This list focuses on ten publishers that we are excited about that are open to submissions this month. Some are only open for a short period of time, others will be open the whole month and beyond. At least four of these are presses we have not covered previously.

Please note that if a publisher doesn’t have a specific submission window they can close at any time, and publishers that use Submittable can close at any point because of submission caps (although these publishers generally reopen to submissions at the end of the month).

If a publisher has closed to submissions unexpectedly, please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com.

Please read the full review, which we link to in the publish name, and carefully consider fit before submitting work. I can not stress enough that you should only submit to presses that are a good fit for your work, and that you should carefully read and follow submissions guidelines before submitting that work. Over the past year we had several presses ask to be de-listed because they were deluged by submissions, even after moving to this format. Still more presses have had to temporarily close to submissions because of an influx of inappropriate submissions.

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 decent distribution in North America. Their books have won a wide variety of awards, all of them are listed here.

Sourcebooks Horror
Sourcebooks Horror imprint is now a few years old and they have published a lot of books under that imprint now, although it’s hard to know exactly how many because they still do not have a formal Horror section on the site. Their book covers for this imprint are really well done. They have published many of Darcy Coates books, and they all appear to have sold well. The search function has been improved and searching the site for horror, can now bring up a lot of options that are actually in that genre.

Quills & Quartos Publishing
Quills & Quartos Publishing was founded in 2019. They started with a very specific vision, to focus on publishing the best Austenesque romance fiction. This is of course a niche market, within a niche market, so if this is not the right fit for your work, please don’t submit or read further. However if you are a fan of Jane Austen’s work and write work that is inspired and influenced by her work, they might well be the right fit. You can get a good feel for what they have previously published here.

The University Press of Mississippi
The University Press of Mississippi was founded in 1970. They are currently the largest and only non-profit publisher in the state. They are supported by Mississippi’s eight state run universities. They publish work on a variety of subjects and are open to submissions in all non fiction categories. They are not interested in fiction or poetry submissions. You can see the subjects they currently focus on here. They are open to nonfiction submissions in all of these categories, but are not interested to work outside of that.

Deep Hearts
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 primary 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.

Verso
Verso is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world. They publish 100 books a year, and have editors based in Brooklyn, London, and Paris. They participate in all of the major book fairs. The majority what they publish is is nonfiction, and they are not open to unsolicited submissions of fiction of any kind.

Elk Lake Publishing Inc
This small press’s motto is “Publishing the Positive”. They were founded in 2016 by Deb Haggerty, who you can learn more about here. Elk Lake focuses on publishing positive Christian books.

Afterglow Books
Afterglow Books is a new imprint of Harlequin. 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.”

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 publish books in a variety of genres including memoirs, coming of age, literary and multi-genre novels, poetry and short story collections, and reference books. heir open reading period ends on January 31st, 2025.

Tin House
After taking a year off Tin House, a respected and established indie publisher, will have three short open reading periods this year for authors who have yet to publish a book. The first will be January 11-12 for Debut Novels.

In addition, if you are based in the United States, White Stag Publishing is looking for full-length manuscripts in any of the following categories: Poetry, Prose / Fiction, Non-Fiction, Hybrid Work, & Ritual Projects. The manuscript must involve one or more of the following elements: alchemy & the occult with intersections of science & magick, witchcraft & activism, mysticism & spirituality, & / or the supranatural. They close to submission on February 1st, 2025.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.