded in 2006 in Baltimore. It has since relocated to
the Adirondack mountains.
Originally when they started out, according to a few Absolute Write Water Cooler
posts, they did not pay their authors. You can see posts about this issue here, although
it's not clear if they did actually pay, and just chose the wrong words to convey that
on their website. In any case, this is not an issue now, according to their website. For
all book submissions they accept they say "We pay a small advance and traditional
royalties on sales."
They also pay writers $10 for shorter work that ends up being published on their
website. Unfortunately they also charge $2 to submit this work through Submittable,
which goes against our guiding principles. They do not charge for manuscript
submissions which are done through a form on their website, rather than through
Submittable. They do encourage potential authors to buy books in order to get a better
feel for what they publish.
They publish literary works including novels, memoirs, as well as short story, essay,
and poetry collections and other nonfiction and work that defies easy classification.
Only completed projects should be submitted.
When you are submitting they ask that you briefly describe your book including the
length, a bio, and any additional information you want to include.
They don't appear to have any formal distribution beyond maybe Ingram, but they are
active in terms of book fairs in the United States. Their covers are generally good and
engaging.
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They only publish a few books a year, and it is easy to get a feel for what they are
drawn to by visiting their website here. Please do not submit unless you feel like your
work is a good potential fit.
To learn more, and to read their full submission guidelines, please visit their website
here. They are closed to submissions at the time of the most recent update.
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Repeater Books
Repeater Books was founded in 2014 by Mark Fisher, Tariq Goddard, Etan Ilfeld, and
others, as an imprint of Watkins publishing, which has been around since 1983. You
can learn more about them and their former and current staff here. You can get a feel
for the books they publish here.
On Watkins Media's main website they describe Repeater as "Our new imprint
specializing in counter-culture fiction and non-fiction, books that are guaranteed to
create a discussion and inspire change." They are distributed by Penguin Random
House Publisher Services.
They accept submissions via Submittable. They try to respond to all submissions
within 5 weeks. They do not "accept theses or proposals based on them". They stress
that they "prefer complete manuscripts, but if you want to pitch something to us,
please send a complete breakdown of the book you intend to write."
Their Submittable page has them currently listed as open to the following categories:
Politics and culture; philosophy; literary, art music criticism; fiction/poetry; and other
stuff.
When you click on each of the categories they do not go into specific details about
what they are seeking in these categories. Other stuff, for example, is not defined at
all, so it is really worth your time to spend time with their catalogue, to know what
they are actually seeking.
Because this site uses Submittable, they may close unexpectedly if there is a
submission cap. If that happens they should re-open in a month.
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Their Submittable page is here, and their main submissions page is here, although
neither go into great detail, please follow the instructions they have laid out.
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Unnamed Press
Unnamed Press is an independent publisher of literary fiction and nonfiction, based in

Los Angeles and founded in 2014. They have excellent distribution, their books have
been reviewed in most major publications, and they know how to promote the books
they publish.
The books they publish focus on challenging conventions and assumptions. They've
published a number of well-known prize winning authors and their books have been
nominated for major awards. The covers for their books are excellent.
Unnamed is the kind of press that publishes a very specific kind of book, both in
terms of fiction and nonfiction. Many of the books they publish have ties to Los
Angeles, for example. The best way to get a feel for what they publish is to
thoroughly browse their catalog, and perhaps even buy a book, if one seems along the
same lines as yours.
Authors must query with a letter first before proceeding. If they are not interested in
your submission, they will not respond. If you have not heard from them in two
months, assume rejection.
To learn more about submitting to them go here.
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Multi-Genre Publishers
The following publishers generally don’t specialize in one genre.
Most publishers listed here are open to a wide range of genres. Some only have a
couple areas of focus but don’t fit in any other category very well.
Even if you have read a book or two by one of these presses, it is usually much harder
to get a feel for what they are interested in due to the sheer range of what they
publish. Looking through their catalog can be the most helpful way to figure out what
they are interested in.
No matter what genre you write in primarily, you should read this section, as one of
the following publishers is sure to be interested in that genre.
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Aethon Books
Aethon Books is a print and eBook publisher that focuses on Science Fiction and
Fantasy. They are open to all sub-genres within these genres including Hard Sci-fi,
Epic Fantasy, Space Opera, Military SF, Alt/History, and Time Travel. This includes
books for young adults, although they haven't published many yet.
In 2023 they also started accepting Thrillers, of all types, with a focus on Action,
Political, and Military Thrillers
One of their focuses is on the audio book market and getting good voice actors to
record their stories. This is a good sign, as the audio market is rapidly growing and
there are a lot of opportunities within it currently.
They print on demand, and even though they have a distributor, it's Ingram, so you
aren't as likely to find them in brick and mortar stores on the shelf, but it is possible to
order their books.
Their covers are well designed and appealing within the context of genre. You can get
a feel for what they have previously published here, but they very clearly favor series.
To learn more about the publishing team behind Aethon you can go here.
They are only interested in publishing novel length work. They say they offer some of
the highest royalty rates in the business but they don't say what their royalty rates are.
They do not offer advances but they seem to have good clear marketing strategies,
which is always a plus.
When you submit to them they want the first 50 pages of your manuscript, which is
an unusual number. The manuscripts they publish start at 60,000 words in length
although 80,000 plus is preferable.
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To learn more or submit, go here.
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Agape Editions
Agape Editions started out as an imprint of Sundress Publishing. In 2017 it was

announced that they would be becoming a sister press to Sundress Publications in this
post. Since then any formal continued relationship between the two presses has been
unclear. Agape's masthead is here and it includes a number of established and active
members of the literary community, which is always a nice sign.
Agape is a small press with varying imprints, and a literary journal, that cover a lot of
territory. They have also published a lot of authors that are part of the larger literary
community and have a track record of serious publications, particularly in terms of
poetry. Agape is only open to submissions for certain imprints at certain times. On
their main submissions page they make it clear which imprints are open and which
ones are not. If you submit to an imprint that is not open, they will delete your
submission unread.
At the time of writing this review they are open to submissions for two of their
imprints, Haunted Doll House, their horror imprint, and Kumquat Books, their
children's book imprint.
In terms of Haunted Doll House they are seeking full length books (that they will
publish in print editions). They are open to horror, mystery, dark sf/f, genre-resistant
writing. They are currently accepting both fiction and memoir and say "We especially
want authors who identify as female, femme, enby, LGBTQIA+, disabled,
working-class, or authors of color to feel welcome to send us work."
You can read their full submission details here, and please follow all their instructions
carefully, including a 250 or fewer word synopsis in the body of the email along with
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a 100 or fewer words bio and the manuscript attached as a Word doc and PDF.
You can see the books Haunted Doll House has previously published here.
Kumquat Books has only published one book so far, which you can see here.
You can see Kumquat Books' submission guidelines by going here and scrolling
down, but the main focus is a query letter. Please follow their guidelines carefully.
Their website does contain a page dedicated to editing services provided by the
"Creatrix & EIC" of Agape. This is what they say about it "Apotropaic Editing
Services is owned by Agape Editions, but constitutes and is run as a separate branch
of the organization (for clarity: it can be considered a separate brand from the
publishing wing, though both are owned by the same parent company)." Some of the
testimonials on that page are by authors who are published by Agape. In the unlikely
situation that you are re-directed from general submissions to their editorial services,
please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com.
Like most micropresses they don't seem to have established distribution, but the
books they publish are widely available online.
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AK Press
AK Press is a worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that

focuses on publishing and distributing radical left and anarchist literature. They were
founded in Scotland in 1990, but are now largely based in Chico, California.
Outside of nonfiction they also publish speculative fiction including science fiction,
fantasy, steampunk, horror, and mystery works of 25,000 to 55,000 words, under their
Black Dawn Imprint, inspired by Octavia Butler. You can learn more about that
imprint here.
Their distribution, both for themselves and others, is excellent, and they've distributed
work by major authors, like Yaa Gyasi and Rutger Bregman. AK Press has released
spoken word albums by figures such as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and
Arundhati Roy, and they've published and reprinted many respected radical texts. To
learn more about their current catalogue go here. To learn more about the press in
general go here.
This is what they have to say about what they are seeking and the work they publish
in general:
"As an anarchist collective, we're largely interested in works that reflect the rich
traditions within anarchism (theory, history, art, culture, economics, labor) and
related historical and contemporary movements. That said, we don’t solely publish
anarchists—but we do steer clear of anything advocating electoral politics or that
looks to the State or capitalism for solutions. We make an effort to provide materials
of use to activists, academics, and individuals in pursuit of intellectual self-defense
and revolutionary social/economic change. Further, we welcome the opportunity to
work with authors from diverse backgrounds."
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They prefer emailed submissions, but also accept mailed submissions. Their full
nonfiction guidelines are available here. Please read the guidelines carefully before
submitting.
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Alcove Press
Alcove Press is a new imprint of the established publisher Crooked Lane . Alcove
Press published their first book in September 2020.
Alcove Press is focused on publishing upmarket Book Club fiction that "explores
family, friendship, and community". They are actively trying to publish debut authors
as well as established ones. You can see the books they've published so far here. You
can learn more about their launch in this Publishers Weekly article.
They are distributed by Random House. They have also partnered with Dreamscape
Media, to produce and distribute their titles as audiobooks.
Unlike most publisher websites they are not focused on selling books, because they
are distributed through Random House, you actually have to buy their books
elsewhere online. Instead they share detailed information about their editors and what
each editor is seeking. You can learn more.
The editors all bring a great deal of experience to the table and that inspires trust as
well. It's very easy to get a feel for what they are looking to publish because of the
detailed information involving what each editor is drawn to.
As always, only submit if your work seems like a good fit.
Alcove Press’s submission email address is here.
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AM Ink
AM Ink is a Western Massachusetts based press that publishes quality biographies,

children’s books, novels, and short story collections. They’ve published more than
60 titles, including bestsellers. They have also sold television rights, and had movies
made from their books.
They have two imprints. Dark Ink, their horror imprint, has released everything from
celebrity biographies like Kane Hodder, to novels and short story collections. Most of
what they publish falls under the Dark Ink Imprint.
Spooky Ink, their children’s imprint, publishes scary picture books for children and
young adult novels.
They also publish work directly under the AM Ink name, presumably, because there
are books in their store that don’t fall clearly into either category. You can see these
books here.
Their book covers vary wildly, in terms of quality.
They do not publish Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Middle Grade, YA, Sci-
Fi, Military, Poetry, Gothic Fiction, Children's Chapter Books, Religion, Literary
Fiction or Political based books.
Novels, non-fiction, and short story collections must be over 60,000 words to be
considered and they only consider children’s books that have been fully illustrated
and are over 24 pages in length.
They now have different reading periods for different genres:

Short Story Collections - June Only
Horror Novels - July Only
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Children's Books - Any Time

Film Related Titles -Any Time
All Other Titles - June 1st to August 1st
They do not disclose distribution on their website.
All work they accept by non-celebrities will be scheduled for publication in 2024 or
later.
They are always open to children’s books and film related titles. They now have
limited submission windows for horror novels, short story collections and all other
titles. To learn more, go here.
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Andrews McMeel
Andrews McMeel is a large publishing house that publishes up to 300 books a year.
They are one of the largest publishers that will read proposals by authors that have
not been previously published and do not have an agent.
Andrews McMeel Publishing is a leading publisher of general nonfiction trade books,

gift books and humor books. Their company’s core publication categories are:
cookbooks, comics & humor, and puzzles & games. They are open to some other
categories as well; looking through their web catalog is the best way to get a feel for
what kinds of books they publish.
In recent years one of the areas they have had a great deal of success in is poetry
books. They have published some bestsellers including Milk & Honey by Rupi Kaur.
They only accept submissions that are mailed in. The book proposal you submit must
have a cover letter that describes the work as a whole. Make sure to include who your
target audience is, and also explain why Andrews McMeel Publishing is a good fit for
your work.
You must also include an outline of your entire work and an estimate of the length of
your prospective manuscript. In addition, include one or two sample chapters, a brief
bio, and your schedule to complete the manuscript.
Make sure your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address are on the
manuscript, and any art that you include has your name on the back of it. Include a
self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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Andrews McMeel can take up to a year to respond to manuscripts, but their usual
response time is less than that. If you are interested in learning more or submitting
your proposal, please visit their website here.
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Apollo Publishers
Apollo Publishers was founded in 2016 and published their first books in 2018.
You can learn more about Apollo Publishers' start here. A number of the editors and
employees are experienced in the publishing industry, which is always a good sign.
You can learn more about the current team behind Apollo Publishers here.
Apollo Publishers focuses on publishing "timely and topical nonfiction for adult trade
audiences." Mostly, they focus on narrative nonfiction, although they mention on
their website that they are also interested in nonfiction that was "highly designed,"
which I wasn't sure how to interpret.
You can get a feel for what they have previously published here.
The website is pretty well laid out and focused more on promoting books than
recruiting writers. Their distributor is Ingram Publishers Services, which is not ideal
as they will take on pretty much anyone. They distribute both major and minor
presses, as well as self published authors.
To submit, go to this page and scan down. Their submission guidelines are limited
and submissions can be made via email or a form.
They have had serious issues in the past with keeping their website up to date. They
seem to have fixed these issues.
They only ask that you "Please include a short book description and author bio."
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Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian small press based out of Vancouver. They have won
the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award (from the Association of Book
Publishers of British Columbia), and they have been a finalist for Small Press
Publisher of the Year (awarded by the Canadian Booksellers Association) five times.
They have good distribution in Canada and on the West Coast. I've seen a number of
their books in stores in the Pacific Northwest. They also regularly host and promote
events for their authors, and that is a good sign as well.
They have 400 titles currently in print. The books they publish cover a wide range of
topics and genres. They publish literary fiction and nonfiction, and the topics they
cover range from gender studies to cook books. They also publish graphic novels.
Below are the topics they are currently considering submissions in:
• Books by BIPOC authors

• LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction, including young adult and children's
• Literary fiction and non-fiction (no genre fiction, such as mysteries, thrillers,
or romance)
• Political/sociological studies
• Cultural studies
• Regional non-fiction, in particular for British Columbia
• Graphic novels
• Youth culture and young adult literature
• Books for children, especially those that emphasize diversity
• Craft books
Please only submit books that are in the above listed categories. If you’re not sure
your work fits, it probably does not, but browsing their catalog might help give you a
better feel for what they actually publish.
They have very specific submission guidelines, that you have to follow in order to
submit. You can read their guidelines here. Please follow all of their guidelines.
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They prefer email submissions but allow postal submissions. Simultaneous

submissions are considered as long as you alert them of that. They take about six
months to respond to most submissions.
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Artemesia Publishing
Artemesia Publishing was founded in 2004, and they describe themselves as a micro-
publisher. Although based on the titles section of their website they publish work at
the rate of one title per month, which is actually a lot more than many other small
presses. They started out focused on non-fiction, particularly inspirational stories, but
have since expanded into other genres, including Children's fiction, YA, and genre
fiction (mystery, sci-fi, etc).
They are based in New Mexico, and are distributed by IPG Books, as well as other
distributors. They are fairly active on FB and use it to promote the authors they
publish and their books. To get a good idea for what they actually publish they really
encourage potential authors to purchase books first, which you can do here. On that
page you can also see that the covers are a bit hit and miss, and always lean towards
the more old fashioned side of things. But a lot of them are genre appropriate, which
is important.
Their website is also a little old fashioned but it is easy to use and seems frequently
updated. I also like how transparent they are on this page, where they break down
what they do as a publisher. They disclose some important information on this page,
but also play some things close to the chest. They are upfront about paying advances,
and about paying royalties off net (not ideal), but other than saying it is a higher
percentage than 10% they don't disclose the details of this payment. They disclose
that they do a content and a copy edit, which is also a good sign. They also disclose
that they have about a 9-12 month turnaround time for publishing work, which is on
the quicker side of things.
They do not publish poetry or sexually explicit material.
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They only consider proposals, for both fiction and non-fiction. They share what they
want that proposal to contain here. You can submit via the post or email, but please
only submit if you feel like your work is a good potential fit.
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Ashland Creek Press
Ashland Creek Press is a boutique press dedicated to publishing books with a world
view. The fiction and non-fiction they publish is about the environment, animal
protection, ecology, and wildlife. Books they have published have received critical
acclaim from a number of magazines including Publishers Weekly, Library Journal,
Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.
They are open to many genres (including young adult, mystery, literary fiction) as
long as the stories focus on the environment, animal protection, ecology, or wildlife,
or some combination of those themes. They want to publish engaging and well
written stories about these themes. They do not publish children’s books or books of
poetry.
Ashland Creek Press is an established publisher with experienced editors, a great

website, and wonderful covers. If your writing includes the themes they publish, they
could provide a very good home for your book.
For all submissions make sure that you include in a single document a one to two
page synopsis of the manuscript (including word count), and the first 50 pages, as
well as an author bio that includes credits, awards, and experience. If you have been
publishing your work in literary journals that will help your bio. Include a valid email
address, mailing address, and phone number in the document.
They consider works that were previously self-published as long as you retain all
rights to the publication. They ask that you include details about its previous
publication.
Ashland Creek Press tries to respond to all submissions within 1-3 months. Do not
query before 3 months have passed.
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To visit their main website, click here. To learn more about what they have published
visit their catalog here. To learn about their submission guidelines or to submit visit
their Submittable page here. They are not open to submissions at the time of updating.
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Baobab Press
Baobab Press is a small press that publishes a wide variety of material. Full
disclaimer, even before we get into the review proper, they charge for submissions in
some genres currently, this includes adult fiction and poetry manuscripts. As part of
our guiding principles we don't cover presses that charge overall, but as they are open
to free unagented submissions in a variety of other genres including creative
nonfiction manuscripts, children's books, and comics (including cartoons and graphic
narratives), they do qualify to be listed with us.
In this review I'm not covering any of the genres they charge a fee to submit to, but I
am covering the press as a whole. Their website is well organized and easy to
navigate. They are upfront about their masthead, which lists Christine E. Kelly as the
Publisher & Executive Editor, Danilo John Thomas as the Managing Editor & Prose
Editor, and Laura Wetherington as the Poetry Editor.
Christine E. Kelly doesn't have much listed experience online that I could find outside
of running Baobab, but she does also run a bookstore in Reno Nevada called
Sundance Bookstore. The websites for both companies link to and promote each
other, which is a good sign. The bookstore appears very active and is well reviewed
on Google. I'm not sure what kind of distribution Baobab has outside of this
bookstore.
For most of their submission guidelines and their about page, they say they are
seeking "books that communicate and support their themes through new and well-
articulated means. We like risk. We like invention. More importantly, we look for a
quality of thought that adds depth to a writer's concerns. And although it is not an
official requirement, we tend to select literary work with a strong sense of place at its
core. Ultimately, our goal is to publish work that resonates in the contemporary
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climate and that will continue to resonate in years to come."
It's a little strange that they use this for children's books, and comic books, as well as
creative nonfiction as the statement feels like it more accurately describes some
categories of what they publish than others.
They are seeking comic manuscripts or graphic novels with finished artwork that is
between 50-150 pages in length. Currently the only comics they've published are
collections of Pickles cartoons.
They ask that you let them know if any of the comics have been published in a
previous format. They are not interested in reprinting previous books or work that has
already been published in a collected format. Please submit one manuscript at a time.
They don't have many children's books in their catalog so far, but you can get a feel
for what they have published by going to their catalog here, and selecting the last
listed category, children's. They are only interested in submissions of picture books
and board books.
In terms of creative nonfiction they are open to submissions of memoir, hybrid, and
collections of essays that are between 125-400 pages in length. They only have a few
books in their catalogue in the nonfiction section.
As an aside they are closing to submissions for an anthology of Women's Novellas on

May 1st at 3 AM ET. If interested please read those guidelines here.
To read their full submission details go here. They prefer submissions via
Submittable but if you need to send a print version they have a mailing address
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(which is not coincidentally the bookstores address). Please only submit if you feel
like your work is a good fit.
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Bella Books
Bella Books is a press focused on publishing stories about women-loving-women,

and they are interested in acquiring manuscripts that involve these stories across all
genres, including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc.
They are based in Tallahassee, Florida. The press is currently owned by Linda Hill
who also owns Spinsters Ink and Bean Pole Books. They were founded in 2001 by
Kelly Smith, and they have over time acquired a lot of the back catalogue of other
presses. They have around 300 books in print, and publish between 24-30 new books
a year. More than a hundred of their titles have won Lambda Literary Awards or
Golden Crown Literary Society awards.
They focus on publishing books that reflect and celebrate the diversity of the lesbian,
queer, bisexual, and gender non-conforming community.
It is easy to get a feeling for what they publish by viewing their catalogue here.
They have detailed submission guidelines that are available here. Please be careful to
follow all of their requirements while submitting. They ask for a synopsis, a cover
letter, and your full manuscript.
Once you submit they let you know if they are interested in your work within 90
days. They do not allow simultaneous submissions.
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Berkley
Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, attempts to have at least one open
reading period per year. They did not manage to achieve this in 2023 but their 2024
reading period was scheduled to start at 9 AM ET on March 18th. It was capped at
1,000 submissions.
The launch did not work out, as planned, due to technical issues. They’ve announced
that they are rescheduling and recalibrating. They should announce the rescheduled
period here.
When they are open they accept full-length adult novels in the following genres:
romance, women’s fiction, mystery, suspense and thrillers, horror, science fiction,
and fantasy.
They ended up accepting and publishing four books from the first reading period.
It is rare for a Big Five publisher to have an open reading period, particularly for a
North American imprint. I am confident that one of the big motivating factors for this
is their released diversity audit which you can read in full here.
Full details about what they asked for their submission call are available here. You
should also be able to check that link to see if/when they reopen to submissions.
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Biblioasis
Biblioasis is a literary press based in Windsor, Ontario. They publish poetry, fiction,
and nonfiction. They publish short story collections and translated works. The books
they publish have beautiful covers. Within Canada they have good distribution.
Unlike most Canadian presses they accept international submissions, however they
use the term "select". If you are submitting internationally, I would be very careful
before submitting to make sure that you meet their needs. You can do that by
reviewing their catalog carefully and preferably ordering a book.
They publish between 20 and 30 works each year, and very few are published based
on unsolicited submissions.
They accept submissions online and via post. They ask that you submit the entire
manuscript. You can read their submission guidelines here.
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Black Beacon Books
Black Beacon Books is a small press that was established in 2013. It was founded in
Australia, but since then has moved to Brittany, France. They publish mysteries,
suspense, horror, and post-apocalyptic fiction. They have a Patreon, and regularly
publish anthologies. In fact, they have two open calls for anthologies right now which
you can learn more about here.
Currently they are only open to manuscript submissions that fall into the rather
specific sub-genre of fair-play mystery. On their site they define this genre as
"featuring a private investigator or other non-police protagonist. We love traditional
mystery puzzles, which means you need to make the reader play along. There will be
an original protagonist, a gripping mystery, a limited range of suspects, clues and red
herrings and foreshadowing, and we won't know who the culprit is until the final
chapter/s. You get the picture right? We're talking Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha
Christie, and John Dickson Carr here. Our mystery titles will give you an idea of what
we like. We particularly like a clever locked-room mystery and mysteries in which a
seemingly supernatural agent is logically explained."
You can see their full manuscript submission guidelines here, but please note that
they make it clear on this page that they are only currently open to the genre of Fair-
play mysteries which I mentioned earlier.
It is worth noting is that they've published a lot of books by the editor, Cameron
Trost, although a lot of smaller genre presses have started out that way.
They ask that submissions be between "50,000 to 90,000" words. They really stress to
submit "Fully edited and polished manuscripts," which usually means they aren't
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going to do another round of edits. This is not generally a great sign, but at least they
are upfront about it.
They say they pay 50% royalties but don't specify if it is off gross or net, but based on
this breakdown it appears to be off net: "This percentage changes according to how
the book is sold, but for a $3.99 Kindle book sold via Amazon USA (the majority of
our sales), this will be roughly 70c, and for most other markets it's twice that at $1.40.
Royalties to be paid quarterly."
They also state: "Please be aware that your book will be featured in the occasional
24/48-hour free ebook promotion because this generally leads to increased paid
purchases immediately afterwards."
They provide authors with 10 print copies of their own book.
Their covers are generally OK, but based on Amazon Reviews and Goodreads, not
many copies of their books or anthologies have been responded to in terms of ratings
or reviews. This is usually a pretty good indicator that they have not sold well,
particularly because they disclose on the site that they sell the most books via the
Kindle platform. The books they publish are also available on Kindle Unlimited.
You can see their catalogue here to get a better feel for it.
To learn more about submissions, you can go here and here.
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Black Lyon Publishing
Black Lyon Publishing is a small but established publisher of romance novels, eBook
and printed, out of Oregon. Some of their books also have audio versions.
They just recently started to publish works of non-fiction. The non-fiction categories
they are interested in are as follows: Politics & Government (Opinions or satire,
American History); Self-Help and Spirituality; How-to; True Crime; and Biographies
or Autobiographies.
I am not a huge fan of the covers or of the design of the website, but that is a matter
of personal taste. They do seem to be actively trying to make audiobook versions of
their books, and that’s a good sign. I did notice a couple of typos on their website.
They seem to lean Republican based on this 2022 publication.
They are a rather small publisher, so they do expect their authors to do a lot of self-
promotion. They are now producing more and more audio books, which seems like a
good idea.
When you query them do not attach any material. It will not be opened. Do not
submit any manuscript over 90,000 words in length. They have a response time of
three months. A history of previous publications does not seem to be particularly
important.
The body of your query email should contain your name, manuscript title, the type of
novel/nonfiction book, word count, a 1-2 paragraph blurb similar to what you might
imagine the back cover of your book to read, and the first three paragraphs of your
manuscript.
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They are not interested in a synopsis so do not include one. Nonfiction queries should
also include a table of contents.
To learn more read their submission guidelines here. You can visit their main page
here to have a better idea of what kind of books they publish.
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Blackwater Press
Blackwater Press is a new small press based in West Virginia, with an international
team of editors. They also run an editorial consultancy, but when I reached out to the
press directly the editors informed me that they did not direct writers submitting to
the press to their editorial services and that they don't accept work they edited at their
press.
They were prompt and forthcoming with the information, which is usually a good
sign. In the very unlikely event that you do get re-directed, please email me at
support@authorspublish.com.
They publish fiction, non-fiction, essay collections, short story collections, novellas,
and memoir manuscripts. They are not interested in erotica or genre fiction. They are
open to agented and un-agented queries. What is really rare is that they are open to
unfinished manuscripts.
The covers are generally excellent and intriguing. They have not been around for very
long. They have only been actively publishing for a little over a year.
They prefer book-length titles to be over 30,000 words. For short story collections,
they ask that the majority of the work is previously unpublished. It was not clear if
they had distribution or not.
All submissions must be made via email. Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
When you submit please include Word document or PDF version of the opening
chapters, and separate one page synopsis. If the work is uncompleted, please include a
timeline for completion, and projected length. In the submission email they ask that
you do the following.
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• Format subject as name followed by type of submission (e.g. John Smith –

Non-fiction)
• Include all contact details
• Include a brief biography
• Mention target audience and comparable title
Their full submission guidelines are here. They are also interested in submissions
about Interesting Lives which you can learn more about here.
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Blair
Blair is a nonprofit press combining the lists of Carolina Wren Press and John F.
Blair, Publisher. To learn more about the history of both presses which merged in
2018, go here.
Based in the South, with roots in North Carolina, they strive to publish quality writing
with a focus on authors and subjects historically neglected by mainstream publishers.
This includes women, people of color, authors with disabilities, and LGBTQ+
authors. They take their inspiration from the many voices of the Southern US, and
beyond. They publish poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction. To get a good feel for
what they publish, go here.
They only accept nonfiction directly from authors (as well as agents). Submissions of
nonfiction proposals must be submitted via email. You can learn more here.
To submit unsolicited fiction, memoir, or poetry, you must do so through their

contests, which generally do not have a submission fee. If they have an open contest,
you can view the details here.
To learn more about Blair, go here.
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Blind Eye Books
Blind Eye Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance novels
featuring LGBTQ protagonists. They are a print publisher and their book covers are
beautifully designed and really stand out. The books they have published have won
and been nominated for a number of awards including the Lambada.
Most of what they publish is between 70,000 and 150,000 words. They do not list a
distributor on their website but they appear to have a lot of community support and
many of their works get great blurbs.
Unlike most publishers they are not interested in queries. They have very specific
outlines for what information they are seeking, in terms of personal information,
which they make clear here. The editor also includes a complete list of tropes they are
very much over so that is also worth reviewing. It's on the same page, you just have to
scan down.
They ask that you submit your whole manuscript, and a short synopsis of the work
when you submit.
To get a better feel for what they've published in the past, visit their website here.
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Bold Strokes
Bold Strokes Books publishes only LGBTQ books, which means that its books
feature characters that are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans, and queer. They publish
general and genre fiction. They offer advances to their authors.
Bold Strokes is interested in publishing books that fall under the LGBTQ umbrella
including literary fiction, romance novels, young-adult novels, genre novels
(including science fiction and mystery), and works of nonfiction. The only genre of
books they do not appear to publish is poetry.
Bold Strokes has a good distributor because their books are available in most stores,
including Barnes and Noble. They generally publish a digital edition first and then
release the print edition later. However, occasionally they release both editions at the
same time. Because their print distributor requires fifteen months in advance notice,
these books have a longer turnaround time, between acceptance and publication.
I have heard mixed things about their contracts, so review them carefully before you
sign anything (which is something you should do anyways).
Two editors review every submission. Because of this intensive process, it can take
them up to sixteen weeks to respond to most submissions.
They are not interested in reprints without proof that the previous publishing contract
was terminated.
They only accept online submissions of complete manuscripts. Manuscripts must be

attached and formatted as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file.
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Make sure to submit a cover letter in the body of the email. The cover letter should
contain a one-page synopsis of the plot, working title, category or genre, and a word
count. It should also include a short author bio as well as contact information.
Because Bold Strokes publishes such a diversity of genres, it is good to thoroughly

read their submission guidelines to get a better feeling for what they are looking for.
To get a better feeling for the books they publish, visit their homepage.
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Bookouture
Bookouture is a digital publisher that was purchased in 2017 by Hachette (you can
learn more here). Bookouture was extremely successful in their own right. They
started out in the UK but they have outposts in a number of countries now. As of
2018 they've sold over 8.5 million copies. They focus on publishing commercial
fiction. They primarily publish women's fiction, romance, thrillers, and chick lit.
Writers that publish with Bookouture receive good royalties (although it's not clear on
the website if it's off net or gross). Many authors continue to publish with them for a
long time and they have a track record of having somewhat negotiable contracts.
I find their website a little scammy and off putting. It's geared towards authors, not
readers, and a lot of the graphics they use are a little confusing or misleading. But
they have a great track record of selling books. They know they don't sell them on
their website so they don't focus on that.
Their website has a what we are looking for section, and a submission guideline
section. To learn more or to submit your manuscript, go there.
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Brother Mockingbird Publishing
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press that describes itself as

"committed to the discovery of talented writers with original stories".
They publish a wide range of genres including women's fiction, historical fiction,
romance, mystery (including thrillers and cozies), upmarket, thriller, suspense,
science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural, picture books, and young adult fiction.
They are not interested in erotica, novellas, southern lit, coming of age stories, and
middle grade fiction.
You can get a good feel of what they've published in the past by going here.
They have a detailed staff page, which is always a good sign, although none of the
staff is particularly experienced.
The royalty rates they offer depend on the amount of editing the work requires but are
generally within the 20-40% rate of net, not gross.
They have distribution with Ingram, which is not ideal, but they do advertise and
offer incentives for bookstores to carry their books, which is a good start. They do not
have a sales team or marketing department.
The submission guidelines ask that you submit a query letter, synopsis, first chapter,
and an author biography that includes relevant social media links. Everything should
be in the body of the email. No attachments.
Brother Mockingbird has a three month turnaround time in terms of reading

submissions. If you have not heard from them at that point, you are encouraged to
query.
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All edits to manuscripts should be compliant with the Chicago Manual of Style.
At the time of this update they are closed to submissions. To learn more or to submit,
go here.
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CamCat Books
CamCat Books is a small independent publisher that was founded in 2019. Since that
time they have published many more titles than is typical for such a new company
They were founded by Sue Arroyo, an entrepreneur who sold her previous business,
Trident Technologies, to start CamCat. I am unsure of the size of the company, but a
business manager and sales and marketing manager are listed on the site. No mention
of additional editors. They do not seem to have a distributor.
Initially they were supposed to launch an imprint named Equinox (not to be confused
with the UK education publisher). It's mentioned here and on their Facebook page,
which isn't very active. All the links to the imprint are dead, and I wasn't able to find
very much out.
CamCat does seem to be reader orientated, and they have a once a month reader
survey with a hundred dollar prize. Their covers are inconsistent. Some are great,
some are awful (in my personal opinion, of course).
CamCat Books publishes novel-length genre fiction aimed at adults as well as young
adults. They'll consider most works of fiction aimed at these age groups but they are
most interested in publishing in the following genres:
• Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense

• Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Romance
• Historical
• Paranormal
• Horror
• Adventure
They also have a long list of what they won’t publish/look at on their website, so
review that list also.
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They only consider polished and complete work that is between 65,000 and 125,000
words in length. It must be formatted to meet standard guidelines. They do not
consider simultaneously submitted work or previously published work. Agented
submissions get priority consideration. Although based on the authors they've
previously published and their FAQ, the majority of what is submitted to them is
direct from authors.
All work must be submitted through their Submittable portal. It's very important to
note that it's an extensive form and they won't let you file it without various website
links (for goodreads, etc) that they ask for at the end. Scan down and make sure you
have those before you start the process.
To learn more, read their complete submission guidelines here.
They also have an extensive list of FAQ here.
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Camel Press
Camel Press is the genre imprint of Epicenter Press. Camel Press publishes genre
work, focusing primarily on mystery, including the following sub-genres: suspense,
cozy mystery, mystery thrillers, and romantic suspense. They also publish romance,
both contemporary and historical and will consider general fiction, historical fiction
and westerns, particularly if the author has a strong promotional plan.
Their books are distributed by Ingram, which isn’t ideal. Though, they also work with
a variety of book wholesalers, which is helpful.
They've been around for over twenty years and most of the books they publish seem
to receive positive reviews and sell a fair number of books on Amazon.
The website is geared towards readers, not writers. The book covers are hit or miss,
but genre appropriate.
They have detailed and thoughtful submission guidelines. Please read and follow
them carefully. They are open to submissions from established authors who have had
books fall out of print, as long as these books are not available online. They are not
interested in reprints under any other circumstance.
They ask that you submit the first fifty consecutive pages of your novel, a biography,
and a synopsis, as well as a strong promotional plan.
Their PDF outlining submission guidelines is here.
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Castle Bridge Media
Castle Bridge Media is an independent publisher that focuses on genre fiction,

particularly horror, science fiction, thriller and fantasy. They accept direct
submissions and also submissions from agents. They appear to list most of their
agented deals on Publishers Marketplace, so if you're interested in seeing what
they've accepted recently, and have a Publishers Marketplace membership, I
encourage you to visit their listing here. They are based in Denver, Colorado.
They are fairly active on social media including TikTok and Facebook. On their about
page, it's hard to learn much about the company and who is actually running it but
they link to the media coverage their books have received, which is a good sign. I was
able to do a little bit of Twitter detective work and discover that the co-publishers are
In Churl Yo and Jason Henderson.
You can get a good feeling for what they've published previously by visiting their
catalog here. You can get a good feeling for the covers, which I think are a bit of a
mixed bag, but mostly genre appropriate. They have published a number of
anthologies but submitting to those is based on invitation only. I was not able to
ascertain who their distributor is.
They have an imprint that publishes books for younger readers, but they have so far
only published one series, and don't appear to be open to submissions.
They accept all submissions through Query Manager. Manuscripts they publish are
between 80,000 and 120,000 words in length. They allow simultaneous submissions
and try to respond to queries within six months.
To learn more you can go here. Read their submission guidelines carefully, and
please make sure manuscript fit is good, before submitting.
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Chronicle Books
Chronicle is an established and respected publisher of cookbooks, gift

books, anthologies, children's books, and various other books, most containing a
strong visual element. They are based out of San Francisco. Their books receive a lot
of positive attention and acclaim. This year one of the Children's books they
published, Flora and the Flamingo, written and illustrated by Molly Idle, was a 2014
Caldecott honor winner. Many of the top cookbooks in the past five years have been
published by them, including Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and the Tartine Cookbook.
If you look through your own bookshelf, there are high odds that you own at least one
book published by Chronicle.
Chronicle is one of the most established independent publishers and it is unusual that
they consider unsolicited manuscript submissions without an agent. There is a slight
catch of course, they do not actually respond to these proposals unless they are
interested in accepting the book as a whole. So, don't expect a rejection letter,
although know that if they have not responded within three months, they are most
likely not interested in your book.
Perhaps this is for the best, because a number of years ago Chronicle Books got into
trouble for referring people whose proposals were rejected to an assisted publishing
company. An assisted publishing company charges people to publish their work and
Chronicle is a traditional publisher, it pays their authors. Part of an added
complication to this whole situation was that Chronicle appeared to have been
receiving money from the assisted publishers for this referral. The only reason that we
are only reviewing and recommending Chronicle as a potential publisher is because
of the fact that this practice no longer takes place and has not for years.
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Before submitting to them, browse through their catalog online or go to a local

bookstore and find a couple of their books to peruse. This is a good way to see if your
work might fit well with their catalog.
Make sure to review their submission guidelines carefully before submitting your
work. They have separate guidelines for children's books, so make sure you are
reviewing the correct guidelines for your manuscript. They accept manuscripts via
email. They also are open to general submissions from freelance writers who would
be open to working on a variety of books.
They consider simultaneous submissions as long as you alert them to the fact that you
are submitting it elsewhere.
If you are considering submitting to them, please read their submission guidelines in
order to learn more.
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City of Light Publishing
City of Light Publishing is a small press, with many imprints, based out of Buffalo,
New York. In some ways City of Light is a new press, they only came to be known
by this name in 2019, when they started to have more of a national, and international
reach. Before that previous iterations were called Canisius College Press and Buffalo
Heritage Press. You can learn more about their history here.
They are distributed by IPG, which had a bit of a mixed reputation in the past, but a
fairly good recent track record, and a wide reach. It's one of the biggest distributors in
the United States now.
They have six imprints, all with separate submission guidelines.
CrissCross AppleSauce is their children's picture book imprint. The covers are
mostly excellent, and you can see their full catalog here, to get a feeling for what they
might be interested in publishing. They have a pretty substantial back catalog. Their
submission guidelines are here.
Cross Your Fingers is their early readers and middle grade imprint. You can read
their submission guidelines here. They have only published a few books in this
category.
Cross Your Heart, their young adult imprint is even less established, as nothing is
listed. I'm always nervous about publishers entering a new market for the first time,
even if they are semi-established elsewhere, so that's something to keep in mind if
you submit to Cross Your Heart. Even three years after launching this imprint they
don’t have a single title published in this genre. To see their submission guidelines go
here.
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New Idea Press, is their non-fiction imprint, which has already published a wide
variety of books, that you can read about here. You can learn more about their
submission guidelines here.
Blacklight Press is their fiction imprint, which they describe as publishing "stories
from new perspectives, with diverse, interesting characters." Their submission
guidelines are here. You can see all their fiction books listed here, and it's clear that
they have more limited experience in this area.
Buffalo Heritage Press, one of the previous names for the press as a whole, is still
going strong as an imprint. It's not a surprise that this imprint focuses on "Buffalo
authors telling Buffalo stories. These stories can be fictional or non-fiction. You can
read their guidelines here, and see their back catalogue here.
To learn more visit their general submission guidelines here.
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City Owl Press
In early March, during revisions of the guide, Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware
published a blog post about City Owl which you can read here. It's a complex
ongoing situation and one we are monitoring but I wouldn’t submit to City Owl
without spending time reading the post first.
City Owl Press is a publisher of Adult and New Adult Romance and Speculative
Fiction. They publish the following sub genres: Contemporary Romance, Historical
Romance, Paranormal, and Sci Fi Romance, as well as Romantic Suspense, Time
Travel Romance, Dark Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy.
They are explicitly not interested in work in the dystopian, gaslamp, steampunk, or
contemporary fantasy genres.
The publisher was founded in 2014 and initially had some growing pains. You can
read the thread about it here. While they still pay on net rather than gross, most of the
other complaints have been dealt with. They no longer offer marketing packages
(which was always done through a separate submission process), and they have a
larger and more experienced staff. You can learn more about the staff here.
They are now also a member of the Romance Writers of America. You can read more
about that here.
The covers are very genre, but generally good.
I have not seen their contract so I cannot comment on it. But they are upfront that the
royalties are 40% on net for digital editions. After 1,000 units have sold this increases
to 50%. They offer four year contracts with six month extensions.
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The novels they are interested in are at least 50,000 words in length. They consider
novellas that are between 20,000 and 50,000 words.
All unsolicited submissions must be composed of a query and the first ten pages.
Manuscripts should be pasted into the body of the email. Formatting is not a concern.
The manuscript you are submitting must be complete. Only submit to one editor at a
time. They have a response time of under two months. Not all editors are open to
submissions, but at least two generally are.
As far as distribution goes they have two different options. One they call “wide” to all
retail planforms. They don’t go into further details about it. The other is exclusively
digitally published as part of Amazon Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, with
paperbacks available for extended distribution through Ingram as well as direct to
Amazon.
They also answer some very helpful frequently asked questions if you scroll down on
the submission guidelines. They accept previously published work as long as the
rights belong to you.
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Cleis Press
Cleis Press is the largest independent sexuality publishing company in the United
States, and they focus on LGBTQ, BDSM, romance, and erotic writing for all sexual
preferences.
They publish LGBTQ+ nonfiction as well as nonfiction on the topic of sex and
sexuality, including self-help, sexual guides, LGBTQ+ and/or women’s studies,
feminism, dating and relationships, sexual health, and memoir.
They also publish erotic fiction. You can see their complete back catalogue here.
Their covers run the gamut from good to genre appropriate, to
They have detailed and specific submission guidelines that you must follow in order
to submit. You can read them here. If you have not heard from them 10 weeks after
submitting, assume rejection. All submissions must be made via email.
I originally published this review when Absolute Writes was down, but it is now back
up, and it’s clear Cleis has had serious issues in the past, and as of 2018, did not have
an ideal contract. To learn more go here.
To get a feel for what they are releasing right now, go here.
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Codhill Press
Founded in 1998 by David Appelbaum, then editor of Parabola Magazine, Codhill

Press has always focused on publishing books for the "serious seeker", and most
books contain a spiritual element, many are still rooted in Buddhism. This includes
work of fiction, poetry (including a chapbook series), and creative nonfiction. Their
mission statement from the start has been "There is no more important function of
writing at this time than to call us to awaken. The state of siege under which human
consciousness—human conscience—is living has not abated in the time since Blake
wrote. The seriousness of the situation has only intensified. To serve our memory of
what is truly important: to that the writer should be a guide.”
They publish between four and six books a year. They also run a yearly poetry
contest. The current publisher is Susannah Appelbaum.
Because they publish so few books a year, please spend time on their site, researching
the books they previously published to ascertain if your work is a good potential fit
before submitting.
They respond to all submissions they are interested in within 90 days, and if you have
not heard back from them by that time, assume rejection.
They do not disclose who their distributor is.
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Coffeetown Press
Coffeetown Press is a literary and non-fiction imprint owned by Epicenter Press.

They primarily publish non-fiction, as well as memoir, literary fiction, and historical
fiction.
Their books are distributed by Ingram, which isn’t ideal. Though, they also work with
a variety of book wholesalers, which is helpful.
Their books do tend to sell well online and receive positive reviews. It's good to get a
feel for what they publish by visiting their website here. I do not generally like the
appearance of their book covers, but this may be a matter of personal preference.
For memoir and nonfiction they ask for an introduction, outline, and the first
consecutive 50 pages. For literary and historical fiction they ask for the first 50
consecutive pages, a biography, and promotional information.
They will not consider work that has been previously published unless it was
published by a traditional press, and has gone out of print. If that is the case they have
additional guidelines to follow. Please check the website.
They prefer manuscripts to be between 70,000 and 100,000 words in length, but
books between 50,000 and 70,000 words will still be considered.
Their PDF outlining submission guidelines is here.
They accept submissions via email and have submission guidelines that you should be
sure to follow. You can read the full guidelines here.
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Dancing Lemur Press
Dancing Lemur Press is a small US Press that has been actively publishing work
since 2009. They are based in North Carolina and seem to regularly participate in
local events.
They don't have active distribution, which is to say that although they are distributed
with Ingram, Ingram is not actively involved in placing their books in bookstores. On
their about page they also don't disclose who works there.
Their main page focuses on promoting books versus recruiting authors, which is a
good starting point. Their covers strike me as not particularly good, but you can judge
for yourself here.
They are generally open to the following genres:
Science fiction: Prefer adventure/space opera and military genres.

Fantasy - Paranormal: Prefer paranormal, open to others.
Middle Grade: All genres, especially historical. No picture books - chapter books
only.
Christian: Inspirational and contemporary fiction.
They specify that "Salacious, negative, and R-rated material will not be considered."
They also won't consider "memoirs, YA outside of contemporary, westerns, lbgtq+,
poetry, text books, business, spiritual outside of Christianity, adult romance, strong
horror, etc."
To me the ban on LGBTQ+ submitters stands out as not a good sign. Although most
Christian publishers do not accept content containing LGBTQ+ material they do not
explicitly state it. I was conflicted about reviewing this press because of this.
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They accept submissions via post and email. They say that they have between a 2 and
4 week response time, which is very fast. They also run an imprint called Freedom
Fox which is for more marketing savvy writers, and has different guidelines.
The submission guidelines also ask that you include a marketing plan. This makes it
clear that ultimately the author holds most of the responsibility for marketing when
publishing them. You can review their full submission guidelines here. You must
follow all of their submission guidelines to get a response.
They are not open to submissions at the time of this update.
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Double Dagger Books
Double Dagger Books is a small press based in Toronto. They only publish military
and security-focused fiction and nonfiction works. While based in Canada, they are
happy to publish international authors and are open to international submissions.
They publish books with genre-appropriate covers. They appear to be reasonably

active on their blog and social media. I'm not sure who their distributor is.
Currently they are seeking work that falls into one of the following categories:
• military fiction (Think everything from Robert Heinlein to Bernard Cornwell)

• military biographies or memoirs
• military and national security-related history
• books on military theory and tactics, modern or historical
• battlefield guides
• Military-themed graphic novels
• guides or references for collectors of militaria, modellers, wargamers and
reenactors
You can get a feel for what they have previously published by visiting their catalog
here.
They do not consider manuscripts that are over 100,000 words. They are also not
interested in previously self-published work without substantial changes that would
encourage a reader to buy a new edition.
They ask that interested authors send a query letter and sample chapters in the body
of an email.
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Encircle Publications
Encircle Publications is a small press that focuses primarily on publishing mainstream

fiction and mystery novels. But they also publish some other genres including poetry.
They've only been around since 2016, but they've published a fair number of books at
this point.
They started out only publishing mystery novels, but one of the owners is a long-time
editor of a poetry journal. You can find out more about the staff, which is small, here.
The covers are a mixed bag, some are polished and appealing, others are dated and
amateurish. You can get a feel for what they have published in the past here.
The website is focused on recruiting readers rather than writers which is a good sign,
but there's no information about distribution, which is frustrating.
It's important to note that they also offer Author Services that involve a fee. This is
completely separate from their publishing company. If they try to charge you money
or redirect you towards the service side please report them to us right away by
emailing support@authorspublish.com.
Currently they state they are closed to submissions for now. You can check to see if
they are open to new submissions, by going here.
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Familius
Familius is a newer publisher, established in the last few years, but the head editor is
established and has a good track record of working at other publishing companies.
They were also recently acquired by the established publisher Workman, which
already has a number of other imprints in this market. Workman has excellent
distribution.
Familius publishes ebooks, apps, audiobooks, videos, and more.
The books they publish cover a wide range of topics and are for varied audiences.
They publish nonfiction for adults, often aimed at healthy eating, and family values.
They also publish fiction and nonfiction for children of all ages including young
adults.
You can get a good feel for the range of work they publish by viewing their catalog
here.
The books they publish tend to focus on families, although the books they publish
acknowledge and reflect the fact that no two families are the same, and different
families have different components.
Their submission guidelines are detailed and it is important to follow them exactly.
They accept online and postal submissions but they only respond if interested.
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Farrago
Farrago, is an imprint of Duckworth Publishing (please read if you're considering

submitting to Farrago). Farrago's tagline is "fiction to make you smile". All of the
work they publish from mysteries to science fiction, have humor at the core. They do
not publish memoir. You can get a good feeling for what they publish here. Through
their website they only sell eBooks but print versions are available on other sites.
They have good distribution and are available at most mainstream UK booksellers.
The covers of their work are well designed and genre appropriate.
They ask that all submissions be made via email and include the following:
• A one page synopsis

• Two to three sample chapters, or better yet the completed manuscript
• Your CV outlining your writing experience
To learn their submission email address go here.
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GemmaMedia
GemmaMedia is an independent publisher that has managed to get a fair amount of

distribution. GemmaMedia focuses largely on literacy, and improving reading, which
includes publishing work for Hi-Lo readers.
They are not interested in books outside of these genres.
GemmaMedia has been around for 10 years now. They appear to operate on a very
traditional contract based system, however how much they would offer a writer in
terms of royalties is unknown.
The covers are well done and many of the books are blurbed by established writers
and academics which is a very good sign. Most books they publish appear to be
between 150-250 pages in length. They seem to publish around 8 or so books a year,
which means that they only accept a very limited amount of manuscripts.
They are currently only open to submissions for their open door series for adult and
young adult literacy. All the books in this series appear to be fiction. Their
requirements for this series are as follows.
• topics of relevance to adults and young adults improving their reading

• 10,000 words or fewer
• clearly identified narrative. Tell a story!
• second- to fourth-grade reading level (We can help.)
• short sentences and frequent chapter breaks
They accept submissions of query letters through email only, they are not interested
in submissions by post. They try to respond to most queries within a month, and if
you have not heard back from them in two months, you should email them again to
inquire about the submission of your status.
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To learn more or to submit visit, their website here. Because of the specificity of their
niche markets it is very helpful to browse the books listed in their shop before
submitting.
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Flame Tree Press
Flame Tree Press is an imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Flame Tree Press focuses
on publishing speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror and crime fiction.
They have been around for a couple years now and have good distribution in the US
and the UK. I have seen their books at brick and mortar bookstores on numerous
occasions.
In 2023 Hachette UK recently announced that they became a shareholder of Flame

Tree Publishing. Hachette UK has been the companies distributor for a while now.
Their covers are generally excellent. Their website is a little overwhelming and
difficult to navigate. Some parts of the submission guidelines are confusing and
contradictory. They mention having a viewable contract, but the link to it links to the
website as a whole, and I was not able to find one.
This is particularly important because the contract has some issues, which you can
read about here, but hopefully they are being resolved. Approach with caution
because of that.
They are looking for novels that are between 70,000 and 120,000 words in length.
While they do prefer previously unpublished work they will consider previously
released titles (self published or traditionally published), as long as all rights belong
to the author.
They ask that you submit your whole manuscript. They have detailed submission
guidelines you can see here. You can see what fiction they've published in the past
here.
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Flashpoint Publications
Regal Crest Enterprises historically specialized in publishing books of interest to

lesbian readers but now their focus has expanded to include gay readers. As of 2021
they re-branded as Flashpoint Publications and they are now focused on publishing
LGBTQ+ work. They mostly publish popular fiction, but they have also published
short stories, essays, and anthologies. They have a non-fiction imprint as well.
Writers who have worked with them have generally good things to say, particularly
about the editing and cover design process. They have been around a long time now
and they have a reputation for always paying their royalties promptly.
They do not do much in terms of marketing, but it helps that they have such a
specialized niche, because readers often follow the publisher when they know what to
expect. Their website is outdated in terms of appearance, but it is reader friendly and
it is very well organized. It is a good idea to get a feel for what they publish here.
They do not accept simultaneous submissions although they try to have a reasonably
fast turn-around time. Their submission guidelines are very thorough and detailed so
make sure you review them and double check your submission before submitting.
They are now accepting submissions of novella length stories which they were not
earlier.
To learn more or to submit, visit their site here.
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Gibbs Smith
Gibbs Smith is an established publisher with good distribution and a focus on cook
books, interior design and architecture books, and board books for children. They
have published a number of bestsellers, including a board book version of Pride &
Prejudice. Gibbs Smith is primarily a non-fiction publisher which is just now entering
the fiction market for adults and middle readers.
For small children they publish activity books, picture books, and board books. They
have already had a fair amount of success in this genre. They are currently accepting
submissions in a genre which is new to them, historical fiction for adults and middle
grade readers.
They accept all submissions via email, and do not accept any mailed submissions.
They have different email addresses for different categories of submissions and have
specific requirements for each one, so please read carefully about the category you
are considering submitting to. Some categories require full manuscripts, others
partial.
They do not respond to submissions they are not interested in. If you have not heard
from them in 12 weeks, it is safe to assume they are not interested in your manuscript.
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Handheld Press
Handheld Press is a UK-based press that is currently open to submissions of reprints

(books that were traditionally published but have since gone out of print), and works
of research-based nonfiction.
You can get a good feel for what they publish here. They have good distribution in
the UK, and their books can be purchased internationally online.
They have specific forms that are PDF formatted to download and fill out, in terms of
submitting your research-based book, or reprint. Make sure that the work you are
submitting meets all their carefully outlined requirements. Do not submit your work if
it does not meet their requirements.
They respond to most submissions within three months and you are welcome to query
after that.
They are closed to submissions at this time. To learn more about submitting in the
future, visit their website here.
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Hera
Hera is a female-led, independent digital publisher. They focus exclusively on

publishing commercial books, including psychological suspense, police procedural,
and thrillers, romance, and glamorous contemporary fiction.
They were founded in 2018 and published their first book in January 2019. Their
books generally have excellent and engaging covers.
Hera is based in the UK and run by Keshini Naidoo, formerly of Avon (HarperCollins
UK) and Bookouture, and Lindsey Mooney, who has worked on digital strategy at
Hachette and Random House, and has worked directly with a number of eBook
companies.
They are currently seeking crime and thriller, romance, saga, and general fiction.
Do not submit the following because they are not interested in it - non fiction, young
adult or children’s fiction, poetry, or science fiction and fantasy.
Please respect and follow all of their submission guidelines.
They offer all authors 50% royalties on net. Authors receive detailed edits, as well as
website and social media support.
They ask that you send a one-page synopsis, the whole manuscript as a Word
document, and contact details via email.
They promise to respond to all submissions they receive and they try to do that within
12 weeks.
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Ig Publishing
Ig Publishing is a New York based small press that focuses on publishing literary
fiction and progressive political nonfiction. The books they've published have won or
been honorable mentions for many major awards, and are frequently mentioned on
"best of" year end lists.
While they are not open to unsolicited manuscripts they do accept unsolicited queries,
although they ask that they be made via email. This means that you can send them
your query letter directly, but not your manuscript or an excerpt of it. They will only
get in contact with you if they are interested in seeing more.
You should only submit your query after thoroughly investigating the site and seeing
if it is a good fit for your work. Reviewing the titles they have most recently
published can be the most helpful in terms of that.
They also have an imprint focused on children’s books as well as YA.
They have excellent distribution, terrific covers, and a well laid out website. The
books they have published have been featured or mentioned in most major North
American news sources.
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Immedium
Immedium was founded in 2004 and is led by experienced professionals, who have
written critically acclaimed books, marketed print and digital media, and sold #1
nationwide best-sellers. Aquanauts, a series of books they published, was turned into
a successful TV show for children.
Immedium is interested in three types of books, according to their website, and is

specific about the kind of stories they want (and do not want):
1. Children's Picture Books:

The general format is 32-pages with color illustrations for ages 4-8 or 6-10.
2. Asian-American:
Contemporary viewpoints on our evolving national identity, and changes that have
universal resonance.
3. Arts and Culture:

Cutting-edge commentary on the intersection of popular culture, social trends, and
our modern lifestyle.
We seek writers, illustrators, and artists who have provocative tales to tell and the
talent to convey them. A publisher's responsibility is to marry words with pictures to
create a unique message. So please do not submit proposals that duplicate our existing
books. Also do not submit children's picture books which you consider to be
complete with "finished art", since we want the flexibility to help improve and refine
your concept.
There were two things on their website that made me a little worried. The first is that
they had a Kickstarter campaign for one of their forthcoming books. What I mean by
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this is that they use Kickstarter, a crowd funding website to raise money to help
publish their book. In exchange the individuals who help fund the book get rewards
depending on how much they contribute. The reward details are outlined on the
Kickstarter website but in the case of fundraising for books, the prizes often include
copies of the book. So, in a roundabout way it can be a lot like pre-sales. Bestselling
books and established publishers (like McSweeney's) have started to make using
Kickstarter more common in publishing. However, it is still rather unusual for an
established publisher to go this route.
The other is this sentence on their website: "Therefore our standard book contracts
include royalties, though some projects may require work for hire compensation".
But that said their books looked wonderful and I recognized a number of their titles.
They seem to do a good job promoting their books and understanding marketing.
They ask that all submissions include a cover letter, a proposal, and a resume, as well
as a sample of your story or illustration.
To learn more, please visit their website here.
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Kensington Publishing
This large independent publisher is based out of New York. They publish a wide
variety of mainstream fiction and nonfiction books, with a particular focus on
romance. They publish an average of 600 books a year, so they accept a lot more
submissions than most independent publishers.
To get a good feeling for what they have previously published this is a good place to
start. As far as I can tell, they are interested in most genres except hard science
fiction. They publish a particularly large range of romance, from Amish romance to
LGBTQ. They also publish a lot of historical fiction.
To submit, query first. If they are not interested in your query, you will not hear back
from them. Do not attach the manuscript or the proposal to your query. If your
manuscript is requested, it should be submitted as a Word document. It should be
typed in 12-point font, double-spaced, and paginated. Include title and author in the
file name.
The way that querying works is that you read through the list of editors, and then you
submit directly to the one that most directly matches your manuscript, via their email
address.
Kensington Press runs a number of imprints that are all accessible through this
querying system, except for one, Lyrical Press. We have reviewed Lyrical Press here.
To learn more about querying Kensington visit this page.
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Legend Press
Legend Press is a UK based independent press open to direct and agented

submissions. They publish contemporary fiction and crime fiction (largely
psychological and political thrillers). They do not publish any work that falls outside
of these genres. You can get a good feel for what they publish by visiting their
website here. They’ve published some very popular books, including The Lost
Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
Years ago Legend Press was linked with a vanity publishing outfit that had issues
with payment and distribution. This is clearly not good and you can learn more about
it here. All this happened over five years ago, but it is important to take into
consideration.
All submissions must be made via email. Your submission must include the
following, according to their website:
• Why you think Legend Press is the right publisher for you
• Details of any previous publications
• Details of any competition successes
• At least two comparable titles i.e. books that have been published in the last
five years that are similar in style, subject matter and/or readership
• A detailed synopsis
• The first three chapters of your manuscript (as an attachment)
They take up to six months to respond to a submission. They ask that you only
contact them during this time if you sign with a literary agent or receive an offer from
another press.
To see their submission guidelines go here. They are currently closed to submissions
but in the past have been open to submissions in the early fall.
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Literary Wanderlust
Literary Wanderlust is a Denver based independent publisher. They were founded in

2014 and they publish print and digital books.
They currently are only open to publishing the following genres:
Adult Romance (all sub-genres and heat levels)
Women’s Fiction
Historical and Western Fiction
Adult Paranormal and Urban Fantasy
Adult Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Fiction
Adult LGBTQ
YA and Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
You can get a feel for what they publish here. They do not publish books aimed at
children.
They pay higher royalties than the big 5 publishers, according to their website, but
they do not specify how much. They expect authors to help promote their book, and
they speak of publicizing work as a partnership. They do however have a publicist
listed on staff, and that is a good sign. You can learn more about their staff as a whole
here.
Most of the books have well designed and appealing covers. The website is focused
on selling books to readers rather than recruiting new writers, which is a good sign.
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I was not able to find who their distributor is.
Submissions must be made through their electronic submission manager. You can
learn more about their submission process here.
Do not submit books that have been previously self-published.
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Lyrical Press
Lyrical Press is an electronic only imprint of Kensington, a large independent

publisher. Kensington and Lyrical both publish mainstream novels and seem to put a
fair amount of pressure on the author to promote their books. They publish a large
number of books per year.
Lyrical publishes books in all romance genres (specifically suspense and historical
novels with unique settings), compelling psychological suspense fiction, thrillers,
women’s fiction, new adult, and cozy mysteries. They publish novellas, serials, and
novels – all in eBook format.
I have heard mixed things about Lyrical, but many authors have had good experiences
with them and have worked with them for years, not just for one book but for several,
which in and of itself is a good sign. They work with agented and unagented authors.
I do not love the way their website is laid out, but it is easy to buy books on it, which
is ultimately the most important thing.
When you submit to Lyrical you must go through the submissions manager.
If you do not hear back about your query in three months, consider your manuscript
rejected. From what I have heard they do often offer personal rejections. To learn
more, visit their website here.
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Mirror World
Mirror World bills itself as a publisher of "escapism fiction for all ages". They
publish both eBooks and paperbacks in a variety of genres, many that fall under the
larger speculative fiction umbrella including portal fiction, speculative fiction,
fantasy, science fiction and paranormal works. They are also open to romance,
adventure, comedy, historical, and cross genre/multi genre work. However there are
lots of subgenres they are not interested in, even of these genres and I go into that
later on. Please make sure they are open to your sub-genre before submitting.
They accept novels (up to 125,000 words) and novellas (25,000 words), as well as
graphic novels, children's books, or illustrated mixed media as long as you already
have art to go with it. They publish a wide range of work including stories with
LGBTQ themes and diverse stories within the aforementioned genres.
There are also a lot of things they don't publish, including nonfiction of any kind,
including memoirs and autobiographies, literary fiction, self-help fiction, hard or
military science fiction, religious fiction of any kind, contemporary fiction including
contemporary romance, poetry or short fiction, translated work that was previously
published elsewhere, or shifter stories (including werewolves and vampires). They
don't publish straight up Horror / Thriller / Suspense / True crime / Mystery books but
if your work contains elements of these genres that is fine.
You can get a feel for what they publish here. Their covers are pretty hit and miss for
me.
Mirror World was founded in 2015 and the individuals who started it did not have
any previous experience in terms of publishing. They started out focused on
publishing titles from Musa, a press that went under. There are some additional minor
concerns about Mirror World when it was first starting out, listed here, at the
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Absolute Write Water Cooler. Of particular note, one of the founders Justine Alley
Dowsett, is also one the authors. This is not uncommon for small genre presses but
it's still something to keep in mind.
They only have one submission period a year. It usually opens on October 1st and
closes on November 30th. They don't list a time of day they close on November 30th,
so try to submit on the earlier side of things if they are a good fit.
If you submit, they ask that you include a query letter, a one-page synopsis, the first
three chapters, and a sample of the art if applicable. All submissions must be made
via email.
It is important to note that they accept previously published work as long as all the
rights have reverted to you.
They offer 50% royalties but it is based on net earnings rather than gross. They allow
simultaneous submissions and try and reply to everyone within 4-6 weeks.
I do not think they have traditional distribution beyond Ingram but I may be wrong.
If you are interested in submitting, please read and follow their guidelines here. They
usually have one reading period a year. They were closed to submissions during the
most recent update of the guide.
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Monkfish
Monkfish is an independent press that focuses on publishing religious, spiritual, and

literary books from a diverse range of perspectives. They have published memoirs,
fiction, scholarly works, poetry manuscripts, and wisdom literature, which you can
get a better feel for by downloading the catalog here. They publish debut authors, as
well as backlist work. They are based in Rhinebeck, NY.
Monkfish books are distributed in the US by Consortium Book Sales and

Distribution. In Canada they are distributed by Publishers Group Canada and
Raincoast. Beyond that they are distributed by Macmillan. I have seen their books in
bookstores, personally.
They do not work aimed at Children. If you think your work would be a good fit for
them, please query first with a brief description of the work, any advance
endorsements the book has received, a short author bio, and an explanation of why
you think Monkfish is the right publisher for your work. This means you should
spend time with their catalogue and ideally their books, before submitting.
Only query with completed manuscripts. If they are interested they will ask for the
complete manuscript and a book proposal, which should "include a 250 word
description of the book, a 100-150 word author bio that includes previous titles
published, and an explanation as to why the author is the right person to write the
book submitted. It should also include similar titles published within the last five
years with an explanation as to how your book is different. Lastly, the book proposal
should also include a marketing plan which focuses on the resources you, as the
author, can bring to the marketing of your book."
They only respond to submissions they are interested in.
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They accept submissions via mail, reluctantly, and much preferred emailed
submissions.
To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here.
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NineStar Press
NineStar Press is an LGBTQA+ ePublisher based out of New Mexico that was
founded in 2015. They primarily publish romance and erotica but are also interested
in literary works about characters that are generally under-represented in fiction, for
example ace, aro, trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, bi, pan, etc. They are also interested
in genre-bending and fusion genres.
For a small press I really appreciate how much is spelled out on their 'about us' page.
They have bios and links not only to the editors but to the cover artist and copy editor.
They have a rather large staff for such a small press.
They accept previously self-published and previously traditionally published works as

long as the author holds all the rights.
Also it is good to note that they apparently have many re-occurring authors which is a
good sign, and they seem to take editing very seriously.
Their website is well organized, and their covers are generally good. They seem to
have some clear ideas about marketing as well.
They are currently seeking submissions of LGBTQA+ romance fiction, and literary
novels, and erotica shorts. They have separate guidelines for romance, and literary
fiction so please review those carefully.
All submissions must be made through email and it is important to follow their
specific guidelines. Their full submission guidelines are available here.
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All submissions must have an LGBTQA+ main character and be a complete

manuscript. Submissions that do not follow that rule will be deleted and not
responded to. All other submissions will be responded to within 16 weeks.
To get a better feel for the press, visit their home page here.
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Nobrow Press and Flying Eye
Nobrow Press is a respected publisher of graphic novels and Flying Eye is their
children's book imprint. Flying Eye publishes both fiction and nonfiction picture
books. Nobrow Press and Flying Eye are both different from what we normally
review because they are looking for either an author/illustrator or an already formed
author-illustrator pair with a book to pitch. They do seem to make exceptions, but for
the most part they are not interested in matching illustrators with authors.
Nobrow Press and Flying Eye are both known for their wonderful covers, attention to
detail, and great illustrations. Reviewing their catalog should give you a good idea of
what they are interested in publishing.
For picture books, they require a brief synopsis of the story. They accept submissions
for picture books between 24 pages and 32 pages in length. Children's non-fiction
books can be up to 90 pages. They require that you send the complete first draft of
your text. If you are an illustrator/author or part of an illustrator and author duo, you
should include two finished double page spreads.
For graphic novels, they require a full synopsis of the story. If you are an
illustrator/author or an illustrator and author duo, please send a minimum of 10
finished pages of the book.
All submissions must be made through email.
Read their submission guidelines here.
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The O'Brien Press
The O'Brien Press is an established and respected publisher that is based in Ireland.
They favour Irish voices, but are open to international submissions. They publish
nonfiction for adults, and fiction and nonfiction for children.
They share this list under the heading, what we are excited about.
Adult Non-Fiction: Humour, sport, photography, Irish history and other Irish-interest
titles.
Children’s Non-Fiction: We’re open to almost any topic or theme – although we do

ask that it has some particular relevance for Irish children.
Children’s Fiction: We’re looking for great stories across all age groups, from
picture books to Young Adult Fiction. There are no limits here and we’re always
hoping for our next great children’s book to emerge from the submissions process.
We especially enjoy historical fiction (you can see the periods covered by our
children’s fiction here: obrien.ie/childrens/history-through-fiction), contemporary
stories, humour, fantasy, mysteries and adventure. We’d also like, as much as is
possible, to see a diverse range of characters appear in these stories – in terms of
background, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical abilities, etc.
If you are submitting to them from outside of Ireland, I would make sure to spend
even more time with their catalogue and buy and read a book or two to make sure you
are a good fit.
I cannot stress this enough, but please do not submit, particularly if you live outside
of Ireland, unless you feel like your work is a particularly good fit. We have had a
number of presses close to direct submissions because of mass submissions recently.
Mass submissions rarely, if ever, result in your manuscript being accepted.
They are particularly looking for work from diverse backgrounds (BAME, LGBTQ+,
authors with disabilities, etc.) and New Irish voices.
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They have good distribution within Ireland and internationally. They prefer electronic
submissions via email but will accept postal submissions as well.
They usually respond within 8-10 weeks but under current circumstances these goals
are less likely to be met. They ask submitters to be patient.
They ask that you send a cover letter, synopsis, and full manuscript via email. To
learn more please visit their website here.
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One More Chapter
One More Chapter, HarperCollins UK’s award-winning digital-first publisher, is

currently open to submissions. They focus on publishing commercial fiction. Because
they are a digital-first publisher, even though they are based in the UK, their eBooks
and audiobooks are accessible globally. They don't have any mentioned geographic
limitations in terms of submitting authors either, which is why we are reviewing
them.
They are currently open to the following genres:
• Crime & Thriller

• Historical
• Romance (spicy, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, erotica)
• Contemporary
• YA/Crossover/Adult Fantasy
• Romantasy
• Horror
You can get a feel for what they've published in the past by going to their main page
here. You can learn more about their editors here.
The one section of their website that I found lacking was the fact that they never fully
explain what they mean by digital-first, because the term has been used by publishers
and imprints over the years to mean many things. Sometimes it would mean that the
book would only be available in print format later on if a certain number of copies
were sold, other times print publication were guaranteed but print on demand only.
Please keep this in mind if you only want to work with a publisher that will print your
book, although as an eBook publisher, it's clear they do a good job in terms of
marketing and sales.
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To read their full submission guidelines, please visit their submittable page here. In
March they reached their submission cap by the 15th, which limits the amount of
submissions they can receive per month. Usually when a submission cap is reached
the page switches over and it is clear they are not open to submissions. This did not
happen and there was no way to tell that they were closed to submissions without
filling out and attempting to submit the form. This is unusual and hopefully won’t
happen again.
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Owl Canyon Press
Owl Canyon Press is an independent publisher based out of Boulder, Colorado. They
were founded in 2011. They publish fiction, nonfiction, young adult fiction, and
works in translation. It's easy to get a feel for what sort of work they publish by
browsing their catalog.
They have local distribution, but outside of Colorado, I suspect you have to order
online, based on the information available online and browsing my own local
bookstore.
The covers are a solid mix. None are terrible, but most are not great. The website is
aimed at readers not writers, which is always a good sign. They don't reveal much in
the way of staff or staff experience, which would have been helpful.
They are not open to submissions at this time. To check if they’ve reopened to
submissions visit their guidelines here.
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Page Street Publishing
Page Street Publishing is a publisher of full color, mostly hardcover, gift books,
cookbooks, and craft-books. Most of them have an important visual component. To
get a good feeling for what they have published in the past you can go here. They are
distributed through Macmillan in every country but Canada (where they have a
different distributor). They publish around sixty titles a year.
Page Street Publishing has also started to focus on publishing children's and young
adult books
They have a strong marketing plan, both online and off, and they have received a lot
of attention for the work, by a number of news organizations, including NPR.
All submissions should be made through emails. They only respond to submissions
they are interested in seeing more of. It takes them no more than three months to
respond. More detailed information on submitting to them is below.
Young Adult Fiction
“Please include a query (1 page) with the first three chapters of your manuscript in
the body of your email. Your query must contain: 1) a book synopsis that includes
your novel's pitch, word count, and classification (literary, historical, fantasy,
mystery, etc); and 2) an author bio that describes your occupation, publishing history,
social media presence, and any other relevant information that pertains to your
manuscript (including any endorsements, if applicable). If you are represented by an
agent or plan to be, please note this in your author bio. All submissions must be
edited and proofread. Ideally, your manuscript's length is 60-90K words and your
protagonist is 15-18 years old.”
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In this section of their website there is a link that says “Call for YA Proposals for
Marginalized Creators.” This link has now been broken for over half a year. But
everything else on the site is working.
Nonfiction
“Potential authors interested in submitting their work for consideration should include
an author bio, a short synopsis (no more than a page) of their book concept and
approach, samples of their work (recipes/projects/writing sample) if applicable, and
any notable media hits or press features. If you are represented by an agent or plan to
be, please note that they need to be part of the conversation from the start.”
Horror Fiction (Adult)
This is a new genre for them. They ask that you submit three chapters and a query
including a book synopsis and an author bio.
To learn more about submitting to them, please visit their full submission guidelines
page here.
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Pan Macmillan Australia
Pan Macmillan Australia is open to direct submissions. They are the Australian
imprint of Macmillan, one of the big five publishers. This is the only way to submit to
Macmillan directly. They have excellent distribution in Australia. They publish
commercial fiction including women’s fiction, romance, thriller, crime, historical,
humor, paranormal, fantasy, as well as literary fiction and nonfiction, children's and
young adult books, and commercial non-fiction ranging from memoir to diet.
They used to only be open to submissions on the first Monday of every month, but
they are now open to submissions year round, though there is no guarantee this will
remain their policy.
They ask that you send the first 50 pages of your manuscript, along with a synopsis
that is no more than 300 words in length, as separate Word or PDF documents. You
can submit multiple manuscripts as long as they are not in the same series.
They have additional questions outlined on their form, and you can see and review
the questions at any time. The form does not only appear when they are open to
submissions.
All submissions are made through their easy to use submission manager. To learn
more go to their website here.
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Pelican Publishing Company
Pelican Publishing Company is a publisher based out of New Orleans. They have
been around for a long time and they published William Faulkner's first trade
paperback book. They have a back list of over 2,500 titles. They publish around 30
titles a year. They now focus on publishing adult nonfiction, including art/architecture
books, cooking/cookbooks, culture, biography, humor, music, sports, and young adult
fiction and nonfiction including regional history, biography, and adventure. They also
publish young adult books, and middle readers focused on regional history, cooking,
and adventure. They also publish juvenile picture books that cover holidays, regional
history, biography, and adventure.
They were purchased by Arcadia Publishing in 2019 and at first there were no major
changes, but now their web presence has shifted to the Arcadia website and they’ve
changed some of their genre requirements. Since the move their covers have
generally improved. Browsing through their catalog does help you get a feel for what
they publish, and what they say sells. You can access their catalog here.
They have very detailed submission guidelines that you should review thoroughly
before submitting. They have separate guidelines for children's picture books, but all
other books have the same guidelines.
To learn more, read their submission guidelines here.
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Polis Books
Polis Books is an independent publisher of fiction and nonfiction, founded in 2013.

Their focus is on publishing new voices. They are a technologically driven company.
They publish print and digital books.
Polis Books was founded by Jason Pinter. Mr. Pinter had over a decade of experience
in editorial, marketing and publicity for a variety of publishers including Random
House, St. Martin's Press, and The Mysterious Press.
Polis Books offers a small advance to every author they publish. They negotiate
royalties on a book by book basis. They have good distribution and I have seen their
books in brick and mortar bookstores.
In terms of fiction they are currently accepting mystery (including cozies, thrillers,
procedural, and suspense books), science fiction, women's fiction, contemporary
literature, horror, romance, and erotica. They also publish YA.
In terms of nonfiction they are open to submissions of humor/essays,

memoir/biography, sports, and pop culture.
They are not interested in submissions outside of these categories. They ask that
authors submit the first three chapters of their work along with a query letter. If you
have not heard from them after 12 weeks, it is safe to assume rejection. They only
email authors if they are interested in reading more. This is unfortunate but becoming
more of a standard practice across the publishing industry.
The query letter and the chapters should be word attachments and not placed in the
body of the submission email. All submissions must be made via email.
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You can read their full submission guidelines here. You can learn more about the
company as a whole here.
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PM Press
PM Press is an independent, radical publisher of books and media. It was founded in

2007 by AK Press founder Ramsey Kanaan and several other members of AK Press.
The goal of PM Press is to amplify the voices of radical authors, artists, and activists,
and they publish a wide range of material, from speculative fiction anthologies, to
coloring books to nonfiction work on mutual aid and unschooling.
You can see books they've recently published here. Many of the authors they've
published are famous and well regarded, or experts in a niche field.
At the very top of their submission guidelines they warn that they are scheduled
pretty tightly for the next two years, but they are still open to submissions. As they
put it: "We are accepting submissions, though to be honest, we’re pretty much booked
for two years. We will, however, take a look at what you send us and get back to you.
There’s always a chance, but just so you know, it’s pretty slim."
They try to respond to all submissions within two months. They accept submissions
via email and the post, but vastly prefer emailed submissions.
Their submission guidelines are comprehensive and detail oriented. You can learn
more about them here. Please follow them carefully.
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Princeton Architectural Press
Princeton Architectural Press is a small press that focuses on publishing books on

architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture. They also publish
beautiful stationary and children's books. They are based in New York. In 2009 they
were bought by McEvoy Group. They are now a sister company to Chronicle Books.
They have excellent distribution through Chronicle Books. The books they publish
are available in libraries and in bookstores. Their work is always exceptionally
designed and it really stands out. My daughter is a big fan of their children's books
and we own a number of them.
They are open to direct submissions of nonfiction in the following categories:

architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, graphic design, visual culture,
photography, craft, and gardening. Books can be aimed at a professional or general
audience. They have clear proposal outlines posted on their website.
Princeton Architectural Press publishes under twelve children’s books a year. They
publish fiction and general nonfiction picture books aimed at children ages three to
eight. Unlike most small presses it is important to note that they only consider
submissions that include both text and illustrations. Do not submit without
illustrations.
They also publish stationary and gifts.
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Quirk Books
This Philadelphia based press publishes just 25 books a year in a whole range of
genres, from children's books to nonfiction to science fiction. Unlike most publishers
that tackle a large range of topics, Quirk books has a clear marketing plan and to a
certain degree their books have a cohesive feel, because they all are quirky.
They have published a wide variety of best sellers and they have excellent
distribution. Some of their bestsellers include The Last Policeman, Miss Peregrine's
Home for Peculiar Children, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. You probably
recognize more of the books they have published, you might even own a few.
Their covers are excellent. Their website is well organized. Even better, from a
potential submitter’s perspective, their submission guidelines are clear.
They also post calls for authors of “Quirk generated ideas”. They are actively seeking
submissions for two of these ideas right now, they are listed above the editors on the
submissions guidelines page.
They used to be quick in terms of response times. However, for the last year or so
they appear to have only responded to queries they are interested in learning more
about. So, if you do not hear from them, keep that in mind. Only query one editor at a
time. They ask that you do not follow up if you do not hear from them.
To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here. They are currently closed to
unsolicited submissions but plan to reopen.
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Radix Media
Radix Media describes themselves as "prioritizing the voices of typically

marginalized communities to get to the root of the human experience. The name
Radix comes from the Latin root of the word radical, meaning to get to the root."
They are currently accepting manuscripts for Full-Length Poetry, Chapbooks,

Novellas, and Visual Narratives, as well as manuscript excerpts for Novels, Essay
Collections, and Memoirs. They state "We especially love stories that intersect with
progressive/radical politics and social justice". Please do not submit any work to them
that does not fit within the scope of what they publish. You can get a better feel for
what they have published in the past here.
They have very specific submissions guidelines that you must follow to the letter,
here.
They started out in 2010 with custom made stationery and short runs of political
pamphlets, but in 2018 expanded into literary publishing. All of their titles are edited,
typeset, designed, and produced in-house, and the covers are very impressive.
They are still also a commercial print shop, offering offset, letterpress, and digital
printing services - but if you submit to the traditional press, and get redirected to
digital publishing services, please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com. It
is becoming more commonplace to offer paid services as well as traditional
publishing, and it is OK, as long as the publisher does not re-direct submitting authors
from traditional options to paid one.
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Rogue Phoenix Press
Founded in 2008 by a mother and son team, Rogue Phoenix Press is one of the few
eBook focused and Print on Demand publishers that survived from that period.
There’s an extensive thread on them in the water cooler at Absolute Writes that is
very informative. They originally forced authors to buy copies of their own book, but
that clause very much seems to have gone by the wayside, it still seems like an option
to buy print on demand copies, but is in no way a requirement according to this page.
The thread at the water cooler goes along with a lot of my feelings about the site and
the publisher, which is still active and regularly publishing new work, so it is very
much worth reading. Christine Young is the co-owner, and as you can see based on
their new releases section, the author they publish the most frequently.
On their submission guidelines page they list a wide range of genres, and specify that
they are open to others as well.
They’ve also clearly updated their submission guidelines recently, as this note is
included “We do not accept manuscripts partially or completely generated by AI
(artificial intelligence) software such as ChatGPT.”
They are not going to place work in brick-and-mortar bookstores, and all of the
promotion is up to the author.
Their complete submission guidelines are here. At the time of this update they were
not open to submissions.
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Roxane Gay Books
Roxane Gay Books is a new imprint of Grove Atlantic. Roxane Gay has written about
this new imprint here. Roxane Gay is the award-winning and bestselling author of a
number of books including Hunger and Bad Feminist. She’s a respected essayist,
professor of writing, and one of the original co-founders of PANK.
Roxane Gay Books accepts submissions from both agented and unagented writers at
least once a year, usually during the summer.
This is what Roxane Gay has to say about what she plans to publish:
“I am going to publish books I love from interesting writers. That could, of course,
mean anything. I am looking for beautifully written, compelling books that challenge,
delight, and entertain readers. I love literary fiction but your story has to have an
interesting plot. Things have to happen. I want books I simply cannot put down and
that, when I finish, I can’t stop thinking about. I love stories about difficult women. I
welcome your so-called unlikable protagonists. I enjoy dark, gritty stories but I am
also open to happy, joyful but unsentimental stories that reflect faith in the overall
goodness of humanity.”
Roxane Gay Books prioritizes underrepresented writers.
The imprint will publish novels, short fiction, memoir, essay collections, and
nonfiction. She adds the additional disclaimer, “Most genres are welcome but my
tastes skew to not only literary fiction but contemporary romance, and science fiction
and fantasy. I am always open to being surprised but I will not likely be drawn to
stories about sad white people marriages or autofiction. I am not interested in police
propaganda narratives. Historical fiction, Westerns and the like will be a hard sell and
there are other imprints that are a better fit for those stories.”
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Additional information about what she is looking for is available here. It should be
read carefully and thoroughly before you submit. All submissions will be responded
to, although not personally.
Submissions must be submitted via Submittable. Response times should be between

three and six months. There is no official deadline in which the imprint will close for
submissions. She’s made it clear that it will not always be open to direct submissions,
and that it depends on volume. If the imprint closes to submissions because of this
review that is very understandable, and it may well open again soon. Please check
back.
To learn more about their submission guidelines, go here. At the time of this update
they were only open to agented submissions but they plan to reopen in June 2024.
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Santa Monica Press
Santa Monica Press was established in 1993 and initially focused only on publishing
non-fiction with a focus on regional books.
They've since expanded, and they now publish within the follow categories:
Biography & Memoir, California, Film, Theater, & TV, Humor, Music, Pop Culture,
Reference & Social Sciences, Sports, Travel as well as Young Adult Fiction
(Historical Fiction only), and Young Adult Narrative Non-Fiction (both
Contemporary and Historical Narrative Non-Fiction).
They are not interested in submissions outside of these categories. Get a good idea for
what they've published within these categories by browsing their catalogue here.
In the US they are distributed by Publishers Group West, and in Canada their books
can be ordered through Publishers Group Canada.
They try to respond to all proposals within two months. They accept proposals via
mail or email, although they have separate mailing guidelines for international
submissions which you can read as part of their full submission guidelines.
When you submit please include a query letter, a table of contents or outline, two
sample paragraphs, sample illustrations or photographs (if applicable), a brief list of
similar titles, a marketing/publicity plan or ideas for one, description of your books
target audience, biographical information that makes it clear why you are the right
author for the proposed book, plus contact info.
Complete submission guidelines are available here, and must be followed closely
before submitting. They are not open to submissions currently.
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Sapere Books
They are accepting submissions of crime fiction, mystery, thrillers, romantic fiction,
women's fiction, historical fiction, history, and historical biographies, as well as
action and adventure books. You can submit unpublished manuscripts or out-of-print
titles.
They are a print and digital publisher with a focus on thorough editing, good covers,
and a fair royalty rate. They say that they have an individual marketing plan for every
book they publish, but their more recent publications don't have as many reviews or
sales on Amazon.
Still they seem to do a good job in terms of editing (from the samples I've read), and
covers. Their website is focused on selling books, not recruiting authors, which is
always a good sign.
It's good to get an idea for what they publish by browsing their back catalog here.
They also have detailed information about employees listed here.
Thanks to a wonderful reader finding this article, I now know they were founded in
2018.
They ask that you submit the first 10,000 words of your work, which is a lot longer
than the standard first 20 pages.
They are currently closed to fontlist books, but are open to submissions of books that
have gone out of print. You can learn more and submit here.
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Shadow Mountain
Shadow Mountain is an imprint of Deseret Books. Both publishers have their roots in
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but Deseret Books focuses more on
producing faith-based content. Shadow Mountain publishes primarily fiction and they
have published a number of New York Times bestselling books. Because the
company is run by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
books have to be approved by in-house censors in order to be published. They are
very firm about publishing "clean books only". However the authors need not be
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Only the Ensign Peak imprint of Shadow Mountain focuses on books that are
religious in nature. Even the Ensign Peak books are intended for a general,
nondenominational audience. Ensign Peak is no longer open to unagented
submissions.
While they publish general fiction and nonfiction books for all ages, a lot of what
they sell is aimed at middle grade readers, or could be categorized as clean romance.
They are not interested in considering books in the following genres: business and
finance, family histories/personal journals, religion, or poetry.
They have a special section of the site devoted to their New York Times Bestselling
books and it is easy to see that the majority of them are middle grade fantasy books.
They have good distribution, a good website, and good covers.
Shadow Mountain uses Submittable to manage their submissions. All submissions

must be made through them. They try to respond to all submissions between 12 and
16 weeks.
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As of 2022 they are only open to submissions for the following periods, presumably
on an annual basis:
• March 1 through March 7

• June 1 through June 7
• September 1 through September 7
• December 1 through December 7
Submitters must query first and then only submit a full manuscript on request. Learn
more here.
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Schaffner Press
Schaffner is an established press with distribution through IPG. They publish literary
fiction, short fiction collections, and crime fiction. They also publish a wide variety of
non-fiction including memoir, autobiography, biography, journalistic expose or
narrative, true crime, art, culture, pop culture, world history, current events, science,
and music.
Schaffner Press is owned and managed by a former literary agent.
They publish a lot of work by established writers, but they do work with new authors
as well.
Their website is easy to navigate and the book covers are generally excellent. The
focus is on selling books. It's easy to get a feel for what they are interested in
publishing by browsing their catalog.
They consider manuscripts between 60,000 – 100,000 words.
If you are submitting you must query first via email. If they are interested they will
contact you and ask you to submit the full manuscript via the post. They try to
respond to submissions quickly if they are interested.
Their full submission guidelines are here.
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Small Town Girl
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press committed to

discovering writers from the American South, but they are also open to good fiction,
regardless of where the author is based. They were founded in 2018. They publish a
wide range of genres including women's fiction, historical fiction, romance, mystery
(including thrillers and cozies), upmarket, thriller, suspense, science fiction, fantasy,
horror, supernatural, and young adult.
They just started a new imprint called Small Town Girl. They are looking for
manuscripts that take place in or about the 80's. Fiction and non-fiction is allowed.
When you submit they ask that you include a query letter, synopsis, first chapter,
author bio, as well as a marketing plan. The marketing plan should discuss your
author platform, its scope, and the ways in which you plan to reach potential
reviewers and readers. Please link to your website, social media, etc. They are also
interested in any other promotional opportunities you have access to.
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Stone Pier Press
Stone Pier Press is a niche publisher that describes themselves as "an environmental
publishing company with a food focus". They are a San Francisco based non-profit
that is focused towards a climate-friendly food system. They say they do this by
"publishing good books about good food and producing solutions-oriented news and
tips. Much of our focus is on how to grow, eat, and dispose of food in a way that’s
good for the planet."
They are partnered with the established publisher Chelsea Green to distribute their
books. We've reviewed Chelsea Green here. Chelsea Green has come under fire for
publishing medical misinformation, as well as other issues which you can learn about
here. Of course this sort of information does seem outside of Stone Pier Press's focus
and mission, but it is still worth knowing before proceeding.
The three primary categories of work they publish are children's Books, cookbooks,
and gardening books. You can visit their catalogue here. Although on their
submissions page they say "We are accepting books in the following categories:
narrative nonfiction, memoirs, guidebooks, biographies, young adult fiction, and
literary fiction. We will consider cookbooks as well."
Of course all of these categories have to be tied to food and the environment.
At this time it is important to note that they are not accepting children's books, which
is a note at the end of their submission guidelines.
Entries should include the first two chapters of a manuscript plus a cover letter
introducing yourself and whether or not you’ve been published. They are only
interested in electronic submissions, which must be made via email.
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The Story Plant
The Story Plant was founded in 2008 by two editors with industry experience, Lou
Aronica and Peter Miller. In 2013 they were acquired by Studio Digital CT, LLC, a
limited liability company headed by Lou Aronica. It is now run by Aronica and
Mitchell Maxwell.
The Story Plant focuses on publishing commercial fiction. They have published a
number of USA bestsellers and they cover a whole range of genres, from romance to
sci-fi, to mainstream fiction. The covers also vary in terms of quality. Some are very
well done, while others struggle. To get a feel for their catalogue go here. Authors do
seem to work with them repeatedly, which is generally a good sign. It is important to
note that The Story Plant has published Maxwell's (one of the editor's) work.
They are distributed by the National Book Network.
There are a number of articles about the press, and you can read them here, here, and
here.
Queries should be made via email, and you can learn more about that here. Please
only submit if you think your work is a good fit.
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Sword and Silk
Sword and Silk bills itself as "a small traditional publisher of a variety of genres
focused on uplifting and supporting womxn everywhere."
They published their first book in June 2021, so they've actively published work for
over a year, both in print and electronic formats. You can get a feel for what they are
currently focused on publishing here.
They are actively involved in marketing, both in terms of their books and their brand
as a small press. They have a podcast and a street team. You can learn about these
things in the FAQ section of their site. It is important to note that they have a fairly
large staff for a small press, and that staff includes a marketing director who is listed
first.
They do accept work from male authors, they just ask that the novel has strong
women written well. They encourage submissions from trans, non-binary and gender
fluid individuals, as well as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled writers.
One of the things that stands out about Sword and Silk is they do accept previously
self-published work as long as all the rights still belong to you.
This is the list of genres they are currently the most interested in:
• Gripping mystery/thriller (especially women sleuths)

• Ghostly paranormal (all levels of spice and romance)
• Horror novels with just the right amount of creepiness
• Contemporary Romance with unique concepts
• Adult Fantasy Romance with spice and whimsy
• LGBTIA+ and other intersectionalities in underserved genres such as fantasy
and contemporary romance
• #ownvoices (ND, chronically ill, disabled, BIPOC, etc) stories of all kinds
woven into plots that pack a punch
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They publish work aimed at young adults, new adults, and adults. They are one of the
few publishers that are specifically seeking new adult fiction.
Their complete submission guidelines are here. All submissions must be made
through their submissions portal. They were closed to submission during this round of
updating the guide.
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TCK Publishing
TCK Publishing was founded in 2011 by Tom Corson-Knowles. Tom Corson-

Knowles is also an author and has published a number of his own books through TCK
Publishing. It's not clear if he started TCK Publishing as a way to self-publish, but it
is clear that TCK has moved past that, publishing many books, on a number subjects,
by many authors.
TCK Publishing describes themselves by saying: "We publish fiction and non-fiction
eBooks, print books, and audio books in all major genres and niches." While this is
technically true, they mostly publish general nonfiction and business nonfiction.
These appear to be the books they have the most experience selling. In most of the
fiction genres, only two to four books are listed, many books showing up in multiple
categories. They've published more historical romance than any other genre, and still
only ten books are listed at the time of reviewing. They have previously published
about ten books a year, and are now planning on publishing approximately twenty
books a year.
Originally the TCK Publishing website was focused entirely on recruiting authors,
rather than readers, both in terms of submitting manuscripts and in attending their
courses. In the past few years they have switched away from this method and now
their website is reader focused, although they still do offer courses, and the section of
the website geared towards writers is still significant. For example when you click on
the nonfiction authors section, you do not get a list of the nonfiction authors they
represent, but a pitch for the reader to submit their nonfiction manuscript. It includes
a mention of how many nonfiction books they have sold and resources for potential
authors. They do not offer similar stats for fiction writers, but they do have other
resources. This is not standard practice, and I assume this was also part of their
former author geared site.
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TCK Publishing has reached out to me to request that I list them more than any other
publishing company, over the past five years. Originally I declined because of the
focus of the website and some concerns raised here that have been largely resolved
recently, when they changed their method for calculating royalties (You can see the
full breakdown of how they now structure royalties here). They are very forward
about promoting themselves, but as long as this is also happening in terms of the
books they are publishing it is not necessarily a bad thing. They also do talk a fair
amount about marketing in terms of writers, which is a good thing.
They also have made it clear that they now offer intensive editing to the books they
accept, which was a previous sticking point. Their distribution is Ingram, which is not
particularly helpful. It means a local bookstore could special order your work, but it is
unlikely to be on the shelves otherwise.
You can learn more about their submission guidelines here. At the time of this update
they were closed to fiction submissions.
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Tell-Tale Publishing
Tell-Tale Publishing is a small press founded in 2009. They seem to focus primarily
on eBooks but they also have print options (largely print on demand). They publish
six imprints which include Dahlia (Romance, and various romance subgenres),
Stargazer (fantasy, steampunk), Nightshade (horror), Casablanca (mystery), Thistle
(middle school, YA, New Adult), and Deja Vu (reprints for all genres).
All of the genres have separate, detailed submission guidelines, so review those
before submitting. Many also spell out their expectations in terms of genre and
subgenre.
They have an active Facebook page with a fair number of followers and their website
seems geared towards readers. That said, I find their website to be poorly designed
and the font colors they have chosen to use on particular pages (about us for
example), beyond confusing. I don’t like the way their bookstore is organized as it
does not focus attention on their most recently published work, although thankfully
their landing page does.
Their covers are mixed, leaning towards not very good, but they are mostly in genres
I don't read, like romance and horror. I am not really the covers' target audience.
On their website there is evidence that they don't believe in the Oxford comma, and I
found that off-putting. Although they say they believe in them in their style guide,
much of their website does not reflect that.
They do however have a style guide on their submission page, and submissions are
made online through an easy to use form.
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Three Rooms Press
Three Rooms Press is an independent press that is inspired by "Diversity, Dada,

Punk, and Passion". They were founded in 1994. They have good distribution and
I’ve encountered their books in libraries and bookstores. You can learn more about
their history here.
They stress that. “Our press is inspired by diversity, dada, punk, and passion: please
keep this in mind when submitting.”
They publish literary fiction, nonfiction including memoirs, and YA. They are not
interested in collections of poems, short stories or essays.
The books they are interested in publishing are over 65,000 words in length. I
recommend reviewing their catalog before querying.
This is what they say they are most interested in seeing:
• Authentic stories written from diverse perspectives, across all genres (see
Disasterama by Alvin Orloff).
• YA Fiction with fully realized casts of characters, including female,
LGBTQ+, and underrepresented leads (see Quiver by Julia Watts)
• Unique, brilliant, and extremely well-written punk rock memoirs and

biographies (see Punk Avenue by Phil Marcade)
• Inventive riffs on existing genres, particularly noir and cyberpunk (see
Scavenger by Christopher Chambers)
• Biographies of unusually noteworthy people and events that deserve a place in
history books (see BAD: The Autobiography of James Carr)
• Diversely populated worlds, including those with speculative elements (see
The Door to Inferna by Rishab Borah)
• Imaginative and innovative plots, particularly YA and adult novels exploring
friendship and coming-of-age (see Nirvana Is Here by Aaron Hamburger)
• Reimaginations of folktales, legends, and fables (see Tink and Wendy by
Kelly Ann Jacobson)
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Include the following with your proposal:
• 1-2 paragraph synopsis of your book

• Why Three Rooms Press is a good fit for you
• At least 3-4 similar books published within the past two years
• A basic marketing plan and a description of how you can contribute to
publicity
• The first three chapters of your book, or at least 50 pages
They do make it very clear they are not interested in seeing full manuscripts at this
stage.
If you have not heard from them in eight weeks, assume rejection. They do not
respond to submissions they are not interested in.
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Tin House
Tin House is an established and respected small press. They used to be responsible
for one of the most respected and established literary journals, although that closed a
few years ago. They still run residencies, workshops, and bookstore in Portland, Or.
They still publish a wide variety of respected and admired books, including some
bestsellers. They publish fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and poetry. This includes essay
and short story collections, as well as novels. They also are open to graphic nonfiction
and graphic novels.
They have excellent distribution, have published some of my favorite books in the
last decade, and publish books with appealing covers. They recently brought on one
of my favorite writers, Hanif Abdurraqib, as their Editor-at-Large, and he will acquire
three nonfiction books a year for them.
This is what Abdurraqib has said about what he's searching for:
“My world was built reading writers who wrote, relentlessly, away from the
comfortable center and into the so-called ‘margins,’ where one could be a little more
free, a little more playful, a lot braver. Punk writers who scrawled things in zines,
aspiring rappers who filled notebooks that few people would ever read, and so on.
This is the work that renews me and that challenges my own writing.”⁠
In the past decade they have not really been open to unsolicited submissions, but
recently they have announced that they will be open to three submission periods a
year for fee-free submissions in the hopes of finding more previously
underrepresented writers including "—but not limited to—those who are Black,
Indigenous, POC, disabled, neurodivergent, trans and LGBTQIA+, debuting after 40,
and without an MFA."
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In order to submit you must not currently have an agent, and you cannot have
previously published a book (although chapbooks are permissible).
They are closing to submissions through the rest of 2024 to catch up on work, but
plan to reopen to submissions again in 2025.
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Tiny Fox Press
Founded in 2015 as a collective of writers, Tiny Fox Press originally focused on

publishing work by the editors. This is a form of self- publishing, but they have
branched out since then, although they are still publishing some books by the editors.
They have a regularly updated blog, a well-organized website, and some excellent
covers as well as some mediocre ones. Their About Us page conveys a lot about
editors and preferences in a helpful way, and it makes it clear that some of them have
experience, but it doesn't disclose much about the structure of the company, or its
origin story (I was able to find that out the little I know here).
They publish print and eBooks at the rate of 1-3 new authors a year. They offer an
advance and they say they offer competitive royalties, but the details are sparse and
mentioned here. They don't mention a distributor, so I assume if they have one it is
Ingram.
This is what they mention being most interested in currently, specifically with series
potential:
Fantasy — Fairy-tale Retellings, Authrian, Gaslamp, Humorous, Urban
SciFi — Steam Punk, Space Opera, Post Apoc, Humorous
YA — Something fun, adventurous and with plenty of magic
They also note “Another 10 pts — Dark Romance minus the vamps, Cozy Fantasy /
Cozy-Sweet Witchy, Something Studio Ghibli-ish”
They will also consider, under the right circumstances, the following genres: Magical
Realism, Historical Fiction, Funny/Satirical Cozy Mysteries, Commercial, Bizarre.
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Do not submit if your work is not a good fit for them. Reviewing their catalogue is
also helpful.
They ask that you submit the first 10 pages and a query letter in the body of an email.
They will not open attachments. If you have not heard from them in three months,
they encourage you to query.
Please follow their guidelines carefully and do not submit to them unless you feel like
your work is a good fit.
Their complete submission guidelines are here.
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Tule Publishing
Tule Publishing started out as a romance epublisher with multiple imprints. Many of
their books have sold well on Amazon. Most books they have published have at least
25 positive reviews. They have published bestselling and award winning authors.
They publish a wide variety of romance including western, paranormal, and holiday.
They now have expanded into mystery. They have a new imprint that focuses on
publishing mystery books (with and without romance elements). They publish
everything from thrillers to cozy mysteries.
Their website focuses on selling books to readers. It is easy to navigate and up to

date. They sell eBooks in bundles on their website and one of their goals appears to
be to encourage readers to be loyal to them as a publishing house.
They also have a newsletter for readers that promotes new books that they have
published. They actively encourage people to subscribe. There are sign up options all
over their website.
Tule Publishing is very upfront about the fact that they pay others for professional
editing, cover art, formatting, e-conversion, marketing support, and social media.
They want their authors to have a social media following or a back list of previously
published romance titles.
Tule Publishing predominantly focuses on ePublishing with a few select print titles.
Their eBooks are formatted for the Kindle, but also for other eReaders including the
Nook and Kobo.
They have a number of imprints with different goals and specifications, but
submissions to all romance imprints have to have a central romance plot with a
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happily ever after, or (less preferable) a happy for now ending. Submissions to all
imprints must either be a novella (35k-45K words), a short novel (54k-60k words) or
a long novel (60K-100k words).
They are very interested in stories with series potential.
To submit, familiarize yourself with their imprints (not all are currently open to
submissions, but most are). Make sure you state the imprint your manuscript is for in
an email. Include a bio with relevant links. Also submit a synopsis of your book and a
first chapter. All submissions must be made via email.
They re-opened to submissions on September 5th, and added these two notes about
publication timing:
MYSTERY TIMING: Please note that our mystery editorial calendar is completely
full for 2024. We are still accepting for 2025 and beyond.
ROMANCE TIMING: Please note that our editorial calendar is completely full for
2024. American Hearts, Holiday, Montana Born, and Texas Born are still accepting
for 2025.
To learn more, visit their main page here. To learn more about submitting visit their
guidelines page here.
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Turner Books
Turner publishes books in a wide range of categories and formats—fiction and non-
fiction. They publish mainly in print but have electronic options as well. They are a
major independent publishing house that has a number of imprints. They publish
everything from mystery to self help books.
They have published a number of well-known authors and bestselling books. They
have good distribution. Their website is easy to navigate and well designed.
All submissions must be made through email. They are open to agented or unagented
submissions. They will contact you if they are interested, otherwise do not expect to
hear from them. They are rather blunt about that. Unfortunately, they do not have any
information around average turnaround time, but they allow simultaneous
submissions.
To learn more about them I really encourage you to browse their catalog.
You can see their submission guidelines here.
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Ylva Publishing
Ylva Publishing is the home of lesbian fiction and fiction about women-loving-
women, and not surprisingly given the context, they only publish women. They
mainly publish in the romance genre, but they are open to other genres, including
historical fiction, crime, action, mystery, young adult, and erotica.
They state: "We want our books to have a rich diversity and we’re committed to
representing authors from a wide variety of backgrounds, both already published and
due in the coming year. We actively encourage submissions by authors of color and
writers with disabilities. Writers of any religion, nationality, and age are welcome at
Ylva." Which covers a lot of ground, but doesn't make it clear if they accept work by
non-binary writers. I have assumed, because they have not stated otherwise, that they
are open to the writing of trans women authors.
They do not disclose any details in terms of royalties, and they do not mention
advances. They make it clear that the pressure is placed on the author to self promote
their work. Their covers are mostly mediocre, but fit within genre expectations. You
can get a feel for what they most recently published here. They have started to
produce audiobooks which is great.
They try to respond to all submissions within 8-12 weeks, and have specific
manuscript formatting guidelines you should follow.
You can read their full manuscript submission guidelines here.
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Vine Leaves Press
Vine Leaves Press is an international press with staff in the United States, Germany,
Greece, England, and beyond. They were founded in 2011 as a literary journal and
started publishing vignette collections in 2014. Vine Leaves Press publishes books in
a variety of genres including memoirs, coming of age, literary and multi-genre
novels, poetry and short story collections, and reference books. If you sign up for
their email newsletter on their landing page you are sent a digital sampler of past
publications.
They are currently open to submissions but their publishing schedule is currently full
through mid 2026, so only submit if you are fine with a publication date after that
point.
They have a very polished and well executed website. Personally I struggle a little
with the video aspect of many of the pages and find it distracting, but I am sure it
appeals to others.
They are print on demand with no traditional distribution. Their website is very much
geared towards readers rather than writers and they are clearly actively trying to build
their email list, which is always a good sign.
A number of the books they have published are in fact written by the Publisher,
Publishing Director, and Publishing Associate. Still about 20% of the books they have
published were written by people on the masthead of the press, although a number of
these individuals were hired by the press after their books were published.
Their covers are a little mixed but mostly impressive. They offer royalties 40% of net
which is preferable, but that might be minus distribution charge, which is presented in
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a kind of confusing way in the FAQs. Although a percentage of net is very much
preferable to of gross.
They have very detailed FAQ and submission guidelines and all authors must be at
least moderately active on a wide range of social media. They go into the details of
why in the FAQs.
Please follow all of their submission guidelines. To learn more, go here. They are
closed to new submissions till October 2024.
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Wesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press focuses on poetry, music, dance, science fiction studies,
film-TV, and Connecticut history and culture. They have been actively publishing
since 1957. Books they have published have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National
Book Award. They are an established and respected university press.
Currently they are accepting proposals for books in the areas of dance and music.
They are also open to submissions for their Hartford Books Imprint, which publishes
nonfiction work focused on Hartford, Connecticut, you can see the three previous
titles they've published in this series here.
Poetry submissions are currently closed.
Please inquire by email and include the following:
• cover letter
• a table of contents
• a sample chapter or two
• the anticipated length of the manuscript
• the anticipated date of completion (if still a work-in-progress)
• anticipated market for your book
• cv
Do not submit your completed manuscript unless they have directly requested it.
To learn more, you can see their submission guidelines here.
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Wildhouse Press
Wildhouse Press (WHP) is a small press based in Boston. They started actively
publishing work in 2021. Their tagline is “Adventurous Spirituality – for
unconventional people.” According to the website the press was founded by Wesley
J. Wildman.
They currently have published seven works of nonfiction, and one work of fiction,
and have clear plans to expand into poetry, although please note that their first poetry
chapbook contest has a fee attached. None of their other imprints charge a fee at this
time and it is not unusual to charge for contests.
Because they are a new press, and lean towards non-fiction there are a couple of
things on the site that are a little unusual, and might qualify as orange flags.
The first is the services section. To be clear they are not actually offering “editing
services” at a cost here – which many publishers do, but they are making it clear that
they don’t seem to know that the services section usually consists of on a publishers
website. They actually make it very clear in this section that they are a traditional
press and authors are paid varying amounts depending on how much help they need.
They refer to an author writing their own work as the conventional acquisitions
channel. If an author needs to partner with an editor at WHP they call this the
partnership acquisition channel. Both options involve royalties. This is what they
have to say about royalties “For the conventional acquisitions channel, royalties are
set at 15% of net revenue on each print copy sold and 30% of net revenue on each e-
copy and audiobook sold. For the partnership acquisitions channel, which is much
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more expensive for WHP, author royalties are set at 5% of net revenue on each print
copy sold and 20% of net revenue on each e-copy and audiobook sold.”
To be clear, off net is not ideal, but is pretty standard for small presses.
Also at the bottom of the Services page there is a little note that says this “WHP helps
authors embarking publishing journeys by curating information about the highest
quality services available. For queries about any additional help you need, please
contact us using the form on the contact page or by emailing your WHP contact. We
can point you in the right direction.” And this is a little unusual.
Generally, though, the signs are good. They have an extensive staff page. Their
covers are good. Their submission guidelines are clear. All submissions must be made
through Submittable.
To learn more you can go here. Please respect their submission guidelines.
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Woodhall Press
Woodhall Press is a small press. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They
are distributed by IPG. They have a detailed staff page, and some of their staff
members do have an excellent track record, albeit in different markets. They seem to
actively promote their own books, through events and social media. Their covers are
good, and their website is well organized. I could not see when they were first
founded, and the books they published were not listed in order. The oldest book I
found was published in 2020.
An source of concern for me is Wild Pine, which is editorial services that they offer.
A number of small presses have similar services, and that in and of itself is
acceptable. It's just that some publishers who do so re-direct submissions from their
traditional publishing imprint to their self publishing arm, which is not acceptable.
You can get a good feel for what they publish here. They were very much focused on
selling books versus recruiting authors, which is always a good sign.
Since this review went out, it has been made clear to me that they have asked to see a
lot of full manuscripts (which is unusual), and that they also expect authors whose
work they've requested a full manuscript from to answer a tip sheet, with marketing
information, etc.
Only a very small number of people were offered a contract after that, and the
contract I saw was relatively standard with royalty percentages on the lower end for a
small press.
To learn more, please go here, and please follow their submission guidelines here.
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Yale University Press
Yale University Press (YUP), like most university presses, is open to direct
submissions and manuscript proposals. Yale University Press was established in 1909
and you can learn more about their history here. You can see their current catalog
here.
When you submit to YUP, submit to only one editor. The editors are listed here.
Please do your research before picking which one to submit to.
They only focus on publishing non-fiction, outside of the Margellos World Republic
of Letters, an award-winning series of global literature in translation. That is overseen
by Abigail Storch who says, " I welcome proposals for fiction (novels and short
stories); poetry; interpretive, literary nonfiction; and genre-bending work in
translation from any region of the world. I am drawn to literary works that grapple
with enduring questions at the heart of what it means to be a human being, in
relationship with other human beings and the natural world."
Like most academic presses they are seeking qualified experts in their particular field
to write books on that topic. For that reason they ask you submit a CV along with a
more traditional submission packet.
To learn more of the details involved in submitting or proposing work to them, please
go here. Please carefully review their submission guidelines before submitting.
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Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Publishers
Science fiction, horror, and fantasy are interesting markets. Historically even imprints
of the Big Five traditional publishers are often open to general submissions.
A number of respected and established independent publishers actually prefer

submissions from authors without agents. It’s a little different from most markets.
Although a number of science fiction imprints and publishers closed or closed to

unagented submissions at the start of the pandemic, and the genre as a whole seems to
be shifting more and more towards agented submissions.
Some of the multi-genre publishers are also open to science fiction and fantasy, so
make sure to check that section as well. If your science fiction and/or fantasy book is
aimed at children or young adults, you should focus on that section.
Some of the publishers in this section accept submissions in all three genres, some in
two of the three, and some, only one of the three.
There has been a real increase in publishers focused on horror, or who now accept
horror in addition to other genres.
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Angry Robot
Angry Robot is a respected science fiction and fantasy publisher that occasionally
dips into related genres (such as urban fantasy, steampunk, and horror). Angry Robot
was originally funded by HarperCollins. They offer advances and good royalty rates.
The contract they offer covers print, e-book, and audio book rights.
They are based in the UK but have excellent distribution in the US, Australia, New
Zealand, and the UK. They have published several well-known authors including
Chuck Wendig and K.W. Jeter. Books they have published have gone on to win
major awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, as well as the Hugo,
Prometheus, Aurealis, and Ditmar awards.
Angry Robot has one open reading period a year, where they consider unsolicited and
unagented manuscripts. They have not yet announced when their open reading period
will be, but it is always listed on their website and on social media. Please monitor
both if you are interested.
A number of the award-winning books they have published were discovered during
previous open reading periods. They have not announced their next open reading
period yet. When the founding editor Marc Gascoigne stepped down there was some
fear that they would not keep the open reading period, but they have committed to it.
Beyond normal marketing measures, they also have an effective way of connecting
with their fan base which is called the “Robot Army”, a street team of bloggers,
reviewers and influential commentators from the science fiction world.
Before you submit, make sure you read all their guidelines here.
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At the time of this update they are closed to submissions from unagented authors,
except for Black authors. You can learn the details about that call here.
To get a better sense of what they have published previously, browse their catalog
here.
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Android Press
Android Press is a new small press based in Eugene, Oregon. This is how they
describe their mission: "uplifting author and creator voices from marginalized
communities and the Global South, Android Press publishes science fiction, fantasy,
and light horror specializing in climate fiction and the various -punk subgenres. We
love stories that are rooted in hope and optimism, as well as stories that hold up a
mirror to our society, forcing us to reexamine our past and our values in order to
move forward and build a better future."
Android Press published their first book in August 2022. So they are on the newer
end of presses we will review. But they have been steadily publishing books since
then, as well as Solarpunk Magazine. They have also launched Imagitopia, a fantasy
fiction digital zine and podcast. Solarpunk has used Kickstarters for funding, but I'm
not sure the other projects have.
According to their submission guidelines they will remain open to submissions till
they have filled their publishing schedule through 2024. They are asking for first
world English, electronic, print, and audio rights. They pay royalties of 30% but do
not specify if it is off gross or net. I could not find a distributor. Their covers are
generally great.
If you are interested in submitting to them, please spend time with their editors
manuscript wishlists, as well as their shop, and their submission guidelines.
They also add:
"We love climate fiction as well as rebellious and revolutionary -punk genres.
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In addition, we would love to see the following in our submission inbox:
• Stories written by Indigenous, BIPOC, womxn, immigrant, and

LGBTQIA2+ authors that bring their valuable cultural perspectives and
experiences to the science fiction and fantasy worlds, and to solutions for
building a better world.
• Stories that have protagonists from marginalized communities and plots that
center those communities.
• Stories that take place in non-Western geographic and cultural settings.
• Stories of unlikely allies that have at least some focus on the complexities of
that difficult relationship.
• Stories set in far-flung, distant futures and/or set in space in which the
characters are connected to Old Earth through myths or legends that are
important to their communities and worlds.
• Stories in which nature becomes a character in its own right.
• Stories that center nonhumans and that depict humans learning to relate to
nonhumans in ways not rooted in domination and power dynamics."
Please only submit to them if you think your work is a good fit in terms of what they
have previously published and expressed interest in. Also make sure you spend time
with their list of hard no's, which at the time of updating include:
• First books in a series that don't work as standalone stories.

• Stories with solutions that are greenwashing, capitalist, or rooted in uncritical
consumerism.
• Stories depicting monarchies, colonialism, imperialism, fascism, or other
forms of authoritarianism in an uncritical way.
• Stories depicting racism, white supremacy, sexism, cis-heteronormativity,
ableism, or fatphobia in an uncritical way.
• Gratuitous violence, especially if is targeted against any marginalized group.
• Gore. If it's truly integral to plot or character and it only occurs sporadically,
then we might consider it.
• Porn or erotica. Eroticism and sex that is in service of the story is fine, but if
it's the focus of your manuscript or takes up an inordinate amount of space,
there are other publishers out there who publish such work.
• Picture books or Middle Grade novels. It's not that we won't ever publish
these, but if we do, it'll probably be by solicitation only.
• Epic/Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. Again, it's not that you won't see books like
this from us, but it's not something we'll take open submissions for.
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They are currently open to query proposal submissions for novellas, novels, comic
books, and graphic novels, and closed to submissions of short story anthologies and
collections.
Please read their submission guidelines carefully before submitting and please follow
all their guidelines.
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Aqueduct Press
Aqueduct Press was founded in 2004. Their motto is "Bringing Challenging Feminist
Science Fiction to the Demanding Reader". They go into more details in their mission
statement that you can read here.
You can get a feel for what they publish by going to their home page here. Their
focus is very much on promoting the work they publish, not recruiting authors. Both
their website and the covers of the work they publish, are basic, but well formatted
and easy to interact with. They pair each cover image with a blurb endorsing the
book, and most of these blurbs are well chosen.
They are open to novels of any length, as long as they are feminist science fiction, as
well as original novellas poetry and prose work for their Conversation Pieces series.
This work must be between 20,000 and 35,000 words in length.
Clearly this is a specialized press, and so if your work does not fit their stated needs,
please don't submit it, or even reach out to them. They are open, on a case by case
basis to nonfiction and short fiction collections, but you must query first. Please note
they have different email addresses for querying and submissions.
They ask that you submit electronically either as .doc or as rtf if you do not have
Word. They ask for a cover letter that introduces you and your work to date,
including links to your website or other locations online that focus on your work.
They also ask for a synopsis that is not more than 2 pages single spaced.
They have strict formatting guidelines for the document itself that they outline here.
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Aqueduct Press does not appear to have distribution and most of their titles don't have
many listed reviews on Amazon.
To learn more and potentially submit, go here.
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Baen
Baen is one of the best known publishers of Science Fiction and Fantasy books. They
are one of the few established publishers that will accept full length manuscripts from
authors that do not have an agent. They do not need to see any history of publication
either. As long as your book is Science Fiction or Fantasy they will consider
publishing it.
In 2020 Author Jason Sanford started investigating the situation at Baen’s Bar, the
private forum of Baen Books, after hearing that it was being used increasingly to
advocate for political violence. You can read his report here. Baen has temporarily
placed the forum on hiatus in a reaction to this report. They have since reopened it. I
have not seen any updated reports from Jason Sanford since then. This situation is
something to take into consideration if you are considering submitting.
If you are a genre writer, you have likely read many books that Baen has published
and therefore have a good idea of what they are looking for. They are most interested
in Science Fiction stories with "powerful plots with solid scientific and philosophical
underpinnings are the sine qua non for consideration for science fiction submissions.
As for fantasy, any magical system must be both rigorously coherent and integral to
the plot, and overall the work must at least strive for originality."
They prefer to publish books with a clean unobtrusive writing style. They do not
specify how much they pay authors, but they are one of the few recommended
publishers by the website Predator & Editor, and so they probably pay their writers at
or above the market rate.
Baen prefers books to be between 100,000 - 130,000 words in length but they will
consider books that are shorter than that. They prefer to not receive query letters and
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only ask that your manuscript is accompanied by a synopsis. Baen prefers online
submissions through their easy to use submission manager.
It takes them between nine and twelve months to respond to submissions because
they receive such a high volume. So keep that in mind when submitting. They also
prefer that you submit your work just to them, but if your work is accepted elsewhere
they would like to be notified as soon as possible.
To learn more or submit, visit their website here.
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Brain Jar Press
Brain Jar Press is a Brisbane-based publisher focused on publishing science fiction,

fantasy, horror, thriller and crime fiction, of various lengths. They also are open to
submissions as well as non-fiction works that can be tied to those genres. As a digital
first press, the bulk of the books they sell are eBooks, but they do offer print-on-
demand copies of some work.
They publish a maximum of 20 books a year.
They publish chapbook-length work that is between 4,000 and 10,00 words, novellas
which are between 10,000 and 40,000 words, and short novels that are no longer than
60,000 words, they are not interested in work that is longer that. They are also
interested in nonfiction about writing or the genres mentioned above - they say ask
yourself the question “would a relatively left-wing geek who enjoys genre fiction
enjoy this?”, and if the answer is yes, it may be worth submitting to them. If the
answer is no, you should probably not submit work to them.
They do not pay advances but say they pay a slightly higher than average royalty rate.
I do not know details beyond that.
Their website is well organized and their covers are generally terrific and very genre-
appropriate. They tend to publish multiple books by the same author, which is also a
good sign.
They do not have distribution beyond Ingram, and are upfront that most of their sales
take place through their website, in person, or elsewhere online. They do have an
international following online, according to their website.
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They have specific submission guidelines that you have to follow. They ask that if
you are submitting to established lines, like Writer Chaps, please use the series name
as part of the submission. It's a very good idea to spend time in their shop first, to
figure this out. With small presses you can learn so much about fit in general by
doing this.
All submissions must be made via email and include a query letter that covers
specific information outlined on their site, as well as a two to five page book synopsis
and the first four chapters or the first 10,000 words, whichever comes first. They have
additional notes on their submission guidelines, please follow all of them carefully.
They accept previously published work as long as the rights belong to the author.
They have specific guidelines in terms of that. They try to respond as quickly as
possible.
Please only submit to them if you feel like your project is a good fit. To read their
submission guidelines, go here.
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Candlemark & Gleam
Candlemark & Gleam is a publisher of Speculative fiction novellas, novelettes, and

novels as well as linked short story collections. They are open to publishing "Cross-
genre/interstitial and SF/F hybrid works" but have a preference for "ones with
mythic/historical echoes". They are only interested in publishing work aimed at adults
and are not a good fit for traditional horror, unmodified steampunk or anything with a
lot of explicit erotica. They link to this anthology as a good way to get a feel for what
they are most interested in publishing. They only publish a few books a year, so
please spend some time with their catalogue to determine if they are a good fit, before
submitting.
They are distributed by Ingram, which is not ideal. Their covers are generally
excellent, and some of their books have received a lot of attention, which is good for
a small press.
There is one issue in their past of note, which is that in 2014-2015, they ceased
communication with an author who had signed a contract with them, and whose book
was at the last stages of production, you can read the details of this here, if you scroll
down to the post by GayleenFroese. The editor at the time of the incident, Kate
Sullivan, the founding editor of the press, stepped down shortly after, but she is still
the lead designer, and listed on the website as such. Athena Andreadis, is the current
editor, and you can learn about her, and the rest of their staff here. Obviously a long
time has passed since 2015, and there have been no reports of this nature since then,
that I know of, but I think it's very important to approach a publisher knowing as
much as possible.
Other authors have published more than one book with them, which is generally a
good sign.
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You can learn more about their submission guidelines here. Please follow them
carefully before submitting. All submissions must be made electronically.
They are closed to submission at this time because of issues related to ChatGPT and a
full publication schedule, but they plan to reopen in the future.
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Cemetery Gates Media
Cemetery Gates Media was founded in 2015 by longtime friends John Brhel and Joe
Sullivan and focuses on publishing fantasy and supernatural fiction. Cemetery Gates
Media is based in Binghamton, New York.
They have published a number of anthologies that seemed to do well, and they have
paid all contributors. The anthologies reflect a wide range of work.
At first they were solely focused on publishing their own work outside of anthologies,
but that changed in late 2020 when they launched the Debut Horror Novel Series.
Cemetery Gates Media has excellent covers but they do not mention a print
distributor, which usually means they do not have one.
They are currently seeking submissions for 40k+ word manuscripts from authors
who’ve never published a novel. Unfortunately they do not list a deadline for
submissions. They say that they will continue to read submissions till they sign a
contract.
Their goal is to release one novel per year in this series. So far they have mostly met
this goal. The first two books in the series are as follows.
#1 – Beulah by Christi Nogle (Published Jan 25, 2022)
#2 The Briars by Stephanie Parent (Published May 2023)
It is worth learning more about these books if you are serious about submitting,
because the editors are seeking something along the same lines.
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Authors can not submit if they have published a full length manuscript in the past but
are still eligible if they have published novellas and short story collections. The
manuscript must be previously published.
They are offering a $500 signing bonus + $500 advance upon publication. As for the
royalties, 60% go to the author on physical and electronic editions of the book.
In earlier editions of this call they stressed that all authors must have two paid writing
credits. It is still mentioned that you must have two writing credits (no mention of
payment), but only briefly. Please do not submit to them unless you have two writing
credits.
To learn more about their formatting requests go here or to learn more about this
particular call for submission, go here.
They reopened to submissions on May 1st, 2023 and have not closed since then,
which is a different pattern than before, but they do appear to still be actively
publishing work.
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The Evil Cookie
The Evil Cookie is a micropress focused on publishing "gore-infested, fast-paced

novels/novellas and anthologies". It is run by K. Trap Jones, an extreme horror
author. The publishers tagline is "publishing the goriest books around".
This is a niche press focusing on a niche audience, and so it should go without saying
that you should not submit any work to them that does not fit their current catalogue
which you can see here. If your book does not include extreme violence it does not
seem like the right fit for this publisher.
Lots of writers start presses to primarily publish themselves and K. Trap Jones has
very much not done this, and has over the years published a lot of authors. He designs
the covers himself and they seem well done for the genre, and distinct. Because one
person runs everything they don't publish many books a year.
They produce audiobooks through ACX and narrators are chosen by the author and
publisher via auditions. They are a traditional press with the publisher paying via
royalties. Authors can, but don't have to, purchase copies of their book at the
wholesale cost plus shipping to sell directly. Authors do receive three print copies
upon publication.
The submission guidelines and additional details about the contract are available here.
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Fractured Mirror Publishing

Fractured Mirror Publishing is a small press founded in 2020. You can learn a little
more about their origins in their first anniversary post here. They focus on publishing
novels that fall in the speculative fiction category. This includes, but is not limited to,
the following genres: dystopian, fantasy, and science fiction.
They have been actively publishing for around two years now, and you can get a good
feel for what they are interested in by visiting their catalog here. Their covers have
really improved over time and are generally genre-appropriate. If you filter by genre
in the catalogue you can see what sub-genres of speculative fiction they've actively
published. They also talk more about their definition of speculative fiction, here.
Their FAQs contain a lot of answers, and seem to be pretty transparent. It is clear they
prioritize recruiting readers over writers, always a good sign. It's also clear that they
offer advances, however small, and that they do put some work into marketing. They
don't mention having a distributor or being based somewhere specific (although it
seems clear that they are based in the USA).
They try to respond to all submissions within a month. They are not interested in
short stories, poetry, nonfiction, memoirs or picture books. They also share this:
At the moment we would love to see:
1) Books that feature diverse voices. We believe that literature, even fantastical
literature, should reflect experiences and voices and lives from all types of people, so
we are especially excited for diverse authors, characters, and voices.
2) Books that feature characters who break the mold, heroes that aren't what they
seem, villains that are complex. We want characters who are strong and flawed and
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weak and daring. We want characters who aren't always good or bad and characters
that challenge us to look at the world differently.
3) Books for adults and young adults. We will consider some middle-grade novels as
well.
4) Either stand-alone books or ones that are part of a series.
If you want to learn more about their editors, go to the submission guidelines and
scroll down. None of them have mentioned experience, but it should be clear based
on your manuscript which editor you should pitch. If none of them seem like a good
fit, please do not query.
In the body of your email, please include a query letter where you specify which
editor you are pitching as well as and a short writing sample, that is 5 pages or 1
chapter long.
To learn more, go to their submission guidelines here. They are not open to
submissions currently but plan to reopen this year.
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Haunt Publishing
Haunt Publishing is a small Scotland-based press founded in 2018 that focuses on

publishing Gothic, Horror and Dark fiction. They are searching for work that is
"unputdownable." They have started hosting new reading periods in the summer. In
2022 this reading period was during July.
They've historically published one book a year, but this year they are planning to
publish two. You can see their back catalog here.
If they have distribution they do not list it. All their books are available in print and
eBook format, and two are also available in audiobook format.
Their submission guidelines are very detailed and helpful. They even have a
thoughtful list of books they love.
They ask that everyone who submits work includes
• A one-page covering letter that includes an author biography, a short pitch

about the book (100-ish words), and the word count.
• A 1,000-ish word synopsis that details the complete plot of your book,
including twists and ending (don’t leave us hanging!).
• Either the first three chapters or 10,000 words of your typescript (title page
too, please!).
• Please format your email subject line as: SUBMISSION: Title (Novel)
Work should ideally be between 60-120,000 words in length.
After signing the contract they offer £200 to every author, not as advance against
royalties but in acknowledgement of all the work they've put into the book. They have
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a 15% royalty rate on print sales, 50% on audiobook and ebook sales. They do not
make it clear if this is on gross or net.
They "particularly welcome submissions from the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+

communities as well as from people with disabilities and those from low-income
backgrounds."
If you want to know more about what their process looks like, you can go here. To
learn more about their submission process, go here. They are closed to submissions at
the time that the guide was updated.
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HellBound Books
HellBound Books is an independent horror press that publishes books and

anthologies. They often have open calls for anthology submissions if you want to get
a feel for them as a press before committing to submitting a full manuscript.
HellBound Books publishes novels and novellas that fall into the following genres:
Horror, Bizarro, Erotic Horror, and Dark Erotica. They are not interested in books
outside of those genres. They are based in Austin, Texas.
Their books are wildly available online but their brick and mortar availability is
limited. They have a focused niche and publish a large number of anthologies each
year, and a fair number of books.
They speak of having a focused marketing team but their FB and Instagram posts
don't seem to gain much traction. But a number of the books seem to sell very well on
Amazon and are well reviewed there and on Goodreads.
I couldn't find much about them from other sources online, but based on their site
they seem to be focused on transparency. Royalties are 25% of net. They claim to
offer extensive editing.
They are looking for full length novels between 60,000 and 120,000 words in length,
and novellas between 30,000-60,000 words in length. They are open to series
concepts as well. They are only interested in complete manuscripts.
Their full submission guidelines are here and they have additional details here. They
try to respond to all submissions within 12 weeks. Querying is encouraged after that
point.
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Hydra Publications
Hydra Publications is based in Indiana, and should not be confused with Random
House's Hydra imprint, or Hydra House, a Pacific Northwest based publisher of
speculative fiction. Hydra Publications started out publishing a wide variety of
genres, but now publish mainly speculative fiction, with a few imprints outside of
that.
Hydra also has a number of other imprints. These seem to be active to varying
degrees, but if you are interested in submitting to one of them, you can sign up to be
notified here.
Their website is a little hard to navigate and not particularly well designed. It appears
to be mostly a one-man operation, run by Tony Acree, They talk about winning the
2015 Jason Sizemore Award for Outstanding Small-Press Publisher, which they won
again in 2021. But I can't find any more information about the awards online, outside
of their site and press releases. This means I do not know if the award means
anything, or which other presses won it. I do assume that it was given out by this
Jason Sizemore.
Tony Acree has published his own books with Hydra, but he has primarily published
other authors. Most of the books they've published have reviews, which is always a
good starting point. Some of the anthologies they have published, including Writers
Workshop of Horror 2, which is forthcoming, feature major authors. They do not list
print distributors.
Hydra Publications is currently open to submissions. They are accepting works of

speculative fiction, including thriller, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and
dystopian. They are particularly interested in LitRPG submissions. If your submission
is LitRPG, please say so in the subject line. LitRPG stands for Literary Role Playing
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Game, and is a genre that combines the conventions of computer RPGs with other
genres. They list subtypes as "VR, no logout, sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, dungeon core,
harem, crunchy, light, moba, portal fantasy, town builder, and LitFPS".
All manuscripts must be a minimum of 70,000 words, but LitRPG should be around
100,000 words in length. Manuscripts can not be previously published in any format.
They need not be professionally edited but the excerpt should be relatively error free.
To learn more or read their complete submission guidelines, go here.
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Jo Fletcher Books
Jo Fletcher Books is an imprint of Quercus Publishing, the only imprint that accepts
unsolicited submissions. Jo Fletcher Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, and
horror books for adults. They are not interested in children's or young adult books, or
in short story collections or novellas.
They are established, have distribution, and have published a number of critically
acclaimed authors. You can see their catalog here to get a better idea of what they
have previously published. They seem to be interested in books that combine various
components from different genres, such as science fiction with mystery elements. The
covers are generally well designed.
Their website is well organized, although there are some redundancies. The focus is
on selling books, not on recruiting new authors.
All submissions must be made via email. Send either the first 10,000 words of your
novel or the first three chapters. They have formatting guidelines you must follow in
order for your work to be considered.
Include a cover letter and a one-page synopsis as a separate document. If you have
not heard from them six months after submitting, assume rejection. They do not
respond to submissions unless they are interested.
To learn more, read their full submission guidelines here.
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Luna Press
They generally have three limited reading periods a year.
Luna Press Publishing is a small Scottish press established in 2015, and you can learn
more about their founding here. They generally have three limited reading periods a
year each with a different focus.
They were founded by an author who did not appear to have past experience running
a publishing house, but they've made it this far. It is not clear who their distributor is,
or if they have one. You can get a good feel for what they've previously published by
visiting their shop here.
They also do not disclose royalty rates.
They publish speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy.
They ask that all submissions be made via email. In the body of the email they ask
that you include a brief author bio, title, and word count (60,000 words and up). In
the email itself attach a word document containing the first three chapters, and
another word document containing a full synopsis of the book - including the ending.
To learn more about what they are looking for, read their detailed submission
guidelines here. They will only consider submissions that follow all of their
guidelines.
At the time of the most recent update, their last reading period had just passed, and
they had yet to announce a new one.
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Orbit Works
Orbit Works was founded in April 2023, as a new imprint of Hachette/Orbit that is
focused on digital publishing. This includes both eBooks and audiobooks. You can
read the PR statement about the imprint here. It is led by Orbit Executive Editor Brit
Hvide and Editor Stephanie Clark. Orbit Works, like Orbit, is based out of New York.
They are open to both agented and unageneted submissions. Orbit is only open to
agented submissions and was founded in 2007 to focus on publishing science fiction
and fantasy. They have one other imprint, called Redhook. They have published
many well- regarded, bestselling, and award-winning books, in terms of science
fiction and fantasy.
Because this imprint is so new, it is hard for me to get any feel if their identity will
become separate at all from Orbit as a whole. Their imprint page, as it is now, is very
focused on Orbits reputation and the books they've published, so I do believe they are
seeking books along the same lines.
Orbit Works will publish every author in both eBook and audiobook format. They
stress that that their audiobooks are "produced by the award-winning Hachette Book
Group audio team."
They say that when possible, the book will be available in print through their print-
on-demand program. It's a little confusing, because print-on-demand books are most
often not distributed to bookstores, and on their website they also say "Our global
distribution channels and relationships with major retailers will ensure your book is
available to readers everywhere in the world. And with regular metadata updates,
your book will always be presented in the best way, and at the right price." I'm
assuming that they are only talking about this in terms of digital stores/availability.
It's also not clear which books will be selected for the print-on- demand program.
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One word of caution, is that while Hachette is one of the big five publishers, and
Orbit is one of their major imprints, in my experience, digital imprints of the big 5
that are open to direct submissions tend to not last very long at all. Which isn't to say
that it is a risk to go with them, if they accept your book and you sign a contract with
them, they will publish it, and if the imprint closes, it in all likelihood will be
absorbed in Orbit and your book will continue to be published. But as a reviewer of
manuscript publishers, I would not be surprised if I had to mark this imprint as closed
within a few years. For a brief period 6 years back, I had a list of over 10 digital
imprints of the big 5 that were open to direct submissions, and not one of them is still
open.
I would also like to add that if Orbit Works expresses interest in your work, you
should try to find an agent at that point to negotiate on your behalf. Digital imprints
of major presses sometimes take advantage of unagented authors, and if you have
found a publisher already, agents are often happy to represent your work, even with a
limited timeline.
That being said, their eBook royalty rate is 50% of net revenue and the audiobook
royalty rate is 25% of net because of the production costs.
They are not open to AI-written submissions and they try to respond to all
submissions within three months.
To learn more, go here. Please read their guidelines carefully before submitting.
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The Parliament House
The Parliament House is a small eBook and print press started in 2016. They
specialize in fantasy, including paranormal, contemporary, and urban. They also
recently started accepting horror. They publish books aimed at young adults and
books aimed at adults.
Over the years their website has gotten a little out of date and disorganized. Some
links are no longer working properly.
The staff behind The Parliament House have published a number of their own books
through the press. They also really place emphasis on the author promoting their
work. But they do say they design a specific and detailed marketing plan for each
book they publish.
They ask that all work be between 50,000 and 140,000 words in length. They do not
want stories that were in any way written by, or co-written with AI.
They have very specific submission guidelines that you should follow before
submitting.
To learn more, go to their submission guidelines here.
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Severed Press
Established in 2008, Severed Press is an ebook and print on demand publisher

focused on publishing horror and science fiction. They are established and respected
within these genres, and the books they publish have excellent genre-appropriate
covers.
Many authors have worked with them for many years, and published many books
with them, which is generally a good sign. Although because they are print on
demand, their distribution is less than ideal. They are not open about royalty
payments, but many Severed Press authors have said they are within industry
standards. They do not offer advances.
You can learn more about authors’ personal experience with Severed Press here. The
press itself responded on the forum which you can see here, and the thread as a whole
covers a number of concerns, and if you are considering submitting to them, I would
read all of it.
Currently they are considering work in the following genres.
• Killer sea creatures or monstrous kaiju fiction: Creature features about

monsters that come from the deep, or maybe even somewhere more terrifying.
Minimum word count 30k.
• Dinosaurs : Lost world adventures featuring terrifying creatures from the past.
Minimum word count 30k
• Military horror/sci-fi: Like Predator or Aliens, a military unit faces off against
an unknown threat from beyond the stars or from another dimension.
Minimum word count 40k
• Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenarios (including TEOTWAWKI or
SHTF): Stories that explore the end of the world or life after it: zombie
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outbreaks, alien invasions or whatever else may serve as a harbinger of the

end times! Minimum word count 60k
• LitRPG: Stories where characters are transported or trapped within an online
game, usually a MMORPG . LitRPG blends traditional science fiction and
fantasy with gaming elements and mechanics. Minimum word count 30k.
• LitFPS: Stories that blend fiction with First Person Shooters. Minimum word
count 30k.
All submissions must be made via email. Please review their submission guidelines
closely.
To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here.
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Sourcebooks Horror
We've reviewed Sourcebooks before here, and their Romance imprint here. However
recently they have started a horror imprint that is consistently open to submissions.
Because so many small horror presses open and close in a matter of years, this new
imprint stood out, because of the overall stability of Sourcebooks. I checked on the
page of editors, and currently there are no editors listed specifically for horror, so they
are still clearly sorting the details out.
Their book covers for this imprint are really well done. But the imprint is so new that
as far as i can tell only four books have been published in it. If you go here, you can
scroll to the bottom and see them. All four are notably by the same author, Darcy
Coates, a USA Today Bestseller. But there is no formal Horror category on the site
otherwise, currently, and using the search bar is not helpful - unearthing the YA
horror they've published, instead of Darcy Coates Books.
They are actively seeking agented and unagented submissions of horror fiction
between 80,000 and 100,000 words in length. They are looking for "strong writers of
all ethnicities, races, sexualities, gender identities, abilities and ages, whose stories
have something fresh to offer in the Horror genre."
All submissions must be made via email with word attachments. Include a 1-3 page
synopsis which discloses the ending, a short query letter in the email itself, and if you
have a track record include your sales history. You should also attach the full
manuscript. They try to respond to all submissions within 8-12 weeks.
To learn more and to see their full submission guidelines go here.
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Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press is a small British publisher that opened in the 1990s. They specialize in
publishing literary supernatural/strange/horror fiction. They are best known for their
limited edition hardbacks with distinctive cream covers. They also publish
paperbacks and ebooks. The press has won 5 World Fantasy Awards and 1 Stoker
Award for horror.
They are currently open to submissions of short story collections and novels. This is
what they have to say about subject matter and style:
We would like to receive literary strange/supernatural fiction. We are not interested in

high fantasy, violent horror or young adult fiction. If you write within a traditional
genre such as vampire or ghost fiction then please make sure that the more clichéd
trappings of your genre are, at best, a very marginal part of your work.
They do not publish books aimed at children or young adults. They state that all
payment rates will be negotiated, which is a little frustrating. It is much better when
the publisher has the same policy in terms of rates with all of their authors.
They accept submissions via email or mail, although at the time of this update they
are closed to submissions. To learn more, visit their website here.
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Tenebrous Press
Tenebrous Press is a publisher of New Weird Horror. They know this genre is one
that needs further definition, because they have an entire page of their website
devoted to defining it. You can see that webpage here if you are not already familiar
with the genre, which was according to the web page, invented by the press, although
the term "New Weird" has existed for some time, they added the focus on horror.
They are a new press, as they published their first book in 2021. You can find out
more about the editors here.
Tenebrous is currently open to submissions of novels, novellas, and projects that fall
under the graphic novel/comics umbrella, or other outside the box approaches to New
Weird Horror. They are not at this time open to short story submissions.
They offer advances and "industry standard royalties. They are seeking work that
starts at 20,000 words. They have no fixed upper limit. They are upfront about the
rights they are asking: " World English first rights in print, electronic, and ebook, and
a three-year exclusivity period. All copyright belongs to the author". They try to
respond to all submissions within three months.
You can get a feel for what they previously published here. They also share samples
if you want to get a better feel for the actual books.
They seem to really understand the niche they operate in. Their covers are great, and
genre appropriate, and the books I looked up that they've published all got a lot of
reviews for a small press offering and these reviews were mostly positive. You can
see one of their books Goodreads page here.
I'm not sure who their distributor is or if they have one.

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To learn more, and potentially submit if your work is a good fit for them, go here.
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Three Ravens Publishing
Three Ravens Publishing is a fiction publisher focused on genre work, particularly

science fiction and fantasy, but are open to other genres as well. They are active on
social media, and attend various conventions, both good signs. They also appear to
obtain part of their funding from Patron, which is unusual, but hopefully indicates a
strong supportive fan base.
On their About-Us page they are open about the fact that they started out in 2019 as a
self publishing collective to publish the original partners work, including:Benjamin
Tyler Smith, R.J. Ladon, and William Joseph Roberts. If you look at their current list
of authors it's clear they've expanded well past that.
Their website is geared towards readers, not writers, which is always a good sign.
While they don't disclose who their distributor is, their Upcoming Events calendar,
which is about halfway down on the right hand column of every day, makes it clear
that they make a serious effort to publicize work on a regular basis. They do have a
page devoted to recordings from past events which some may find helpful.
They are not interested in fanfiction, gratuitous sexuality and or abuse/violence. They
also have more thorough notes about discrimination, message fiction , and RPG and
game-based stories which you can read here.
They are open to re-prints and previously published work as long as you have the
rights to that work. They determine payment rates at the time of the contract, and they
range from 50 to 70% of sales. They try to respond within 9 months to a year.
You must follow their formatting guidelines if you are submitting, they link to a
template at the top of the submissions page. You can get a good feeling of what
they've published in the past here. Their covers vary wildly.
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To learn more about their submission guidelines here.
Their current calls for submissions are as follows:
The Beast Hunt

April 1, 2024
Speculative Fiction
Everyday Heroes
May 1st, 2024
Contemporary fiction
The Fires of Retribution

June 1, 2024
Speculative Fiction
Darkest Shadow/Brightest Light

June 1, 2024
Dark Fantasy
It Came From the Trailer Park: Vol 4

July 1, 2024
Creature Feature Horror Comedy
Broken Highways
Due Date: August 1, 2024
Car Wars GameLit Fiction
Tales from the Nightside

Due Date: December 1, 2024
Car Wars GameLit Fiction
Learn more here.
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Mystery Publishers
Over the years, mystery is one of those genres that has managed to accumulate a huge
number of subgenres. From cozy mysteries to literary mysteries, from crime novels to
ones focused on conspiracies, there is a mystery subgenre for almost every reader’s
taste.
All of the following publishers focus on publishing mystery novels, usually focusing
on a sub-genre or two, although some are open to mystery novels of any kind.
To find additional publishers interested in mystery novels, make sure to check out the
multi-genre chapter of the book as well as the literary fiction chapter. Also, note that
Carina Press, in the romance section, publishes mysteries of all flavors—from cozies
to thrillers, with and without romantic elements.
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Agora Books
Agora Books is a diversity-focused imprint of Polis Books devoted to crime and noir
fiction. is focused on publishing. In 2018, Publishers Weekly published this article
about the initiative, and in 2019 Agora actively started publishing work. So far, even
though they have only been active for a few years, they've published a fair amount of
books, and mostly by debut authors.
It can be hard initially to get a feel for what Agora publishes, as their books are not
listed in a separate catalogue, or even listed separately directly on the website.
However on their submission guideline page, they list a number of Agora authors,
including Gabino Iglesias, Gary Phillips, Sung J. Woo, Johnny Shaw, and Andrea J.
Johnson. You can see the complete listing at the bottom of their about page here. You
can also learn more about the editor of the imprint, Chantelle Aimée Osman directly
above the author listing on that page.
I really encourage you to spend time with the some of the books Agora has published
before submitting. Submit through the general address and make it clear that you are
submitting to the Agora imprint in the query letter. The editors will not respond if not
interested.
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The Book Folks
This London-based publisher specializes in crime fiction, thrillers and mysteries.

They do also publish other genres, but more rarely, including: women's fiction,
literary fiction and romance. Clearly they know the most about publishing and
marketing crime fiction, thrillers, and mysteries as that makes up the bulk of their
site, and they appear to generally sell more copies of these books.
Most are sold in ebook format although they also offer print copies. All their books
are available through Kindle Unlimited, which is Kindle's reading subscription
service, which is separate from Amazon Prime. Kindle pays royalties to authors and
presses through this program through a system they outline here. They clearly outline
their strategy of selling a lot of ebooks at a very low cost here on their about page,
which also includes their masthead.
On their submission page they also state, "Using our contacts we get your book out
there high in the bestseller rankings and significant revenue in your bank." As
someone who has reviewed hundreds of publishers I've never heard anyone else make
similar claims. I will say that all the books I looked into on their site had many
reviews and ratings, most averaging at least a hundred reviews, which is rare, and a
fair amount had many more reviews than that.
The Book Folks (TBF) was founded in 2013 by Erik Empson who also runs Cold
Peak Media, which in turn runs a book marketing company, called Book Bongo,
which has one less than ideal review here. If any author who works with TBF is ever
redirected to Book Bongo and asked to pay, please send us an email at
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support@authorspublish.com, as this very much would not be within the confines of a

traditional press, especially one that so clearly promotes their ability to market books.
On their website they stress "Authors receive royalties directly on sales revenue and
will never be asked for money to publish their work." Many authors do end up
working with them long term, like David Pearson. Which makes it seem like they
must treat at least some of their authors well.
The website focuses on selling books more than recruiting writers, which is a good
sign.
They are also open to previously self-published work. They state, "We publish first
novels but because we aim to develop a long term partnership with authors, those
having at least two or three books, written or planned, will be especially welcomed."
Focusing on first novels is unusual too and feels a little like a yellow flag to me as
they seem to be more interested in less experienced authors who might be more
vulnerable in terms of unfavorable contacts.
Novels must be at least 45,000 words.
They don't ask for a sample chapter, simply that you fill out a short form and share a
little about your book.
Their submission guidelines and submission form is accessible here.
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Brash Books
Brash Books is a company that specializes in publishing crime novels. Lee Goldberg
and Joel Goldman, both bestselling and Edgar nominated authors, started the
company. The books they publish have electronic and print editions.
Brash Books publishes psychological thrillers, murder mysteries, international

espionage, and police procedurals. The website has a cocky, over-confident tone, and
it focuses on selling books and promoting authors rather than finding new authors.
That is always a good sign. Even if the cocky tone gets on my nerves, it is what one
should expect if the name of the company is Brash Books.
They are open to submissions of crime manuscripts. When you are submitting your
work, please include two chapters of your manuscript (double-spaced and it cannot
exceed twenty-five pages in length) as well as a synopsis (double-spaced and less
than two pages). Include a cover letter and submit this work by email to
brashbooks@gmail.com. They accept electronic submissions of Microsoft Word
documents or PDF documents only.
They only contact authors if they are interested in reading the full manuscript. This
means that you should not expect to hear from them in case of a rejection, although
you can always query after six months.
They are also open to publishing previously published books that have fallen out of
print as long as all the rights belong to the author. Submitting a previously published
book or series is a little different. They want you to send the titles of your books and
share some of the reviews and author blurbs the books have received and awards they
have won or been nominated for.
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To learn more about Brash Books visit their website here. To learn more about
submitting go here.
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Crooked Lane
Crooked Lane was established in 2014 as a press specializing in crime books. They
have an experienced staff and have managed to publish some well known authors
already. They publish a range of mysteries that lean towards the cozy, and they are
not opposed to publishing a series of books. You can see their catalog here.
Their distributor is the Legato Publishers Group, a member of the Perseus Books
Group. They are also represented by Biagi Literary Management for subsidiary rights
licensing in foreign and domestic markets. Their business relationships include
Bookspan, home of the US's largest book clubs, and Blackstone Audio, one of the
largest independent audiobook publishers. I really like how upfront they are about the
business end of publishing.
They are also upfront about editorial staff. Most came to Crooked Lane from major
publishers including Penguin and St. Martin. You can learn more about the staff by
going here and scrolling down. It is a truly impressive list.
They do offer advances to their authors but I don't know how much and they have a
reputation for paying royalties on time.
All submissions should be made via email and include a query letter. Send your query
letter as well as the first two chapters of your manuscript. Make sure to include
contact information. Because they receive so many submissions they only respond to
queries they are interested in. If you haven't heard from them in two weeks, assume
rejection.
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Fahrenheit Press
Fahrenheit Press is a publisher that focuses on publishing thrillers and crime novels.
They are not interested in any books outside of these genres. They are a print and
eBook Publisher.
It is important to note that they don't mind re-publishing self-published books, as long
as all the rights belong to the author.
They are based out of the UK. The editors have 25 years of experience in publishing.
As they say on their website, "we figured it was time we created the publishing
company we always dreamed of. We shoot from the lip and we call it like we see it -
if that rubs people up the wrong way we can live with that". That attitude is all over
the website. It actually overwhelms the submission guidelines. But that could be a
good thing, because at least submitters know what they are getting into. You can read
an interview with the founder here.
Their website is mostly easy to use although I found that the graphics and dropdown
menu didn't always work, or didn't look like it worked.
The covers of the books are generally excellent though. Much better than most
standard genre covers.
One of the things I really like about them is that they are upfront about their royalty
rates. They "offer a royalty rate of 50% on both eBooks & paperback editions for a 5
year contract."
To learn more visit their submission guidelines here.
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Hard Case Crime
Hard Case Crime is a well-respected and established niche publisher of hard-boiled

crime novels. The publisher has been featured in a number of respected publications
including Time Magazine and The Stranger. They have just started to publish graphic
novels and comics.
They re-issue books that were previously published, and they also publish new books.
They are open to manuscript queries. They focus on publishing paperback novels.
They have published established authors such as Stephen King, Lawrence Block, and
Cornell Woolrich. A number of their newer novels have won prestigious awards
within the field of mystery novels.
They are distributed by Random House and, as such, their books are often found in
brick and mortar bookstores.
Their books have very distinctive branding, and all of their covers have a cohesive
feel to them. All their books have a vintage-style pulp cover with the publisher’s logo
on the top left-hand corner.
Because they are so focused on publishing a specific, cohesive genre, it is a good idea
to pick up one of their books from your local library or bookstore, before querying, if
you are not already familiar with the books or authors that they have published in the
past.
All manuscript queries must be made via email. Keep your query letter short and to
the point. They do not request sample chapters or anything else. Their contact
information is available here.
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To learn more about Hard Case Crime and the books that they publish, please visit
their website here.
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Joffe Books
Joffe Books is an independent publisher based out of London. They were founded in
2013. The originally focused on publishing new e-books and making classic books
and short stories available electronically.
They started out publishing almost any genre, although over the last year they really
focused in on crime and mystery fiction. In fact they bill themselves as “one of the
UK’s leading independent publishers of best-selling crime and mystery fiction.”
They prefer manuscript submissions in the following genres: Mysteries, Crime

Fiction, Psychological Thrillers, Detective, Thrillers, and Suspense. They do imply
that they are open to some fiction outside of that focused area.
This is actually a good sign. Usually when a press goes from publishing a broad range
of work to something more focused and specific it is because they figured that genre
out and are better at selling that genre of book than others.
Another good sign is that many of their books now have print versions available as
well. The publisher seems to be doing well.
Originally they were run entirely by the founder, Jasper Joffe, but in the last year or
two they seem to have expanded significantly to include other editors.
It is also good that in their submission sections they talk explicitly about promotion,
royalties (although they don't say exactly what the rate is), and other information that
is relevant to a potential author. Also, the website seems to be focused on selling
books and not just recruiting authors.
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The only issue is that Jasper Joffe also ran another company called Not so Noble
Books, which no longer exists, but near the end of their existence had issues with
author non-payment. According to Joffe he was not involved at that time.
It is very easy to submit to Joffe Books. All you have to do is submit your full-length
book as a PDF or a Word document, a synopsis that is no more than three paragraphs
long, and 100 words about yourself. You submit all of these things via email.
To learn more, visit their website. They have also recently started to host pitch
parties.
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Severn River Publishing
According to their website Severn River Publishing “was founded by military

veterans and family members who shared a love of story.” They were founded in
2018, and focus on publishing thrillers and mysteries, but are also open to
submissions of historical fiction. All of the works of historical fiction they’ve
published so far, focus on the military. They publish eBooks and in print. The print
books appear to be print on demand, which is not unusual with a small publisher.
They also have audiobooks available for many of their books, which is nice.
They are active on social media, and have genre-appropriate covers. I could not find
anything about distribution on their website, and when I reached out to them, I did not
receive a response.
It did make me nervous that their website, including the main page, was geared
towards writers as well as readers. The screenshot below was taken about halfway
down the main page, and struck me as something one commonly encounters on a
vanity or hybrid press. It’s good that they are upfront about these things, and some of
their books do appear to sell well (Misjudged: A Legal Thriller by James Chandler
has 4,828 ratings on Amazon), but most presses that do this have vanity or hybrid
ties.
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They also have quotes from authors on the main page about how good they were to
work with, which again is unusual in traditional publishing.
In addition, it’s important to point out that 50% of net is not unusual when it comes to
small presses, and net is much less ideal than gross, in terms of percentage. There is
no mention of editing, which is generally an important part of the traditional
publishing process.
Overall though, they appear to do a good job, publishing consistent quality within a
niche.
Unlike most presses they ask that you submit your complete manuscript along with
your query letter.
To learn more, please visit their submission guidelines here. They plan to re-oepen to
submissions in the fall of 2024.
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VERVE BOOKS
VERVE BOOKS is the new digital-first imprint of No Exit Press. No Exit Press is
one of the top UK-based mystery publishers, and they are not open to direct
submissions, but VERVE BOOKS is.
They will focus on publishing crime, thriller and commercial fiction genres, with the
focus being on character driven stories.
Digital-first means that the book will only be in print via print-on-demand services.
They are offering advances, personal marketing plans, as well as experienced editing.
They have a clean and easy to use website, which is focused on selling books. You
can browse their catalog here.
VERVE BOOKS is one of the very rare presses that asks to see full manuscripts,
when submitting. Make sure to follow all of their submission guidelines before
submitting.
When they first launched, they were open to direct submissions. They then
temporarily closed to submissions, but they may re-open at any time. You can refer to
their submissions page here.
To learn more visit their website here. At the time of this update they are closed to
submissions.
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Children and Young Adult Book Publishers
Children’s book publishers tend to focus on specific niches within the larger market.
They also tend to publish only a small number of manuscripts each year, unless they
are publishing educational work. Most publishers prefer books to be submitted
without illustrations, so that is important to keep in mind.
You can find additional book publishers for children and young adults in the multi-
genre and non-fiction sections of this book.
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Albert Whitman & Company
In 2020 they had serious non-payment issues with a number of authors. As authors
and agents came forward with these stories, information about other questionable
practices came to light. You can read all about these issues here. In 2021, Publishers
Weekly published a follow up article, where some of the issues are addressed and
resolved. We only continue to list them because they do seem to be putting the work
in, but I would still approach them with caution.
Albert Whitman & Company has been around since 1919. I grew up reading the best-
known series that they have published, The Boxcar Children. Over the past few years
they have started to focus on publishing a larger number of books each year.
They publish middle grade fiction, picture books, and young adult novels. They
consider proposals and unsolicited manuscripts in all of these categories. They
publish fiction and non-fiction picture books.
Albert Whitman & Company handles their own distribution and sales to the trade,
school, and library markets. They are now focusing more on the trade aspect. They
have a new Young Adult Book imprint that has done well so far.
All submissions should be made via email. Although under certain circumstances
they will review materials sent through the postal mail. These materials include self-
published books and unusual formats that cannot be sent electronically. But you must
query them through email first.
If you have not heard from them in six months, assume that your work is rejected. If
they are interested in seeing more of your manuscript they will respond within six
months.
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Follow their submission guidelines carefully. They have specific guidelines for each
of the categories they publish. To read them in full visit their web page here.
If you want to learn even more about them, there is an interesting article up at the
American Booksellers Association Website. Some of the information in this review
was learned from that article.
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Annick Press
One of the top Children's book publishers in Canada, Annick Press got a strong start
early on by publishing Robert Munsch, back when they were based out of co-founder
Anne Millyard's basement (you can learn more about that here). Annick is currently
accepting submissions of picture books, middle grade fiction, YA fiction, and non-
fiction for kids of all ages.
They accept submissions from everyone, but they also stress that they "are committed
to publishing diverse authors and illustrators and believe strongly in producing books
that reflect our readers' own experiences while broadening their perspectives". They
go on to say "In considering submissions, we prioritize #ownvoices representation of
underrepresented and marginalized communities and identities. We encourage
creators who identify as LGBTQ2SIA+, Indigenous, Black, and people of color to
submit their work. We also encourage submissions from creators living with
disabilities. " As part of this they run a yearly editorial mentorship for writers from
historically excluded communities.
To get a feel for what they are currently seeking, spend some time with their new
release catalog here. Don't submit unless you feel like their books are a good fit. You
can also generally find recently released Annick Press books in bookstores and
libraries, particularly if you live in Canada. They have excellent distribution,
generally great covers, and are well presented.
They don't specifically mention prioritizing Canadian writers, but based on their
backlist it's clear that they do. In fact, the reason I hadn't reviewed Annick in the past
(in spite of owning a lot of their books) is because I assumed that they were only open
to work Canadian authors and illustrators. This is in part because they, like many
Canadian publishers, are partially funded by the government of Canada.
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You can read their full submission guidelines here. Follow all their guidelines
carefully before submitting. They do not respond to submissions unless they are
interested.
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Arbordale Publishing
“Our mission is to get children excited about science and math through fun-to-read
picture book stories. We are primarily looking for fiction manuscripts with non-
fiction facts woven into the story, although we will also consider some non-fiction
stories. In every manuscript we look for a "cuddle factor" that will make parents and
children want to read it together.”
This children's publisher focuses on science and math books that parents and children
read together, meaning they offer family focused rather than school focused learning.
All of the books have a 2-6 page non-fiction section in the back that focuses on
reinforcing the educational components of the book. The author does not have to
create this section, but they have to provide facts that will be incorporated into this
section.
All manuscripts must be less than a thousand words in length and meet the following
criteria.
• Fun to read – mostly fiction with non-fiction facts woven into the story. We
are NOT looking for pure "text-book" non-fiction
• National or regional in scope
• Must relate to science and math subjects taught at the elementary school level.
Any manuscripts with a social studies connection (culture, history, geography)
must also contain a math or science component.
• Must be marketable through a niche market such as zoo, aquarium, or
museum gift shop
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They are also open to bilingual texts in Spanish and English. They have a lot of other
very specific requirements. Make sure to look over their submission page carefully
before submitting. This is a really niche publisher that does have a marketing plan.
All submissions must be made via email. It is a good idea to browse their catalog to
get a better feel for the books they publish.
To learn more read their complete submission guidelines here.
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August House
August House was established in 1978, originally it focused on publishing poetry but
in the 80's their focus switched to folklore and after that to storytelling. They no
longer publish poetry, instead they focus on publishing children's books, although
many of these are influenced by folklore. They currently publish children's folktales,
picture books, early-grade chapter books, and storytelling resource materials.
They were originally based in Little Rock, Arkansas, but in 2004 they were purchased
and the headquarters were moved to Atlanta, Georgia. They also have an online
imprint called Story Cove that focuses on global folk tales that work for classroom
teaching. Their picture book imprint is called LittleFolk.
They have published a number of well-known authors and illustrators. I highly

encourage you to explore their back catalog to get a better feel for what they have
previously published. I think that will give you a much better feel for what they are
interested in.
They have redesigned their website since our original review and it is now easy to use
and visually pleasing. The new site is a huge upgrade.
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Bala Publications
Bala Publications is an imprint of Shambhala Publications, an independent publishing

company based in Boulder, Colorado. They are distributed by Penguin Random
House Publisher Services.
Shambhala Publications was founded in 1969 and "is dedicated to creating books,
audio, and immersive courses aimed at improving lives—in ways big and small—in
the hope of contributing to the development of a thoughtful, kindhearted, and
contemplative society".
Bala Kids is dedicated to encouraging the values of wisdom and compassion for
children with books on Buddhism, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and more.
Their books are focused on connecting with kids ages 0-8. You can get a good feel
for what they focus on publishing by visiting the main page of their imprint here.
All manuscripts, along with any accompanying illustrations, must be submitted with a
cover letter. The cover letter should include a short author biography, and a book
summary. The email must contain the words "Bala Kids Submission" in the subject
line.
Illustrators that are interested in working with them should submit samples, along
with a brief biography and contact information.
To learn more, including the appropriate email address, go here.
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Kane Miller
Kane Miller was an award winning publisher of educational children's books. In 2019
they bought Boyds Mills from Highlights and are temporarily known as Boyds Mills
& Kane. They have now re-claimed the name of Kane Miller.
They have good distribution, their books are widely available at libraries, and they
generally do an excellent job.
Their website is easy to navigate and there is a lot of content there, so I really
encourage you to look through it before submitting to them.
They are open to unsolicited submissions and try to respond within 8 to 10 weeks.
They ask that you do not query about the status of your submission.
They are currently focused on expanding their picture book list and are interested in
stories with engaging characters. They specify that they are especially interested in
those with particularly American subjects. They also consider board books, activity
books, gift books, and series fiction. They are not interested in holiday themed books
or any book that has been previously self-published.
They only accept submissions via email. They do not open any attachments so
include all the requested information in the body of the email. They are also open to
art submissions.
At the time of updating the guide this year, they are closed to submissions. To check
on their submission status go here.
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Capstone Publishing
Capstone Publishing's motto is "Loved by kids. Trusted by librarians." This is for a

reason: For a long time, they have been one of the most trusted publishers in terms of
helping children learn to read and learn to love reading. They have been focused on
this specific market for over twenty years. It is easy to find their books in libraries
and schools. They also publish trade books that are available in bookstores, but their
primary focus is the educational market.
The books they publish are aimed at kids and teenagers, mostly those who struggle to
engage with reading. Much of what they publish for teenagers are educational graphic
novels.
If you are serious about submitting to them it is important to make yourself familiar
with their back catalog which you can do online here, or at your local library.
Their submissions work a little differently than most other publishers. This is what
they have to say about it:
Capstone is keenly interested in meeting authors and illustrators. Most of their titles
are conceptually developed in-house and written and illustrated by freelance writers
and artists. They are interested in receiving authors' manuscripts and writing samples,
and reviewing artists' portfolios.
They accept unsolicited submissions from non-fiction and fiction authors and non-
fiction and fiction illustrators.
This year when I was updating the guide they were closed to submissions, but were
seeking freelance writers and work for hire illustrators and writers. To learn more
read their complete submission guidelines here.
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Cardinal Rule Press
They are respected children’s picture book publisher only open to submissions during
certain times of year.
They hope to empower children by telling meaningful stories aimed at 4-11 year olds.
The work they publish is realistic fiction which they describe as “a genre made up of
stories that could happen in our world and society.”
That means they only consider work where characters are human beings living beings
that are living in places that could be real, or are in fact real. Magic does not exist in
real fiction. You can see work they’ve previously published here.
They consider manuscripts up to 1,000 words in length.
They only accept emailed submissions. They have specific guidelines that you should
read in full here. Their most recent submission period ended January 31st. You can
subscribe at their website to be notified when they reopened.
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Charlesbridge Publishing
Charlesbridge publishes high quality books for children and young adults with the
goal of creating lifelong readers and lifelong learners. In 2010 Charlesbridge acquired
Imagine Publishing which expanded what they were able to offer. They now have
extensive audio offerings. They also publish adult nonfiction, cookbooks, and puzzle
books.
Charlesbridge is still best known for their children's books which are widely available
at bookstores and libraries. They have published a number of beloved and well-
reviewed children's books. In order to submit a children's book to them you must
submit it via the post. They are only interested in complete manuscript submissions.
Illustrators are also encouraged to submit, separately.
Please review their catalog online to see what kind of children's books they have
previously published before proceeding.
Charlesbridge is just now starting to publish young adult fiction. They accept email or
postal submissions of young adult fiction. They are only interested in complete
manuscripts.
Imagine, their adult imprint publishes 8-10 new titles per year, primarily in the areas
of history, women's studies, gender studies, multicultural studies, politics, nature and
the environment, as well as cooking, health, and wellness. All nonfiction submissions
should be made via email. They are not open to submissions for Imagine right now.
In all categories they only respond to submissions that interest them. So do not
include a self-addressed and stamped envelope. However, they expect all submissions
to be exclusive submissions for three months. You should state “Exclusive
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Submission” on all correspondence. However, after three months have passed, feel
free to submit elsewhere.
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Creston Books
Creston Books is small press focused on publishing picture books and select novels.
They were founded in 2013 by Marissa Moss, the author of the Amelia's Notebook
series. Creston Books was established to fill a gap in the picture book market and to
focus on diverse books. They have published many award winning and banned books
over the years. Authors that have debuted with them have found real ongoing industry
success.
They are distributed by Lerner Publishing Group. There is a great interview with the
founder, Marissa Moss on Lerner's blog here. If you are serious about submitting to
them, I highly encourage you to read it. You can get a feel for what they publish here.
I have encountered a number of their books before at the library and at the local
children's bookstore. Please spend time with the books they've published before
submitting to them.
You can submit no more than one project a month to them. All submissions must be
sent via the body of an email they are not interested in attachments of text. PDF's
showing art is fine but text files will not be read. They also have great additional
advice you can and should read here.
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Deep Hearts YA
Deep Hearts YA is a new publisher of fiction for young adults. They focus on
publishing LBGTQ+ stories, in all genres and sub-genres, including aro and ace lead
characters. They are primarily a romance publisher, but romance does not have to be
the main focus of the manuscript if self-empowerment or self-realization plays a
central role.
Their covers are generally excellent, with a few exceptions. The website is easy to
navigate, even if the logo leaves much to be desired. It does not disclose detailed
information about the editors.
Deep Hearts YA releases between 2-4 books a year. They are an imprint of Deep
Desires press, which publishes erotica and erotic romance and seems to have a
different audience for the most part.
They ask for ebook, print, and audio rights from the author even though currently
they only publish in ebook and print format. Contracts are for three years from
publication, and renewed on a yearly basis after that.
They ask that manuscripts be between 50,000 – 80,000 words. Although there is some
wiggle room outside of that and full details are given in their submission guidelines.
They ask that you submit by email, follow their detailed guidelines, and attach the
complete manuscript.
They do not appear to do much in terms of promoting books or editing them, so that
is not ideal.
Do not submit unless you think your manuscript is a good fit.
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To learn more about submitting, go here.
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Enchanted Lion
Enchanted Lion is a children's book publisher based in Brooklyn that was founded in
2003. You can learn more about their team here. Their books are well designed,
engaging, and have great covers. Many of the books they have published have been
featured in the New York Times, and won awards. They are well distributed and my
local library has a large number of their books.
They really support international authors and have published a number of books in
translation. All of the books I saw had a visual aspect, although some were aimed at
older kids (up to the age of 14).
They are open to donations, and have done Kickstarters in the past, which is not
unheard of for a small press, but also isn't expected either.
They don't have detailed submission guidelines even when they are open to
submissions.
Please spend an extended period of time with their catalogue here, and with their
mission statement here before considering submitting. This is a very small press, the
kind that often ends up closing to unsolicited submissions permanently, if they get too
many submissions that indicate a lack of research or appreciation of fit.
To learn more, go here. They are closed to submissions at the time of this update but
plan to reopen soon.
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Entangled Teen
Entangled Teen is the YA imprint of the romance publisher Entangled Publishing.

Entangled Publishing is a newer company but they have had a lot of success in the
genre of romance and they have sold a lot of books. They primarily operate on a
digital first model, which usually means print runs only happen if/when the digital
book has been successful.
They do publish a lot of work every month, which is a little intimidating, because one
does not want their book to be lost in the shuffle. But the books generally have great
covers and Entangled Publishing says that they make individual marketing plans for
all their books.
It’s worth noting that in 2019 they signed a controversial author duo that is banned on
Amazon, and that created some ongoing bad press. You can read about it here (Scan
down towards the bottom of the page) and here. I think this raises serious questions
and should be taken into consideration.
Entangled Teen has three separate imprints. The first called Entangled Teen is
looking for romance novels, or novels with strong romantic elements that are between
70k and 120k words in length. The works they publish include contemporary
romance, science fiction, paranormal, fantasy, historical, and romantic suspense and
thrillers. You can learn more about what they are specifically seeking here.
Teen Crave is looking for shorter work, between 45k and 65k in length in the
paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy genre. The main characters of these works must be between
16 and 18 years in age. You can learn more about their specific submission guidelines
here.
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Teen Crush is seeking work between 40k and 60k that is contemporary romance.
They publish trope based stories featuring main characters between the ages of 16-18.
All of the teen imprints are open to f/m, f/f, and m/m pairings. In all the categories
they helpfully list authors they love as well as tv relationships that they love. So, it is
rather easy to get a feel for what they are looking for. All submissions are accepted
online. You can learn more about overall submissions here.
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Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Founded in 1911 and located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company is an independent publisher of religious books. They have a
large range, including academic books and reference works in theology, biblical
studies, and religious history to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural
criticism, as well as literature. They are primarily a print publisher with excellent
distribution. My local independent bookstore regularly carries a number of their titles.
They are very open about their philosophy, which I have quoted in full below.
William B. Eerdmans Sr., our founder, believed that responsible viewpoints from
across the religious spectrum should be given opportunity for expression and that
high literary and intellectual standards were of utmost importance. His publishing
company continues to operate according to these beliefs. Thus, deeply rooted in the
historic Christian tradition, ecumenical in spirit, open to emerging dialogue with other
faiths, Eerdmans continues to commit itself to the life of the religious academy, to the
church, and to the role of religion in culture.
They also have a popular imprint called Eerdmans Books for Young Readers which
publishes a variety of books for children, including best-selling and award-winning
titles. A book they published won the Caldecott, which was awarded to A River of
Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet. It is
important to note that River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams is not
overtly religious. They also publish books aimed at middle grade readers and young
adults.
To read their complete submission guidelines for their imprint Eerdmans Books for
Young Readers, please go here. They do not respond to submissions of books that
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they are not interested in, and only accept mailed submissions. They also accept
submissions from illustrators.
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Flashlight Press
Flashlight Press focuses on publishing illustrated children’s books. Their books are a
lot of fun to read and very well illustrated. They receive a lot of good reviews and are
pretty widely available, even outside of the United States. If you are considering
submitting to them and are unfamiliar with their books, look for one to read at your
local library.
Flashlight Press has won a number of awards for the books they publish, and many of
the individual books have received awards. The awards Flashlight Press and
individual books have won include: ABC Best of Books Catalog, Comstock Read
Aloud Book Award, NY State Charlotte Award, and many others. Flashlight Press
has been publishing books since 2006, and all of their back catalog remains in print.
Flashlight Press only publishes two to four books a year. They do not require you to
have an agent or previous publishing experience. The editor tries to respond to
queries as quickly as possible. The books they publish are targeted at four-to eight-
year-olds. The book should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length. It should have
a universal theme and deal with a family or social situation.
To submit work to them, you must first email a query letter to the editor; it must not
have any attachments, and all the information should be in the body of the email. If
they want to see your full manuscript, they will reply within a month.
If your manuscript is requested, they will respond with an acceptance or rejection

letter within four months of receiving your manuscript. Unless you are an artist, they
do not want to see any artwork with your submission. If you are an artist, there is an
additional set of guidelines to follow. To learn more visit their website here.
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Flux
Flux is an imprint of North Star Editions that publishes exclusively young adult
fiction. Their motto is "Where Young Adult is a Point of View, not a Reading Level".
Most of the books they publish focus on the older end of the young adult market.
They publish edgier, darker stuff, than other young adult publishers. They publish all
sub genres of young adult from realistic life stories to sci fi. They are established,
have good distribution, and have published many books that have sold well.
Submitting to them is easy and done via email.
To have Flux consider your book for publication, please provide the following two
items:
• A query letter (in the body of the e-mail) including:

o A brief 1-2 paragraph plot synopsis
o A short bio mentioning your previous publications and writing
credentials
o 3-5 comparative books published within the last 5 years with an
explanation of how your book both ties into a trend in the Young
Adult genre and offers something unique
o Your e-mail address and phone number
• The first three chapters of your book in an attached Word document
By reviewing their recent releases it is easy to figure out what kind of work they
publish. These reading periods include February to March, June to July, and October
to November. Please do not submit to them outside of this.
They are now only open to submissions during their three reading periods.
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Flyaway Books
Flyaway Books is a children's book publisher focused only on children's picture

books. The focus of their books is on "diversity, inclusivity, compassion, care for
each other, and care for our world". They are an imprint of Westminster John Knox
Press which is part of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, but many of the books
that Flyaway publishes are not faith based, and the ones that they do publish that are
faith based are "appropriate for progressive churches, religious schools, and readers
who value faith inside and outside of a church setting".
They have published some really established authors including Katherine Paterson,
Kathleen Long Bostrom, and Barbara DiLorenzo, You can get a feel for what the
publish by visiting their "Our Story" page. You can also get a feel for what they
publish by spending time with their catalog. They have many great book covers.
Their distribution is through Ingram, which is usually not a good sign, as Ingram will
distribute books of any kind, but they work directly with the Two Rivers division,
which you can learn about here. Two Rivers only distributes work by select
publishers, although not all of them are legitimate traditional publishers, most are.
If you are submitting to them, please only submit via email. Send your complete
manuscript within the body of an email. They ask that you " do not send a file
attachment, a partial manuscript, or a query without a manuscript. You may submit
more than one manuscript at a time if each is sent in a separate email."
Please read and follow their submission guidelines carefully, and only submit your
work to them, if you think it is a good fit. They respond to submissions within six
weeks if they are interested. Otherwise assume rejection. They are closed to
submissions at the time of this update.
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Holiday House
Holiday House is an established and reputable children’s book publisher. Holiday

House has been around for over 75 years. They publish picture books as well as
books aimed at children grades 1-3, grades 4-6, and grades 7 and up. They are based
out of New York City. They have published many well-known books and authors,
including Kenneth Grahame. The books that they have published have won numerous
respected awards and honors.
They specialize in quality hardcovers, from picture books to young adult, both fiction
and nonfiction.
Because they receive so many submissions, they cannot respond to all of them
personally. Although, if they are interested in your manuscript, they will respond
within four months of receiving it. If you have not heard from them in four months,
consider your manuscript rejected.
Submit your entire manuscript, even if you are submitting a novel. They recently
started accepting submissions via email. They also accept submissions through the
mail. They do not accept registered or certified mail and there is no need to include a
self-addressed and stamped envelope.
If you are submitting a picture book, there is no need to submit illustrations, but if
you are an artist that has them, include copies, never originals.
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JollyFish Press
JollyFish Press was started in 2012. They are based out of Provo, Utah. Their authors
have won numerous awards. They initially published a wide range of genres for
adults, children, and young adults. They are now part of North Star Editions.
However, in the past year or so they have started to focus only on middle-grade and
young adult books. They especially want books showcasing strong voices, unique
stories, and diverse characters. The reason they stopped publishing adult books
appears to be that North Star Editions bought them out around a year ago.
Their covers are well designed and appealing. It is easy to get a better idea of what
they publish by browsing their titles. Their website is well organized and easy to
navigate. It is oriented more towards selling books than recruiting authors.
You can learn more about the press and their staff, on the about us page. The
information included in the acquisition editor bios are particularly helpful to help you
know more about what they are interested in specifically.
They have switched over to having three reading periods a year. They are open to
submissions in February and March, June and July, and October and November..
They will automatically reject unsolicited submissions made outside of these periods.
To double check or learn more visit their website here.
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Levine Querido
Arthur A. Levine Books was an imprint of Scholastic Inc. that was founded in 1996
and as of 2019 they parted ways with Scholastic and since 2019 they have been
Lavine Querido. They publish hardcover literary fiction and nonfiction for children
and teenagers (and discerning adults). They have published many award winning and
nominated books, as well as a number of very well known and respected authors.
They are open to submissions of picture books as long as the full text accompanies a
query letter. For novels they want you to submit a query letter, the first two chapters,
and a synopsis.
If you are not already familiar with their books it is very important to review the
catalogue, and perhaps check one or two of their books out of your local library.
Expect a response from them within six months.
They accept all submissions through the submission manager Submittable. They
respond to all queries, even if it is just with a form rejection letter. They often hit their
submission cap on Submittable early in the month and then close to submissions. If
you are serious about submitting to them I would encourage you to submit to them
within the first two days of the month.
To read all of their submission guidelines, visit their website here.
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Maverick Children's Books
Maverick Children's Books is a UK based publisher of children's books. Their books

generally have wonderful covers and illustrations, and are quirky. They publish a
variety of books for children but only appear to be open to submissions in the picture
book category. You can learn more about the team behind Maverick here.
I do not know how good their distribution is, in the UK or outside of it.
Books submitted to them can be no more than 650 words in length, and can be
considerably shorter. No minimum count is mentioned. The manuscript must be
submitted through email as a PDF, RTF or a Word document.
They want submissions that are not illustrated. In the subject heading of your email
include your name and the name of the book. Multiple submissions are allowed
(which is surprisingly rare). They just ask that you put it all in the same email. Also
make sure to include a cover letter and your name in the email.
They have a six-month turnaround time and encourage you to fill out an inquiry form
after six months have passed.
To learn more about submitting them, visit their website here. At the time of update
they are closed to submissions from writers but not illustrators.
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Monarch Educational Service's
Monarch Educational Service's Publishing arm was founded in 2021 and bills
themselves as a "boutique publishing house" and a "full-service traditional publishing
company," even though the name "educational services" implies otherwise. They
focus on publishing work for middle grade readers and young adults. They also
recently started an imprint, Caterpillar, that is focused on publishing books for
younger readers, including picture books and early chapter books.
They focus on only publishing clean reads, and they have a detailed clean reads
policy you can download here.
Ove the past year they have continued to improve and update their website in an
impressive way.
They are a small company but their staff has grown significantly over the last three
years, but based on their about us page, most of the staff are open to editorial
freelance work outside of the company, which is unusual, and could lead towards a
conflict of interest.
They used to have information on their website that implied that they started out as a
vanity press, but that information has been removed as part of the website re-design.
They now call themselves "a full-service traditional publishing company," in several
places on the site, and the definition of traditional publishing companies are ones that
do not charge.
The main landing page focuses on promoting their authors and books, which is a
good sign.
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Their covers really vary from professional and appealing to not very professional or
appealing. Also, and I hesitate to bring this up, because I myself often make minor
mistakes when it comes to grammar and spelling, but I noticed a number of minor
mistakes in prominent places across their site.
Some of their books such as a A Study in Terminal by Kara Linaburg have sold fairly
well for a small press, and have a fair amount of engagement on social media, etc.
Since my initial review they've greatly streamlined the process for buying books
wchich is great.
I do not think they have a distributor beyond Ingram, but don't have detailed
information to that end. They are currently open to submissions in the following areas
for middle grade and young adult books unless otherwise noted:
To learn more, please visit their website here. They plan to reopen to submissions in
summer 2025.
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New Frontier
New Frontier is an established small publisher based in Australia. They are focused
on publishing children's books, including picture books, and chapter books. Their
target audience appears to be readers under twelve. They were established in 2002
and are distributed by Lerner Publishing Groups, which is very active in the children's
market. Their covers are excellent, and the few books of theirs that I have read to my
kids were engaging and well made.
I first encountered them a few years ago and passed on reviewing them because at the
time they highly encouraged submitters to buy a 60 dollar sample pack of material.
They even had a check box to indicate if you did so as part of their submission
packet. While I didn't think to take screenshots at the time, you can see that it was an
issue of much discussion on Absolute Write.
I would not review them if they had not changed their policy, but they have. As of
this summer they now say "Before you send anything please look through our list and
read some of our books. That way, you can come to understand the books we love."
There is no check box to indicate that you have done so and most publishers similarly
encourage readers to read a book they have published first. In any case they've made
it particularly easy to get a feel for what they have published by including a view
inside the book option for many of their picture books. You can see one here. While
that doesn't show you the whole book, the view inside option is helpful for giving you
a feel for what they actually publish. If you are serious about submitting them and
your library does not have their books and you cannot order them, spending some
time with their catalogue and looking through the sample pages should help.
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Also mentioned on the Absolute Write forum and worth noting is that they share an
office in both the UK and Australia with a hybrid publisher, but there is no sign of re-
direction between the two. Please reach out to us at support@authorspublish.com if
anything changes.
Their full submission guideline are here. If they have not responded to your
submission in 4 months assume rejection. All submissions must be made through
their electronic form, please follow their guidelines and only submit if you feel like
your book is a good fit for them.
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Owl Kids
Their books have been mentioned or reviewed in the following publications: The New
York Times, the Globe and Mail, CBC, Kirkus, Booklist, and School Library Journal,
and selected for numerous awards. In 2022, the press was nominated for the Bologna
Prize for Best Children’s Publisher.
Their website is easy to use and well organized and their covers are generally
excellent. They publish picture books, nonfiction for children, and middle grade
fiction. You can get a good feel for what they publish by visiting their catalogue here.
On their website they also stress that they care about the following.
• Creating books that reflect and include a diversity of voices, communities, and
experiences;
• Ensuring that all children can see themselves represented in the books and
magazines they read;
• Helping to address the systemic anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and
other prejudices that exist within our industry and which have limited the
types of stories, information, and role models that children have access to;
• Looking inward and recognizing that change starts with our own company
culture, our hiring practices, the creators we publish, and the content we
produce.
They are only open to queries made via their submissions manager form, during the
pandemic, although outside of it, they do accept mailed submissions.
They only accept submissions by people age 18+. You can learn more about their
submissions guidelines here. Please follow them. Some of their open submission
windows have a limited demographics and sometimes they are open to submissions
from everyone.
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Pajama Press
Pajama Press is a publisher of books for children and young adults. They focus on
publishing literary works. They publish books that fall into a wide range of categories
including: picture books, board books for the very young, middle-grade novels, young
adult novels, and non-fiction for all juvenile categories.
Pajama Press has good distribution and I have encountered their books at various
bookstores and libraries. Their books are reviewed by the New York Times and other
reputable publications.
They were established in 2011 so they are a relatively young press. They were
founded by three individuals who all had over twenty years of experience publishing
or editing children’s books.
Their books have won a wide variety of awards, mostly in Canada, as they are a
Canadian publisher. Most Canadian publishers only accept books by Canadian
authors due to government funding. However, there is currently no mention of
submission restrictions based on nationality on their website.
They only accept unsolicited queries (so do not submit manuscripts) from authors
without agents. They only respond to queries that they are interested in, but they try
to respond to those queries within three months. If you have not heard from them
after three months, it is safe to assume that they are not interested in seeing your
manuscript.
They do not publish series or books that are specifically aimed at the educational
market.
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In your query include a summary of your book, an excerpt (one or two pages of your
book), and information about your writing background.
To learn more about the books Pajama Press has previously published, visit their
main page here. To learn more about their query submission guidelines visit this
page. At the time of updating this year’s guide they are open to submissions.
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Pelican Children’s Books
Pelican Children's Books has always been an imprint of Pelican Publishing. In 2019
Arcadia Publishing purchased Pelican Publishing, and now Pelican Children's Books
is an imprint of Arcadia.
Pelican Children's Books is based in New Orleans, as it always has been, they've
published a lot of regional children's books, although they are open to submissions
regardless of author's location. In fact some of their regional picture books are based
in Texas and New York. You can see their list of past publications here. Their covers
lean a little old fashioned for my taste.
They primarily publish illustrated children's books, but they are also open to middle
grade books, as well as non-fiction and fiction intended for a young adult audience.
To learn more and see their full submission guidelines visit their website here.
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Reycraft Books
Their mission is to create books of interest for all children. Founded by Sera Reycraft,
a Korean who immigrated to the United States as a child, they mostly focus on
publishing diverse books from underrepresented communities, particularly by
#ownvoices authors. What they publish covers an interesting and vibrant range, from
the story of a girl writing her Abuelo in Mexico, to the story of a trans boy meeting a
new teacher, to the biography of Spotted Tail, and the story of a girl with cerebral
palsy learning to paint. You can get a feel for what they publish here.
Reycraft Books is linked to Newmark Learning and Benchmark Education.
They publish original and licensed works from authors and illustrators around the
globe. They accept direct submissions as well as submissions from agents. All of their
covers are beautifully illustrated. Their books are all hardcovers. Many receive
Kirkus Starred reviews and a number have won other awards.
Their editorial team is experienced and also primarily from diverse backgrounds. To
find out more about them, you can scroll to the bottom of this page.
They accept work for children ages 5-12. They are not interested in work aimed at
young adults at this time.
If you are submitting a picture book or early reader, please submit the cover letter +
full text, without art, unless you are a professional artist. They ask for the cover letter
and full text of chapter books. Illustrators can also submit their work.
To learn more about their full submission guidelines and to submit, go here. They are
currently closed to submissions but plan to reopen later in 2024.
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Sleeping Bear Press
Sleeping Bear Press is a well regarded publisher of board books, picture books, and
select middle grade readers. They offer advances to some authors. They have good
regional distribution in the Midwest and ok distribution in North America. Their
books have won a wide variety of awards, all of them are listed here.
Their website is easy to use and focused on selling books. They do offer teachers'
guides for many of their books, which is a good sign. Also you can read all of the
editorial reviews of their books here, which are wonderful and can give you a good
idea about the details of what they publish. Their catalog is also very helpful. It is
organized by age group and you can see it here.
They are open to submissions on a rolling basis, which means they can open and
close to submissions without notice. Please check back at their website regularly if
they are closed, they appear to be open the majority of the time.
All submissions must be made through email. They only contact submitters if they are
interested in the book they submitted. They do not respond to queries regarding
manuscripts. They also don't give estimated response times, but a good rule of thumb
is if you have not heard from a publisher in six months (and they don't post response
times), assume they are not interested. Learn more here.
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Sky Pony Press
Sky Pony Publishing is a division of Skyhorse Publishing, which we reviewed

recently. Sky Pony is the division of Skyhorse that focuses on publishing work for
children. This includes picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA fiction
and nonfiction. They are open to any genre and style. They are seeking work that is
"new and different".
Skypony only considers work submitted electronically via email. They expect all
work to be attached either as a word file or if it contains images as a jpg file.
When you submit include a query letter that contains relevant information about
yourself, including your publishing history, any institutional associations you have,
your occupation, and a website link if relevant. If the book is informational include
your qualifications.
In the past Sky Pony and more specifically Skyhorse had a number of complaints
about alleged un-payment of authors. To learn more about it, read this thread here.
But in the past couple of years things seem to have turned around significantly.
They do not specifically request a pitch or plot synopsis, but your query letter will
look more professional with them. Also they do not mention anything about
simultaneous submissions so you should be fine submitting your work elsewhere at
the same time as long as you notify them if your work is accepted elsewhere.
To learn more or submit please visit their website here.
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Tilbury House
Tilbury House is a press based out of Maine that publishes children's books including
board books, beginning readers, picture books and middle grade titles.
They have published some very successful children's books, including Talking Walls,
Sheila Says We're Weird, and Playing War. Each have a focused message involving a
social issue. You can get a feel for their catalog as a whole here.
Tilbury House used to publish books aimed at adults, primarily regional non-fiction
about Maine or the northeast, but this is no longer the case.
They only accept electronic submissions. The subject line of your email should
contain the words “Tilbury House Submission” along with the title of your work. You
should also include in the subject line the subject (science, nature, etc) of your
manuscript, and if it is fiction or nonfiction.
The body of the email should contain a detailed cover letter and a brief summary of
your manuscript. They’d also love to know of any published books that have
similarities with yours, and how your book will be different.
There is no need to provide illustrations alongside a picture book story. If you have
already illustrated your story the art work will be considered separately.
It seems like they have a very clear marketing plan for most books, which is a good
thing. This is one reason why they are only interested in such a narrow range of
publications.
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They only respond to submissions they are interested in. They try to do so within six
months.
If you are interested in learning more or submitting, please visit their website.
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Tiny Ghost Press
Tiny Ghost Press is a small press that focuses on publishing YA fiction that centers
LGBTQIA+ characters. This means that in their own words, they want "YOUNG
ADULT novels, written from a QUEER perspective, That is stories featuring a queer
protagonist or from a queer author. We're interested in everything from contemporary
romance, to dystopian adventures, and if your story dabbles in the spooky, the
supernatural, or the paranormal, or has a speculative element even better!"
They go on to say "We're especially looking for stories featuring trans, BIPOC, and
neurodivergent characters in lead roles written by authors from these communities."
They also state "#OWNVOICES preferred." Which is to say that they prefer to work
with authors whose identity and experience matches that of the POV character. It is
not a requirement, at this point, but if you are submitting to them and it is an
#OWNVOICES manuscript, you should make that clear in the query letter.
At the time of this initial review, they've published five books, with two more
forthcoming. Most of the books have good covers that feel genre appropriate (and
perhaps fanfiction influenced?).
They are very active on social media and for a small press they get a lot of
engagement. If you go their About page you can scan down to access all their socials.
Their About page unfortunately doesn't disclose many specifics about the company,
including the identity/experience of the editors. I also was unable to discover if they
had traditional distribution.
Some of their books, such as The Alpha's Son by Penny Jessup, have a lot of
engagement on Goodreads, even if not all the feedback is good (including specific
critique of the editing). Part of this is clearly that they give out a lot of ARC's
(advanced reader copies). The book they most recently released, Against the Stars,
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has a lot of engagement for a small press book, and no critiques against the editing
that I saw.
If you are submitting to them, please only submit via email and include the following:
- A brief QUERY LETTER with a little bit of information about you and your story.
- A SUMMARY of your novel (including the ending), no longer than one page.
- The first THREE CHAPTERS or 10,000 words of your novel, whichever comes
first.
In the subject line please write: SUBMISSION - STORY NAME
To learn more, please visit their submission guidelines here. As always only submit if
you think they are a good fit for your work. Please do spam this publisher if you are
not a good fit.
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Tradewind Books
Tradewind Books is a small publisher of books for children and young adults located
in British Columbia, Canada. They publish beautifully illustrated books, chapter
books, books for middle grade readers, and for young adults. They publish primarily
fiction but also some poetry. They are not interested in nonfiction. It is important to
note that they cannot accept novels by non-Canadian authors unless they are chapter
books that require illustrations. They can accept submissions for picture books. If you
are not Canadian, only submit books that require illustrations. All other books will
not be considered.
The books they publish have been awarded and shortlisted for numerous prestigious
awards. The company has been around since 1997.
They have good distribution in Canada and you can see the details about their
distribution in other countries (including the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand)
here. I often see their books in my local library. Their books are well designed and
appealing as well as diverse. To learn more about the specifics of what they publish,
please browse their catalog here.
All submissions must be made through the mail. To learn more, go to their
submission guidelines here. They have specific instructions for each age group and
category, so please read and follow their instructions. At the time of this update they
were closed to submissions.
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Walker Books
Walker Books, an established and respected UK based publisher of Picture books, is

open to direct submissions, but only of work that is already illustrated. So if you have
an un-illustrated picture book, this is not the right home for it.
Walker Books is part of The Walker Books Group is one of the world’s leading
independent publishers of children's books. Their international imprints include This
vibrant international Candlewick Press in the United States, and Walker Books
Australia, which has locations in Australia and New Zealand. They've published
many of the most established writers and illustrators, and my bookshelf contains a lot
of the books they've published. You can get a good feel for their catalog here.
As part of their submission guidelines, they link to two resources. One is Writers
Advice for Children's Book Authors. I've encountered them before because they
publish Children's books through their imprint, Wacky Bee, but I have not reviewed
them, because they heavily encourage writers to use their paid feedback services,
before submitting to their publisher. I'm not saying that their feedback isn't good, but
this sets off all sorts of alarms for me, especially because they charge a fair amount
for all their resources, which do seem to be personalized.
The other company Walker links to, is Writers & Artists, which also offers paid
services, but gives a lot of what appears to be quality information away for free.
They accept submissions by email and post, and are open to submissions just by
illustrators as well. They take over three months to respond to submissions via post
(and only if you include a SASE), and they only respond to emails submissions if
they are interested.
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Please follow their submission guidelines carefully and only submit if you feel like
your work is a good potential fit.
You can access their submission guidelines here.
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Christian Publishers
These publishers publish Christian books covering a wide range of categories from
academic to children’s books. There are a few other publishers that publish Christian
books listed in the romance section. Some of the Christian publishers are open to less
overtly religious work, most are not.
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Abingdon Press
Founded in the 1920s, Abingdon Press is a cross-denominational religious publisher.

They are an imprint of The United Methodist Publishing House, which has been in
operation since 1789. They offer a wide variety of products, including books
(Christian living, academic, leadership), church supply items, church program
resources, curriculum resources, and a host of other print and digital media.
They publish a wide variety of work, as you can see in their catalogue here. It's good
to spend time reviewing their past publications to see what they are most interested
in.
They encourage prospective authors to first submit for consideration a proposal

(including short summary, intended audience, chapter outline, author biography,
platform, and marketing plan) as well as 1-2 sample chapters, one of which is the first
chapter.
All of this should be filed via their Submittable.
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Anaiah Press
Anaiah Press is a Christian digital-first publisher. They publish faith-based fiction and
nonfiction. They are a relatively small and new publishing house. However, they have
a large number of editors for such a small organization and many of the editors have a
fair amount of experience.
The editors (aside from the managing editor) all have wish lists below their profile.
These wish lists make it clear what kind of manuscripts they are particularly
interested in.
They’ve had serious issues regularly updating all of their website recently, some
sections are very old and some are recently updated.
As a Christian press, they do not accept works that are anti-faith, contain gratuitous
sex, or encourage religious or social intolerance.
They have three imprints that are sometimes open for submissions: Anaiah Romance
(20,000 – 90,000 words), Anaiah Surge (50,000 – 90,000 words), Anaiah Adventures
(up to 50,000 words). The imprints page gives potential submitters a better idea of
what each of the imprints are looking for.
They pay royalties of 40% on net for digital format and 9–12% net on all other
formats. Right now, they are primarily a digital publisher.
If you are interested in submitting work, send a query letter and the first three
chapters in the body of an email to their general submission address or to the editor
that you feel would be most interested in your work. They try to contact all submitters
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within 8–12 weeks. Make sure you mention in your query which imprint your work is
intended for.
I was unsure of including them in this update of the guide. They are still actively
publishing books, but their submission guidelines mention that they hope to reopen in
September 2023, which is six months in the past now. To learn visit their website
here.
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Enclave Publishing
Enclave was formerly known as Marcher Lord Press, which was founded by Jeff
Gerke in 2008. Enclave was bought and rebranded by a Christian fiction agent named
Steve Laube in 2014. It was sold to the newly-formed Gilead in 2016 but Steve Laube
continues to be the publisher.
There is a conflict of interest when an agent or agency is involved directly in a

publishing house, but it is becoming more common, and in this particular case, it
seems to be working so far.
Enclave is a Christian imprint that focuses entirely on publishing speculative fiction

which they define as Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Supernatural. This work must
have a strong Christian element. It must take into account "the Evangelical Christian"
world view. It must also be between 75,000 and 140,000 words in length. It must be
aimed at YA or adult readers.
They have an acquisition form that they ask you to fill out to submit.
I have not seen their contract, nor do they outline royalties on their website.
Their website is easy to use and their covers range from OK to excellent. Most of the
books they've released have sold relatively well on Amazon and they have a number
of positive reviews. I'm not sure who their print distributor is, or if they have one, but
I suspect they would focus only on Christian bookstores.
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The Good Book Company
"We are an evangelical publishing house that stand on the fundamental truths of the
Christian faith, for example, the IFES/UCCF/Intervarsity basis of faith. We are also
corporate members of the Evangelical Alliance."
As such they are not interested in views outside of the Christian Evangelical
movement. However within that area they publish resources for evangelism, Bible
study, training, Christian living as well as for youth and children’s work.
They state "Our aim with all our resources is to get people directly interacting with
the Bible." You can get a good idea for how they do that, and what they publish by
visiting their website here. Before submitting they ask that you spend time reviewing
the books they previously published on their website and:
You should have a clear idea in your mind about what you want the book/resource to
achieve, and who it is aimed at: ‘What do you want this to do, and for whom?’
Books should be accessible to the general Christian reader (ie we are not an academic
publisher)
When telling or illustrating Bible stories, we do not like things to be added or taken
away (we are concerned to be faithful to scripture).
We avoid subjects that have a particular denominational bias.
We do not publish poetry, fiction, biography or autobiography.
They ask that you not submit completed work to them. They very much prefer to
work with authors and accept proposals and ideas.
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To learn more and read their complete guidelines go here.
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Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense
Love Inspired is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on the Christian romance

market. They describe themselves as publishing "Contemporary inspirational
romances that feature Christian characters facing the many challenges of life and love
in today's world. You can see the catalogue for this imprint here.
Love Inspired Suspense is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on publishing work

where both romance and suspense are both major elements. They describe the work
they publish as "Edge-of-the-seat, contemporary romantic suspense tales of intrigue
and romance featuring Christian characters facing challenges to their faith…and to
their lives". You can see the catalogue for this imprint here.
You can read our review of Harlequin, if you want to learn more about the company
as a whole, but this article very much focuses on these two related imprints. I don't
usually group two imprints together and I don't often review imprints period if the
publisher as a whole mostly publishes one genre. However these imprints are clearly
linked by their name and their focus on the Christian market, which also sets them a
part from the Harlequin catalogue as a whole.
Like all Harlequin imprints you submit your work through Submittable. Both imprints
are seeking complete manuscripts that are 55,000 words in length, along with 3-5
page synopsis of the book. Both imprints want the book to reflect a Christian
worldview and contain wholesome values. Both imprints are seeking books featuring
"relationships that emphasize emotional intimacy rather than sexual desire".
There are lots of other details about the specifics the imprints are seeking, the editors
involved and their promotional plans. You just have to go to Harlequin's submittable
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account and scroll down to the end of their imprint list to get details about both
publishers. Follow the submission guidelines carefully before submitting.
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Orbis Books
Orbis Books was founded in 1970, and they are the publishing arm of Maryknoll
Fathers and Brothers, a Catholic organization. of leaders in religious publishing since
1970. Within that scope they publish a wide range of books on prayer, spirituality,
Catholic life, theology, mission and current affairs. The work they publish tries to
encompass "the global dimensions of faith, inviting dialogue with diverse cultures
and traditions, and serving the cause of reconciliation and peace". You can get a
better feel for what they've published here. They are not interested in publishing
fiction or anything outside of the scope listed above.
Learn more about the history of the press, go here.
Submissions can be made via email or post.
They go into details of what needs to be submitted on their website here. Please only
submit to them if you feel like your work is an excellent fit.
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Paulist Press
Paulist Press is an established press that has been around for 150 years. It is founded
and run by the Paulist Fathers, a society of missionary priests founded for and by
Americans in 1858. Paulist Press publishes Christian books in a wide variety of sub-
genres, they have excellent distribution and sales within that market. They primarily
publish print books but they also publish electronically as well. They do not publish
fiction except for children’s fiction.
To get a good idea of what they publish it can be helpful to review their bestsellers
list or browse their new releases.
They have four separate submission guidelines for the four primary categories of
books that they publish: Academic Books, Children’s Books, Popular Books,
Professional or Clergy Books. They publish four types of Children’s books: Picture
books, Activity books, Chapter books, and Prayer books.
When they refer to popular books, they mean ones aimed at a lay (not clergy)
audience.
All of the guidelines are very specific, and you should read the ones for your category
closely and make sure that your proposal matches their requirements. Submissions for
all categories should be made through the same email address. Electronic submissions
are preferred but submissions are still accepted through the mail.
Proposals for all categories can be made before the manuscript is complete.
To learn more about their submission guidelines visit their website here.
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Pelican Book Group
A print and eBook publisher of Christian romance novels. They have a number of
imprints and accept unsolicited submissions for all but one of them.
They are not interested in publishing a book that has been previously self-published.
They stress this point on their website more than once, as they evidently have to deal
with this issue a lot. So please do not submit a previously published book to them.
Their website is aimed at readers, not writers, which is always a good sign. Although
I did find their website a little hard to navigate.
Many authors have published multiple books with them, which is also a good sign.
Their covers vary wildly in quality, some are excellent, and others are very
amateurish.
They respond through email exclusively, so make sure your spam filter does not
block them. Their response times have been generally reported as being rather quick,
and almost always under 60 days.
All submissions must be made through their online submission form. They ask that
you specify which imprint you are submitting to, so it is worth your time to research
all the imprints beforehand to ensure that you are querying the right editor. Their
submission form is very thorough. You should make sure to spell check and edit all
your written responses before submitting the form.
Make sure to read their guidelines to ensure that you are complying with all their
instructions. They require that authors query first by submitting the first chapter of
your novel. Based on that they will either reject the submission or request the full
manuscript.
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Manuscripts must reach a minimum word requirement in order to receive a print run.
They publish hardcovers and paperbacks.
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Plough Publishing House
Plough Publishing House was founded in 1920. They are an independent publisher of
books on faith, society, and spiritual life. They are primarily based in Walden, New
York, with additional branches in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Plough is the publishing house of the Bruderhof, which is according to the site an
international movement of Christian communities whose members are called to
follow Jesus together in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the first church
in Jerusalem, sharing all our talents, income, and possessions (Acts 2 and 4)."
They publish a quarterly magazine as well as books. The books they publish include
books on Christian living, social issues, devotionals, church history, spiritual classics,
parenting and education, poetry and literary fiction, as well as children's books. In
spite of this wide range of genres they focus on quality rather than quantity. They
only publish about twenty books a year. You can get a good feel for what they
publish here.
They don't share their distribution company but I have seen books they have
published in bookstores, which is a good sign. I have also not seen a sample contract.
They have specific guidelines for book proposals that are important to follow. You
can learn more about that here. It's important to not submit a complete manuscript to
them unless it's explicitly requested. They respond to all submissions within six
weeks. They ask that all submissions be made by email or mail.
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Prism Books
Prism Books used to be an independent press but was recently acquired by Pelican
Book Group, so you submit to them using the same website.
Prism is a Christian company, and while they do not only publish Christian books and
their authors do not need to be Christians, they are not interested in publishing books
that promote other religions beside Christianity. They are also not interested in hate
literature, or manuscripts that portray rape or violence in a positive light. They
describe the two categories of books they publish as Christian and "clean and
wholesome"
Prism offers new authors a standard contract that gives authors 40% royalties. Many
authors who have published work with them speak highly of Prism and the way they
treat their authors.
Prism is currently looking for works of fiction,
novels, romance novels, inspirational novels, and Christian fiction.
Submissions for all publications should be formatted as a .doc or .rtf file. The font
should be 12 points New Times Roman. They do not want page numbers or headers
and footers.
To learn more about Prism Books please visit their submission guidelines here.
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Upper Room
Upper Room is a Christian press that focuses on "Christian spiritual formation". The
work they publish is designed to appeal to both clergy and lay people. It is designed
with individuals and small groups in mind. They "seek writers who offer insights and
guidance on these topics: prayer and other spiritual practices, spiritual formation,
Advent and Lent studies, living a faithful Christian life, relationships, healing and
wholeness, aging, and creativity and spirituality”. To learn more about what they are
actively publishing, visit their bookstore here.
Upper Room was founded in 1935 as a daily devotional guide, it has grown
significantly over the years, the press just one part of a larger non profit, inter-
denominational organization. To learn more about the press and the organization as a
whole go here.
As a press, Upper Room encourages "the use of inclusive language in reference to

God and humanity". They are only interested in non-fiction proposals and are not
interested in fiction or poetry.
They only accept proposals via the post, and they outline what they expect proposals
to include here.
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Veritas Publishing
Veritas is Ireland's leading religious publisher. They also are a retailer, with stores
across Ireland. They publish over 40 books each year in the areas of theology,
scripture, prayer, spirituality, parenting, counselling, children’s issues, social
commentary, and liturgical resources. They also publish religious educational text for
use in Irish schools.
To get a good feel for what they publish visit their online catalogue
They are owned by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and their primary
function is to serve the needs of the Irish Church.
Many of the books they publish cover the broader life of Christians, including
Cancer: A Circle of Seasons by Anne Alcock, which is a book of prayer, poetry and
journal suggestions to help and support those dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and
Wrestling with God by Ronald Rolheiser.
Even though they are based in Ireland and have the best distribution there, they are
open to general submissions, as long as they are not focused on audiences outside of
Ireland. Only submit if you think your work directly intersects with what they
publish.
Proposals must include the following:

A cover letter
A brief biography
2-3 sample chapters
A brief synopsis of your book proposal
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All submissions must be made via email. They try to respond to all submissions
within 13 weeks.
To learn more about their submission guidelines go here. When I last checked they
were closed to submissions.
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Westminster John Knox Press
Westminster John Knox Press (WJK) is the academic and trade imprint of the
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. They have published many established
Christian scholars, including Marjorie Thompson, Cornel West, and Rowan Williams.
They are just a faith based publisher which means all of their work is rooted in
Christianity, and they are not a good publisher to approach from outside of that
perspective (although their Children's imprint Flyaway Books was established in
2018 and includes work that is focused on things outside of Christianity).
WJK publishes "books in theology, biblical studies, preaching, worship, ethics,

religion and culture, and other related fields for four main markets: scholars and
students in colleges, universities, seminaries, and divinity schools; preachers,
educators, and counselors working in churches; members of mainline Protestant
congregations; and books specifically related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)".
It's a good idea to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their main page, or
searching through the book section of the site. They are very much focused on readers
rather than writers, which is always good.
They do not consider fiction, memoir, poetry, dissertations or Festschriften for

publication, and do not consider kids' books outside of their Children's imprint, which
has separate guidelines.
They are only interested in considering proposals and have detailed information about
writing academic book proposals, professional book proposals, and general reader
book proposals on their website. Please read them carefully before submitting a
proposal that follows the guidelines they have established.
To see their full guidelines, go here.

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Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Founded in 1911 and located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company is an independent publisher of religious books. They have a
large range, including academic books and reference works in theology, biblical
studies, and religious history to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural
criticism, as well as literature. They are primarily a print publisher with excellent
distribution. My local independent bookstore regularly carries a number of their titles.
They are very open about their philosophy, which I have quoted in full below.
William B. Eerdmans Sr., our founder, believed that responsible viewpoints from
across the religious spectrum should be given opportunity for expression and that
high literary and intellectual standards were of utmost importance. His publishing
company continues to operate according to these beliefs. Thus, deeply rooted in the
historic Christian tradition, ecumenical in spirit, open to emerging dialogue with other
faiths, Eerdmans continues to commit itself to the life of the religious academy, to the
church, and to the role of religion in culture.
They also have a popular imprint called Eerdmans Books for Young Readers which
publishes a variety of books for children, including best-selling and award-winning
titles. A book they published won the Caldecott, which was awarded to A River of
Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet. It is
important to note that River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams is not
overtly religious. They also publish books aimed at middle grade readers and young
adults. Their children’s book imprint is covered in more details in the section of the
guide focused on Children’s books.
To read their complete submission guidelines for submissions of adult books, please
go here. They try to respond to all submissions in eight weeks.
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Zondervan
Zondervan is one of the largest and most established Christian media companies.
They are based in Grand Rapids Michigan, but have an international presence. They
are now owned by HarperCollins. They are a founding member of the Evangelical
Christian Publishers Association.
They only have two imprints that are open to direct submissions:
• Zondervan Reflective books aim to be good, engaging reads that encourage

deep reflection, inspire action, and call for a response. The goal for books in
this imprint is to be part of the conversation, to engage readers, and to explore
from historically orthodox Christian commitments the really tough questions
Christians face today. Topics for such books include leadership, ministry, the
intersection of faith and culture, and biblical and theological perspectives on
contemporary issues. The authors of such books are expected to have
demonstrable expertise on the subject being addressed.
• Zondervan Academic books seek to show the breadth and diversity—both
theologically and globally—of Christianity in its broadly evangelical
expression. College and seminary textbooks, Bible commentaries, reference
books, and scholarly monographs in the biblical, theological, and related
disciplines are included in this imprint.
All submissions to either of these imprints must be made via email. You should make
it clear which imprint is the best fit in the subject line of the email.
They ask that your proposal be no more than 5 pages and include the following:
• A brief description of the proposed book

• The unique contribution of the book and why you feel it must be published
• The table of contents, including a two or three sentence description of each
chapter
• Your intended reader
• Your curriculum vitae including your qualifications to write the book
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It's important to note that on their submission page they share the link to their vanity
imprint run by Authors Solutions. We've written about imprints like this here, and
they should very much be steered clear of.
To learn more, or to submit, go here.
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Romance and Erotica Publishers
In this chapter there are traditional print publishers, established romance stalwarts, up
and coming e-book publishers, and everything in between. Most focus on romance
and some are open to erotica as well, but there are many that just publish romance,
and some that just publish erotica. The review makes it clear which publishers are
open to which kind of work.
Because of the nature of this work, some of the websites will be contain content not
appropriate for those under the age of 18 and also not safe for work. Because this is
part of my job, I have to look at them for work.
Please note that all of the romance publishers that exclusively publish Christian
romance are listed in the Christian chapter of this book. Also, publishers that publish
romance but are open to genres outside of that, are listed in the Multi-Genre section
of this book.
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Afterglow Books
Afterglow Books is a new imprint of Harlequin. You can read our review of
Harlequin, and their digital imprint Carina, if you want to learn more about the
company as a whole.
Their tagline for Afterglow books is "From showing up to glowing up, these
characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance
along the way. ' This is how the editors describe what the new imprint is seeking
"Depth, relatability and sizzling spice, too: these characters are determined to live
their best lives — and find the romance that makes them feel seen, unapologetically.
In the pages of Afterglow Books, characters from all walks of life, all types of diverse
identities, will pursue their dreams and discover love isn’t far behind. Because
everyone deserves a happily ever after that’s true to who they are."
The work they are seeking is between 65,00 and 70,000 words.
They are specifically seeking writers from underrepresented backgrounds, but they
don't have any details or rules listed in the context of that.
They are planning to publish two books a month. You can get a good feel for what
they've published so far by going to their website here. They started out by publishing
some already established authors which is a good sign that they are investing in this
imprint.
If you want to learn more about their specific submission guidelines for this line, go
here. All submissions must be made through Submittable.
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Boroughs Publishing Group
Boroughs Publishing Group is an e-publisher that focuses on publishing romance

novels, novellas, and short stories. They now also publish a fair amount of women’s
fiction.
Within the romance genre, they are interested in publishing a large number of
subgenres including contemporary romance, young adult, historical fiction,
paranormal, urban fantasy, multicultural, erotic, thrillers, and fantasy novels.
Boroughs Publishing Group has been around now for over three years. The editor at
the helm, Chris Keesler, has a good reputation. The company seems to be consistently
growing. The website is aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, and focuses on
selling books rather than recruiting authors (always a good sign).
Many authors that have signed with them have stayed on with the company after the
release of their first book. Their books have well-designed covers and overall they
appear to be more professionally edited than most e-romance books.
All submissions are accepted electronically. You can submit via email or through
their online submission manager. They are open to backlisted books but only if you
query first. If you are an unpublished author, you must submit a completed
manuscript. If you are an author who has been previously published, you can submit
just the first three chapters.
They accept simultaneous submissions as long as you inform them of that fact in the
cover letter. Novellas should be between 30,000 and 40,000 words in length and
novels should be between 70,000 and 120,000 words in length. Submissions to their
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lunchbox romance line must be already-completed manuscripts that are between

6,000 and 12,000 words in length.
All stories must focus on romance, but any heat level is fine. You can submit more
than one manuscript at a time, but they must be submitted separately. If you have
written a series, tell them, but only submit the first novel.
They try to respond to all submissions within eight weeks and you are encouraged to
query them after that point.
To read their full submission guidelines, visit them here. To learn more about the
books they have previously published, visit their main page here.
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Carina Press
Carina Press is Harlequin’s digital-first adult fiction imprint, publishing first in

digital, and then depending on the numbers releasing audio and print versions as well.
Unlike most of Harlequin's imprints they don't just focus on romance, although they
are open to all subgenres of romance, including contemporary, paranormal, LGBTQ+,
and science fiction. They also publish mysteries of all flavors—from cozies to
thrillers, with and without romantic elements.
The same authors often write for them over and over again, which is generally a good
sign. They are also open to publishing series. They are open to various levels of
commitment too as they regularly have anthology submission calls, where authors can
just submit a short story, usually to match a theme. At the top of their submission
guidelines page there is even an option to sign up for emailed updates on their
anthology calls.
Their submission guidelines are very detailed and you should read them carefully
before proceeding. All submissions are made through the submission manager
Submittable.
They say they respond to all submissions in around two months but based on reader
feedback, a longer wait period is to be expected.
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Changeling Press
Changeling Press is an eBook Publisher that only publishes Erotic fiction targeted at a
female audience. However, within that genre they publish many subgenres
including Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Dark and Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, BDSM, Action
Adventure, and Guilty Pleasures (Adult Contemporary Kink).
Themes they publish include: New Adult, Menage, Bisexual and More, Gay,
Interracial, BBW, Cougar (M/F), Silver Fox (M/M), Men and Women in Uniform,
Vampires, Werewolves, Elves, Dragons & Magical Creatures, Other Shapeshifters,
Magic, Dark Desires (Demons and Horror), and Hentai (Tentacle Monsters).
They are currently open to submissions of contemporary and futuristic short fiction,
single title, series, and serials in any of the genres and themes, mentioned above.
All books should be erotic and romance driven, which means though marriage and
weddings need not be involved the publishers do want the primary relationship to
either be HEA (Happy Ever After) or, in the case of serials, HFN (Happy For Now).
They do not accept books that are simultaneously submitted elsewhere, but you can
submit more than one book at a time.
In terms of royalties, from on-site sales you receive 35% of gross, and off site sales
you receive 50% of Net. They promise that you will receive your first check within
60 days of publication.
Turnaround times are pretty fast. Expect to hear back from them about your
submission within two weeks. If your book is picked up, they generally have fast
turnaround times for editing and publishing as well. Maybe this explains why the
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covers are generally not very good (although that said, genre might also play a factor
in that)
To learn more visit their submissions page, and make sure to read their guidelines
carefully.
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Decadent Publishing
Decadent Publishing is only interested in publishing Romance Fiction. They are open
to fiction of any heat level (they define their heat levels as part of their submission
guidelines) and most sub-genres of romance. Some of what they have published can
be definitively classified as erotic romance. You can get a feel for what they have
previously published here. There new release section is randomly selected from books
published in the last year as far as I can tell. On the blog they share their most recent
releases.
Their covers are mostly well within the scope of normal romance covers, although
some are more professional than others. They have been around for over a decade.
They will not consider incomplete manuscripts and they do not ask for partial
manuscript submissions. They only want to see complete manuscripts that are not
simultaneously submitted to other publishers.
Decadent considers stories starting at 15,000 words, which is not very long. They
have no listed upper limit for stories.
You must download their submission form from the submission guidelines, fill out
and submit that as well as the full manuscript at the same time.
They do not consider manuscripts that contain the following: "Decadent Publishing
does not accept submissions that contain illegal sexual acts, bestiality (including un-
shifted/shifted shapeshifter combinations), incest, pedophilia, glorified racial
intolerance, necrophilia, or graphic rape for purposes of titillation - if it is an integral
part of the story and not posed in a positive light it may be considered. Romance
submissions can be sweet to smoking hot. Sexual or sensual scenes should enhance,
not BE, the story. "
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They also have a number of series that they are always looking for contributors to. If
you scan down the guidelines you can learn more about the specific calls, although
they generally lean more towards the erotica side of things.
To learn more about their submission guidelines, and to submit, go here.
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Deep Desires
Deep Desires is a press that publishes Romance and Erotic Romance. Deep Desires
Press was founded in 2016 by a group of authors and editors, including bestselling
erotica author Cameron D. James, in addition to editors that have worked on
bestselling erotica and erotic romance books. The founders also have substantial self-
publishing experience.
As they put it, "At the core of our company, we have two primary objectives. The
first is to provide a superior erotic reading experience. The second is to create a
community of happy and successful authors, and this includes recognizing and
celebrating an author’s success outside of their work with Deep Desires Press."
For this reason they don't have restrictive clauses on their contract like many other
romance and erotica publishers, like the right of first refusal.
The website is well laid out, with a thorough and helpful FAQ section.
They make it clear that all books they publish will receive full editing, including one
round by a developmental editor and another pass by a proofreader. They will
promote work on social media and in their newsletter, but most of the promotion is up
to the author and when submitting you must include at least two social media links.
The covers for the genre are much better than expected and I like how they really feel
different than each other, and many stand out.
You can read their full submission guidelines here. Only submit if you feel like your
work is a good fit.
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Dragonblade
This digital-first publishing house only publishes works of historical fiction with a
clear focus on romance. Within the historical romance genre they are open to most
subgenres including: Viking, Regency, Georgian, Tudor, Highlander, Medieval,
Victorian, Roman, Civil War, Restoration, Edwardian, etc. They are interested in
anything pre-20th century except Westerns and Amish. They are also open to time
travel, historical fiction, historical fantasies, and historical mysteries as long as there
is a romance component that ends happily ever after. They are open to M/M, F/F,
M/F, LGBTQIA pairings.
Founded in 2012, they primarily publish series through Kindle Unlimited, although
they have print editions available of some of their work. They were founded by the
bestselling romance author Kathryn Le Veque, as primarily a self-publishing
operation initially, but they branched out, years ago now. They still publish a lot of
Kathryn Le Veque's books. The editorial team involves a lot more people now, and
you can learn more about them here.
Their covers are good and genre appropriate. An author who was published by them
in 2022, posted about their experience with Dragonblade, under the user name Lil and
it seems to be a mostly positive. You can learn more about them. "Lil" said that
Dragonblade helped promote the work more than most small presses but they did
contribute.
Dragonblade contracts are 7 years long, and are apparently pretty standard with above
average royalty rates, that vary on the length of the book (longer books get a better
rate).
Do not submit to them unless you feel like your work is a good fit for their existing
catalog. You can get a good feel for that catalog here.
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They ask that all manuscripts be between 40,000 and 120,000 words, Any explicit
text must be between consenting adults, and they are not interested in manuscripts
that include rape, illegal or degrading scenes. Nothing with bestiality, pedophilia,
enslavement, or incest should be submitted to them. They also specify that if your
book has excessive sex/heat, to please submit it to the Dragonblade Flame line.
You can learn more about submitting work to them here.
They also run a yearly contest, formally called "the Write Stuff" and now called "the
Write Track" which is free to enter and is open this year till February 1st, 2024. You
can learn more details here. The winners receive cash prizes and publication.
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Entangled Publishing
Entangled Publishing is an independent publisher of adult and young adult romantic

fiction. Since its first release in July 2011, Entangled has published more than 970
titles. This number includes a lot of titles that have made it onto the New York Times
Bestsellers list and the USA Today Bestsellers list. Some of their more famous books
are Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Entangled Publishing has twelve imprints. They have three single title imprints.
These are Entangled Select (an adult romance imprint, encompassing all subgenres of
romance), Entangled TEEN (a line of books geared to the young adult audience, there
must be at least a romantic subplot), and Embrace (with protagonists typically
ranging from 18-22, Embrace publishes high-concept stories that focus on the endless
possibilities this stage in life brings, and above all, romance). They also have nine
category romance imprints that are released digital-first across a wide variety of
platforms.
In 2019 they signed a controversial author duo that is banned on Amazon, and that
created some ongoing bad press. You can read about it here. I think this raises serious
questions and should be taken into consideration.
Submit to only one imprint per title. They will move the submission if it would be
better for another imprint. Do carefully review each of the imprints before submitting.
All submissions must include a query letter and the full manuscript unless you are a
bestselling author or an author who has published with Entangled previously.
They promise that all submissions will be responded to with a rejection, a request to
take to their board of acquisitions, or a revision request within 60 days.
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Entangled releases between 30-45 titles per month in digital first format and 4 per
month in simultaneous print and digital formats. They are distributed by Macmillan,
one of the largest distributors, and they have a joint partnership with St. Martin’s
Press. Many of their titles are also released in audio format.
They claim to create an individual marketing plan for every book that they release.
Their website is engaging, well organized, and well designed.
According to their website, this is how their royalties work:
“Digital-first releases receive up to 35% of cover price, while print royalties begin at
7.5% of cover price. When releasing simultaneously in print via brick and mortar
bookstores, ebook royalties are 20% of cover price.”
All submissions are made via the online submission platform Submittable.
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Evernight
Evernight is an eBook publisher of romance and erotica novels that is currently open
to submissions from writers. They also publish print versions of some books. They
publish a lot of books and have a relatively high acceptance rate. The authors that
have published with them have had a mixed experience. A number of the books they
have published have been on the Amazon Bestseller list, but rumor suggests that
those books tend to be written by the owners.
The books they publish are all romance and erotica but they are open to a lot of sub
genres within these genres. These sub-genres include YA Romance, Western, Science
Fiction, Holiday, and many more. All of the sub-genres of Romance have to have a
happily ever after (HEA) or a happy for now (HFN) ending. They also publish a
number of anthologies, so they are open to short stories as well.
They are very upfront about their royalty rates. They are listed below.
Authors earn 45% gross royalties from sales off our website and 45% net royalties
from our distributors. Anthology authors earn 50% gross royalties from sales off our
website and 50% net royalties from our distributors.
They are currently accepting submissions of completed manuscripts of 8,000 to

100,000 words in all the sub-genres of romance and erotic romance that they publish,
as well as some urban fantasy.
Readers seem to really be drawn to their covers, from reviews I have read, although I
personally do not see the appeal, I am not their market audience.
They are open to most subjects appearing in their books. They will not allow the
following subjects in their books:
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NO pedophilia, bestiality, incest, infidelity, rape as titillation, necrophilia, underage

sex, or depraved acts.
They expect the manuscript to be edited before you submit it, which most likely
means that it will not be edited much beyond that. Although they do not explicitly
state that on their website. Individuals who have worked with them have commented
on that fact. Also, they appear to be leery of working with agents.
However, in the years since this review was originally written, the lack of the
promotion they do for authors has been questioned, along with other things. The last
updates in the Water Cooler thread are from years ago now, but they were not very
complimentary. You can see them here.
To learn more, visit their website here. To read their complete submission guidelines
visit this page.
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eXtasy
eXtasy is an eBook publisher that pays 40% royalties to all of their authors. They now
publish Romance and Erotica.
They have an easy to use, well organized website that is clearly reader orientated. I
can only describe the covers as lazy - two different titles by two different authors
have the same covers! However, some of them are better than others. Also, they
promote their backlist in an "oldies but goodies section"
In their own words:
We are a full service royalty paying eBook Publisher, which includes: Editing, Final
line editing and proofreading, Cover art, ISBN number, and Digital publishing; print
and audio are a possibility, but not guaranteed. Our standard contract is three years
and for worldwide English digital rights that hold print and/or audio until we opt to
release those particular rights after a set time.
They do expect all submissions to be edited before submitting. They only accept
erotica where a complete story is key, they do not just want "sex for the sake of sex or
a series of sex scenes." They also have a whole list of other things they do not accept
including underage sex, incest, and necrophilia. It is also very important to them that
a manuscript is previously unpublished. They count self-published books as being
previously published.
Please read all of their extensive submission guidelines before submitting.
To learn more, visit their submissions page here.
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Forever Yours
Forever is the romance imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Grand Central

Publishing is an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, one of the big five publishers.
Forever Yours is the digital sister of Forever, they focus on publishing unagented
authors, and often publish authors without a publication history. They publish
eBooks, but they have an option to print on demand any book over 50,000 words in
length.
Forever Yours is a way to get your foot in the door of a major publisher. They also
give you the advantages most eBook only publishers don't, thorough editing, and a
marketing team,
Their website is well organized and easy to navigate. I personally don't love reading
all that red on white text, but I don't generally read romance novels, so I am not the
target audience.
They do not offer advances. Their royalties are 25% of net. They try to respond to all
submissions within 6-8 weeks of receiving a submission.
Forever Yours accepts romance submissions from all subgenres, including but not
limited to: contemporary romance, new adult, category romance stories, romantic
suspense, western, historical, inspirational, paranormal, time-travel, and erotica.
To submit to them send them an email that includes a query letter, a detailed synopsis
of your novel, and your completed manuscript formatted to be an RTF file.
They accept novellas as well as novels. The shortest works they publish are 12,000
words, the longest are 100,000.
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To learn more visit their website here. To read their detailed submission guidelines go
here.
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Harlequin
Harlequin is easily the most famous romance-only publisher out there. In fact, their
name was synonymous with romance novels when I was growing up. They have a
wide distribution network, from grocery stores to bookstores; they are everywhere.
They became an imprint of HarperCollins a few years ago.
Their submission process is very user friendly. First, you create one account, with that
one account you can submit to any of their divisions. After creating an account, you
fill out a form and upload a synopsis and a manuscript. If your manuscript is rejected
from one division, you can always submit it to another.
Each division has a different focus, different editors, and different guidelines. So,
everything from the length of the manuscript to the content has to match the
guidelines for that division. The divisions operate very separately from one another,
many are not geographically close, and some are located in Canada and some in the
States.
Harlequin has so many divisions that focus on different subgenres in romance that it
might take you a while just to figure out what might be the best fit for your
manuscript. Different divisions are open to different heat levels. Heat levels in the
context of romance novels is a scale that measures what amount of romantic/sexual
details are allowed in that particular division.
Different divisions focus on publishing everything from medical romance novels to
paranormal romance novels, to Christian romance suspense novels to Westerns. So,
read up on all the divisions to make sure you are submitting to the one that fits your
work the best.
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In the past, Harlequin had a reputation for having contracts that are unfavorable to
authors. They were successfully sued recently by a group of authors over contract
issues. However, the situation seems to have improved somewhat since their
acquisition by Harper Collins.
To learn more, visit their main website here. You can also visit their index of
divisions and submission guidelines here.
You can also visit their submittable here.
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Inkspell Publishing
Inkspell Publishing started out as an eBook and print on demand Romance publisher
in 2011. They now seem to focus on publishing eBooks primarily. Their eBooks have
excellent covers, much better than most small and some big romance publishers. A
number of their books have good reviews on Amazon, although most have not sold
that many copies (although many more than most self-published books)
On their website it is hard to find any information about the company itself. In fact
most of what I learned was from the Absolute Write Water Cooler thread about
Inkspell.
From that thread you will probably get the same impression as I, that writers have had
very mixed experiences with them. However, a lot of the information in the early
portion of the thread is no longer valid - I don't think they are publishing print
anymore, and they have been around a few years.
They have been around a few years. They seem to have figured out a few things this
time.
To learn more or to submit, read their full submission guidelines here.
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JMS Books
JMS Books is a small electronic press that focuses on publishing LGBTQ+ erotic
romance, romance, and young adult romance. They publish mostly shorter work, but
stories between 40,000 and 60,000 words in length are eligible (but not guaranteed) to
be published in paperback if they sell 50 electronic copies within the first six months
of release. Stories longer than 60,000 words will be released in eBook and print
format via print on demand. They use Amazon as their printer and distributor.
They do not publish any heterosexual romance, or any work that is only erotic
without a romance element.
They publish stories starting at 12,000 words, with no strict upper limit, so are a little
different than most traditional manuscript publishers in that regard, where the
minimum starting length is usually much higher.
They are reading for the following seasonal story themes in 2024 with the deadlines
detailed below
Halloween -- Deadline: August 31, 2024
Thanksgiving -- Deadline: September 30, 2024
Christmas/Hanukkah -- Deadline: October 31, 2024
New Year's -- Deadline: October 31, 2024
Valentine's Day 2025 -- Deadline: December 31, 2024
All submissions to these themes must be Adult LGBTQ+ romance, any heat level,
any subgenre, over 12,000 words in length. You can learn more about the details of
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the themes and how they are published here. They are not published as anthologies,
but as individual stories. They are also open to other stories that are Adult LGBTQ+
Romance and Erotic Romance, that don't fit these themes.
They have been around for a while and have mostly received positive feedback for a
small press on the Water Cooler, except for one post in 2019 that strongly implied
their authors had to help with work usually reserved for the publisher including
helping find keywords for Amazon and cover art image options. You can read the
details here.
On their website they do state that they assign all books an ISBN an editor and cover
art. But they also say "Before you submit, make sure your story is well-written, free
of errors, and checked for grammar. Submissions with extensive problems, including
those of plot and character, will not be accepted." Which makes it clear to me that the
editor is not doing much in-depth work, if any.
There are a number of minor typos on their site and some out of date information is
still there. One example is the 2023 schedule is mentioned even though the 2024
schedule is listed. Although that may be fixed before this review even goes out.
They have a note that says explicitly "Please realize the large majority of our
audience are women. This means we are looking for M/M romance and erotic
romance, and not merely gay fiction. If you don't understand those terms, research
the genres before submitting your story to us to make sure we are the right publisher
for you."
They do have a readers rewards programs and seem to generally understand their
audience over all. Their website is focused on readers over writers.
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They have a long list of what sells best for them and what they don't publish if you
scroll down on the submission guidelines. We can not cover all the formatting and
submission details here, so please read the full submission guidelines before
submitting and please only submit if you feel like your work is a good fit for the
publisher.
They do not pay advances but authors earn 50% royalties on all electronic and print
sales from their website and distributors. They do not specify if that is off gross or
net.
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Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK, and like
Harlequin in the US, it is now an imprint of HarperCollins. Mills & Boon was
founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher,
and it has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but it has always focused on
publishing romance novels.
The Mills & Boon imprint has a different focus and feel than the US division of
Harlequin, but they do use the same Submittable account. Like Harlequin as a whole,
part of their strategy is to publish many books per month. They have three separate
acquiring offices so it is important your work goes to the right place.
The Mills & Boon UK page includes writing tips, and a page breaking down the
submission process. Each of the six series they publish have separate guidelines. The
best way to get a feel for what they publish is to read a book or two from the line that
you feel like is the best fit for you personally.
When you submit, they ask for a covering letter that includes personal information
about your history as a reader and writer of romantic fiction, as well as a synopsis of
your manuscript.
Make sure that you follow their guidelines when submitting. To learn more, go here.
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Siren Bookstrand
Siren Bookstrand is a popular publisher of romance and erotica. They only publish
books that end happily ever after. They publish many books every year and most
authors seem happy with the work that the Siren Bookstrand editors do. They are
primarily an electronic publisher, but they also have print editions.
They are most known for publishing books about menages, and they have more than
one line devoted to menages. Authors who have published more than one book with
them say that the menage books sell the best. So that is something to keep in mind, if
you have a book that features one. They do also publish more mainstream, traditional
romance novels, but as a publisher that is not what they are known for.
All of their imprints are looking for very specific things in terms of content so read all
of the guidelines for the imprints very closely.
They also have very specific guidelines. Make sure to read all these guidelines closely
before submitting.
They only consider work that is longer than 20,000 words in length.
To learn more, visit their website here. You can read their submission guidelines here.
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Sourcebooks Casablanca
Sourcebooks is a major independent publisher in the US whom we have reviewed

here. Sourcebooks was founded in 1987, and in 1996 Sourcebooks Casablanca joined
the family. Three other imprints followed. They have major distribution and good
covers.
While their other fiction imprints open and close to unagented submissions, they are
almost always open to unagented Romance fiction for their Casablanca imprint. This
includes Own Voices, marginalized voices, inclusive and diverse romances. They are
looking for strong writers that are excited about marketing books and building
communities of readers, and whose stories have something fresh to offer within the
genre. They publish romances that fall within the following subgenres: paranormal
romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, erotic romance, and historical
romance (prior to 1900).
They try to respond to all submissions in 8 to 12 weeks. If they do not respond to you,
please assume rejection.
Completed manuscripts must be between 85,000 and 100,000 words. They expect you
to submit the completed manuscript as a word doc or docx. If your work has been
published before please include a sales history, and mention what you are hoping for
in terms of your long-term career.
Also include a query letter and the full synopsis.
To learn more, visit their website here.
You can view the full list of submission guidelines for all of their imprints here, so
you can see which imprints are currently open to unagented submissions.
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Here’s the link to the submission guidelines for the Casablanca imprint.
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The Totally Entwined Group
The Totally Entwined Group is an eBook and print publisher that was successful in its
own right, before being purchased by the Bonnier Publishing group. There have been
some shifts in focus since Bonnier purchased it in 2015 but the group still has a good
reputation and its focus is still on its two flagship established imprints - Pride and
Totally Bound.
Becoming part of the Bonnier publishing group has greatly increased their
distribution particularly in the UK where print editions on their books are widely
available.
Pride Publishing, as you might be able to deduce, is focused on publishing stories

where the lead characters identify as GLBTQI. They are interested in stories with a
word count between 10-100k. Serials and series will also be considered.
Totally Bound publishes erotic romance and sweet romance in a wide variety of sub-
genres, everything from morphing to Rubenesque. They also have an imprint called
Totally Five Star. Each story should be a totally standalone, contemporary story about
hotel staff, clientele or service providers.
Both imprints have a number of very specific calls for submissions, so make sure to
read the submission calls page thoroughly before proceeding.
They pay a royalty rate of 40% for eBooks, 30% for audio, and 10% for print, based
on their standard four year contract. Their contracts are for both electronic and print
rights, and worldwide territories. There is no mention of advances.
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All submissions to all imprints should be made via email. All imprints have different
guidelines, so read the guidelines carefully. You can read the full guidelines here. Do
note that according to various sources and other pages on the website the imprints
Their authors page which you can access here, contains helpful additional
information. At the time of this update they are only open to submissions from
authors they’ve previously worked with.
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Vinspire Publishing
Vinspire Publishing was founded in 2004. They were originally called Vintage
Romance Publishing, because they started only publishing historical romance. When
they expanded their line in 2010 to include a wide range of genres including books
for children, they renamed themselves. Although recently they seem to be re-focusing
on romance again, just not historical romance.
They only publish books that match up with their family friendly policy. They do
have decent distribution because I have seen their books in brick and mortar
bookstores in the past.
But their email list sign up doesn't seem like they have a lot of connections in terms
of subscribers. It lists the fact that they have 78.
Their covers are hit and miss, but genre appropriate.
They are not open to general submissions at this time, and are only considering
agented submissions for most options, but they do often have an open call for
submissions. This means that they are accepting submissions that match the open call
and nothing else.
At the time of writing this review their open call is for the following (But please
double check the website here, to ensure it is still the case).
"We are seeking unagented submissions for romances with mature heroes and
heroines. We are looking for characters over the age of 45, preferably older, as we
want to celebrate second chances at love (or even firsts in later years!). These are first
and foremost romances. Secondary genres such as suspense and inspirational will be
considered. All submissions must adhere to family friendly policy.
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To submit, make sure your word count is between 35,000 and 95,000 and submit a
detailed query to vrpsubmissions @ gmail.com (without spaces). Your query should
include your publishing credits, information on your platform, and two-three
paragraphs about the book as well as word count and genre. You are welcome to
submit the first three chapters of your manuscript as well. "
If your manuscript does not line up with their open calls for submissions in any way,
please do not submit. Manuscript publishers are more likely to close to unsolicited
submissions if writers submit manuscripts that don't fit their needs.
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Additional Publishers
The following lists mention some of the same publishers in this book, but many
contain publishers that have never received a full review from us, not because they
aren’t good publishers, but because they have limited focus in terms of niche, or
largely focus on poetry, or have geographic limits.
68 Manuscript Publishers with Geographic Restrictions
102 Poetry Manuscript Publishers
50 Specialized Manuscript Publishers
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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Because all the questions I’m answering here we’ve received many times, the
question shared is paraphrased. I’m not directly quoting any individuals here.
Question: Why do you only list some publishers and not others?
Answer: We receive a lot of emails every week asking us why we haven't reviewed a
certain press or requesting that we do review a certain press.
Sometimes it's easy to send out a one sentence answer, which is often this: "We have
never heard of this press before, but we'll look into them".
But often the answer is more complex than that, but it is usually for one of the
following reasons.
1. They don't align with our guiding principles
You can read our complete guiding principles here, but the main takeaway is this --
we don't review presses that aren't traditional publishers. Traditional presses are
publishers that pay their authors, not the other way around. We also won't cover
publishers that only charge reading fees, which is something that is becoming more
and more common. Some presses charge some authors but not other authors, we do
not consider these to be traditional presses either, unless they have a clear vanity
publishing imprint that they don't re-direct submissions to. We also only review
presses that are open to submissions regardless of the identity of the writer or their
geographic location. Although we do cover presses with geographic and other
limitations as part of larger focused lists.
2. They haven't been actively publishing books for a year
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This is technically part of our guiding principles but it bears repeating. Most brand-
new presses don't make it past the starting gate. I add all new presses I come across to
a list, and most never ever publish one book, never mind more. I do make exceptions
for imprints of established presses.
3. They've behaved in a way that raises major red flags
If I research a press and I discover they've promoted hate speech, or been accused of
not paying their authors, or any other kind of serious problematic practice, I don't
review them.
If a press I've reviewed in the past becomes guilty of any of these things, I update the
review at the top, to make it clear what has happened.
4. They've behaved in a way that raises minor red flags
I've also not reviewed presses because I've heard from authors that they weren't
allowed to promote their own book, and that the press didn't either, or there just was
something about the site that made it hard for me to promote it, like a website with
hard to read fonts. You can learn more about evaluating a publisher’s website here.
5. They've always been closed to submissions when I'm ready to review them
There are some presses that have really short and/or irregular submission windows
and I just keep missing them.
6. I simply haven't seen them yet.
I'm always happy to see a question about a press I haven't encountered yet, enter my
inbox at support@authorpsublish.com.
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Question: Why do you review presses that have done questionable or outright
unacceptable things in the past? And why do you detail those things in your review?
Answer: There’s more than one reason for this. Sometimes we don’t know about the
press’s behavior when we review it, or that bad behavior hadn’t happened when we
first reviewed the publisher, and we had to add those details after the fact. It’s not that
we don’t de-list presses (we do!), but we try not to. We’d rather have writers have a
full picture of what’s going on, then for the publisher to simply vanish.
Sometimes we will de-list a publisher from the guide but keep the review up on our
website because it warns people not to submit and gives details because. The only
way most people would encounter these negative reviews is if they have already
found the publisher and are considering submitting to them, and they are googling the
press to find out more. We hope our information will help them steer clear.
Often, the questionable or unacceptable behavior happens after we review the press,
and again our priority is for readers to be as informed as possible.
Also, just because I think certain behavior is questionable or unacceptable, readers

may, and often do disagree. For example, we’ve reviewed a publisher that promotes
misinformation about COVID, which we consider to be a serious issue, and many
subscribers have reached out to us that they feel differently and have submitted to
them for this reason.
The other factor is this: if I only reviewed publishers that had completely clean slates
and had never done anything that anyone found questionable, I’m not sure how many
publishers there would be in this guide, but it would probably be under a hundred.
Our reviews aren’t recommendations, I personally would not submit my own work to
some of the publishers we’ve reviewed, but the reasons that keep me from submitting
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to those presses (ugly covers, lack of distribution, etc), are detailed in the review, and
often involve personal preferences. I want readers to know as much as possible before
submitting, and their ideal publisher may look very different from my ideal publisher.
Question: Do you contact the publishers first before publishing the review?
Answer: When we were first starting out, I actually did reach out to the editors
during the review writing process. They were kind and engaging, and often told me
inaccurate and misleading information. Some of the nicest editors I interacted with
treated authors horribly.
I realized, pretty quickly, that I had to have a similar approach to restaurant critics or
book reviewers. I had to review without informing the editor first, and the
information I provided would reflect what was on their website, and elsewhere on the
internet, including watchdog sites.
This generally is more labor intensive and more accurate. If I get something wrong,
generally the editor reaches out and clarifies and shares information directly – with
proof! In all our years only one publisher has complained about our approach, on
Instagram, and then refused to answer our emails. Although, even they did not ask to
take the review down (we’d be happy to).
But most of the time everything works out, and no one is unhappy.
Question: Why do you make mistakes?
Answer: There are actually a lot of ways for me to answer to this question, but first
and foremost, I’m human, and all humans make mistakes.
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It takes me about two weeks to update the guide and then it takes Jacob another two
weeks to prepare it for publication. Publishers can (and do!) change their guidelines
during that period. Mistakes happen. If you see one please point it out to me in a
polite way and I will fix it. You can always email me at
support@authorspublish.com. User feedback is very helpful and an important
contributor to this guide.
As far as spelling and grammar mistakes go, I really try my best, and I’ve written
more about this here.
Question: Authors Publish provides a lot of quality free information. How can you
afford to do this?
Answer: We initially supported all the free work through ads. This worked well for
six years and then in 2018 our ad rates mysteriously halved. Thankfully we had
savings, and we continued to pay our authors while figuring out next steps.
In early 2019 we started offering courses in order to continue supporting our free
offerings. The courses have a cost attached to them, but they are well within the price
range of other courses offered by other organizations. We pay our teachers and
support the continued existence of Authors Publish through the courses, which have
received overwhelming praise and have had many repeat students.
It's a good thing we did that because in March 2020 our ad rates halved again and
have never recovered. We’ve now gotten rid of 95% of the ads on the site. We’ve also
been able to expand into offering a free lecture series featuring some amazing authors
and industry professionals.
Question: Why don’t you feature more publishers that are open to previously self
published manuscripts?
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Answer: There are very few publishers open to previously self-published manuscripts
and in my experience these presses often either close entirely or close to previously
self-published manuscripts within a year.
I wish this wasn’t the case, but I do not create the guidelines (although once a
publisher asked me to write his submission guidelines for him, I declined the offer).
Question: How long does it take you to update the guide every year?
Answer: I don’t really want to think about it but I think it takes me about 40 hours to
update the guide. I don’t do this all at once, because I have lots of other work on my
plate as well. It generally takes me two weeks
459
Glossary
There are many words and phrases associated with publishing. To a new author, or an
experienced author new to publishing, it can seem a little overwhelming at first. This
chapter focuses on defining the most common terms associated with publishing.
Advance
An advance is a signing bonus paid to the author before the book is published. It is
paid against future royalty earnings. So, for every dollar you receive in an advance,
you have to earn a dollar from book sales before you receive any additional royalty
payments. Most independent publishers do not offer advances.
Anthology
A published collection of poems or other pieces of writing, usually on a theme.
Beta Reader
An unpaid test reader of unreleased fiction.
"Big Five"
Previously known as "The Big Six, this term refers to Penguin Random House,
Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster, the five largest
publishers in North America. All of these publishers have multiple imprints. All of
these publishers and most of their imprints require agents.
Chapbook
460
A ten to twenty page collection of poetry, or less commonly fiction or creative non-
fiction, by one author.
First Publication Rights
This term is most commonly used in the context of literary journals and magazines.
Most publications will not publish work that has previously appeared in a different
literary journal, print or online. Because of this most publishers require First Rights.
These can also be called First North American Serial Rights or First Serial Rights. No
matter what they are called it usually means that you are giving that publication
exclusive rights to publish your work first. After they publish the work, the rights
revert to you, sometimes right away, sometimes after six months. Many publishers of
poetry and short story manuscripts want your work to have been previously published
in literary journals.
Genre
A category of artistic composition, characterized by similarities in form, style, or

subject matter. Genre can refer to poetry, prose or nonfiction in terms of form. Or it
can be a subject matter classification referring to science fiction, mysteries, or various
other established types of stories. If a literary journal or publisher says they are not
interested in genre work, they are using it as a subject matter classification.
Hybrid Publishers
Hybrid publishers are different than traditional presses, as they have two sources of
revenue. Like traditional presses they make money off the books they sell, but they
also charge fees to the authors. Hybrid publishers like to point out that they are
different from vanity presses because they curate the books they publish. This really
varies from press to press, in my experience, with occasional notable exceptions like
461
She Writes Press, they largely are un-curated. We do not review hybrid presses,
because they are not traditional publishers. We consider them to be vanity presses.
Imprints
An imprint of a publisher is a trade name under which a work is published, many

larger publishers use imprints as a way to market specific books. For example,
science fiction books are usually published by a different imprint than mystery books,
even if they are published by the same publisher.
Independent Publishers
A publisher that is not an imprint of the Big Five or a large media corporation.
Independent Publishers can be small startups, or large established presses like
Chronicle Books. Most do not require agents in order to submit.
Literary Agent
A literary agent is someone who represents writers and their written works to
publishers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Many publishers
require authors to submit their work through a literary agent.
Literary Journal
A magazine that publishes primarily poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction. Also
commonly referred to as journals or reviews.
Manuscript
An unpublished book length work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry.
Reader
462
Used mostly in the context of larger journals and contests generally have volunteer
readers, individuals who read a large chunk of the work submitted and who decide
what part of that work they are going to pass on to the editors. Some publishers do
this as well. You can learn more about being a volunteer reader here.
Reprints
Work that has been previously published elsewhere. This includes self-published
work. Some publishers are particularly interested in publishing reprints as long as all
the rights belong to the author. The majority of publishers only consider reprints of
work that have been previously traditionally published.
Royalties
Royalties at their most basic refer to the amount of money an author earns off each
copy of their book that is sold.
SASE (Self Addressed and Stamped Envelope)
If you submit to a publisher, a contest, or a literary journal via the mail, most
publishers require that you include a SASE (Self Addressed and Stamped Envelope)
so that they can respond to your work with a rejection or acceptance letter.
Self Publishing
When you publish your own work either directly on a platform like the Kindle or
when you use a vanity press.
Solicited Submissions
Submissions from authors that a publisher directly requests. Most literary journals
publish a mix of solicited and unsolicited submissions. Editors can solicit the work of
463
friends or of famous or emerging writers. Most times when your work is solicited, it
is published.
Submission Manager
An online program that handles submissions electronically. The most common one is
Submittable. Both literary journals and manuscript publishers use submission
managers.
Traditional Publisher
A publisher who never charges you any fees, and who pays the author for their rights.
Unsolicited Submissions
The bulk of submissions to most journals are unsolicited. They are the submissions
sent through submission managers, post, or emails to literary journals. If a manuscript
publisher says they do not accept unsolicited submissions, you cannot submit to them
unless someone at the publisher has explicitly asked to see your work, or you have an
agent who can submit your work for you.
Vanity Publisher/ Press
Also sometimes called assisted publishing, self publishing, and hybrid publishing.
Any publisher that charges you to publish your work is a vanity publisher.
464
About Emily Harstone
Emily Harstone is the pen name of a writer and submission advisor. Her work has
been published internationally in a large number of journals and anthologies. You can
follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/emilyharstone/
465

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We do review a number of traditional publishers with a vanity or hybrid imprint, but

All of the publishers we review must be open to submissions without an agent at

If you do find a publisher for your manuscript, please send me an email at

How to Submit Your Manuscript for Publication

I do usually hire a professional freelance editor to edit my manuscripts before I

In fact, for the most part submitting is relatively easy.

If you meet a publisher or an agent directly at a conference, most want a pitch. A

If you are looking at submitting a manuscript directly to a publisher, our index of

Most publishers accept electronic submissions through email or a submission

Affirm Books is a Melbourne, Australia based publisher of local and international

To read their full submission guidelines, go here.

Arcade Publishing is an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, a large independent

• Adventure and Travel

To learn more visit their website here.

Art/Books is an independent UK based publisher of books on art, architecture, design,

To learn more, go here.

Agate Publishing is a small press located in Evanston Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

You can learn a little more about submissions here.

Allworth Press is a non-fiction imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. They have major

They have good distribution, decent cover design, and marketing.

Allworth publishes books in the following categories:

Outside of the CV the proposal information is pretty standard for a nonfiction

Beacon Press is an established publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. However

To learn more or to submit, go here.

BearManor Media is an independent press that focuses on publishing nonfiction

BearManor Media continues to be a full-range publisher big enough to command

To learn more about their submission guidelines, go here.

Amberley is a UK based publisher that focuses on publishing historical books. They

They are also interested in specialist history (transport, industry, collectables,

To learn more or to submit, go here.

BenBella is a niche publishing company run by Glen Yeffeth. Yeffeth has a

As a marketing-focused house, they have a team of seven full-time marketers, and

they pay standard big-house royalties (10%) or better.

To learn more, visit their submission page here.

Between The Lines Publishing

They ask that all proposals include the following

You can learn more here.

Black & White Publishing

The nonfiction they are interested in, includes the following:

Big Sky Publishing

Big Sky Publishing is an Australian based publisher that focuses on publishing

They focus on publishing manuscripts focusing on the following areas: History,

Blue Star Press

Carrel Books is a non-fiction imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. They have major

Carrel Books focuses on being authoritative, well-written, and accessible.

The subjects they cover include the following:

• Sports (Team and Individual)