Some publishers open and close their doors to submissions on a routine basis. It can be hard to determine if they are open or shut to submissions, and when you should submit. The following 16 publishers, however, are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. They are all respected publishers with good reputations, and are listed here in no particular order. All of our reviews link to the publishers’ submission guidelines.
Harlequin
Many famous romance writers, got their start at Harlequin. They were acquired by Harper Collins a number of years ago. Their submission process is very user friendly. To read our full review, go here.
Workman Publishing
Workman Publishing is a large independent publishing company that now includes a number of separate imprints. The imprints include large established companies like Algonquin Books. The original Workman imprint is open to un-agented submissions. They focus on publishing exclusively nonfiction books for children and adults, as well as calendars. They do not accept unsolicited picture book submissions. To learn more, go here.
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
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, as well as popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural criticism, and as literature. They are primarily a print publisher with excellent distribution. My local independent bookstore regularly carries a number of their titles. To learn more, go here.
Gibbs Smith
Gibbs Smith is an established publisher with good distribution and a focus on cookbooks, 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. To learn more, go here.
Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press specializes in the publication and re-publication of avant-garde works of poetry, fiction and translation. They are not interested in traditional prose or poetry, their focus is on publishing literary fiction of a modernist or post modernist bent. Read our full review here.
Text Publishing
Text Publishing in an Australian press that has published a wide variety of best sellers. They have won the small publisher of the year award three times. You can get a feel for what they publish here. One of their biggest hits in recent years is the internationally bestselling novel The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion (the first in a series of Rosie novels). Read our full review here.
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 authors to promote their books. They publish a large number of books per year. To learn more, read our full review here.
Persea Books
This is a respected publisher of fiction, nonfiction and poetry manuscripts, and literary young adults novels. The work they publish receives good distribution, particularly in academic circles. To learn more, read our full review here.
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. To learn more, read our review here.
Peachtree Publishers
Peachtree Publishers is a well-respected independent publisher with good distribution. They are based out of Atlanta, Georgia, and specialize in publishing children’s books, young adult books, self-help titles for parents and educators, and guides to the American south. They also publish books on gardening and cookbooks, but usually only with a southern focus. To learn more, read our review here.
Baen Books
Baen is one of the best known publishers of science fiction and fantasy. They are an independent company with good distribution. To learn more, read the full review.
ABDO Books
ABDO Books is a publisher that focuses exclusively on educational books for children between ages 4-12. They sell a lot of books to schools and appear to be rather good at niche marketing. To learn more, read the full review.
Shadow Mountain
Shadow Mountain is an imprint of Deseret Books. Both publishers are Mormon, 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 Mormon run, 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 Mormon. Read our full review here.
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. Read our full review here.
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 non-fiction 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. Read our full review here.
Bio: Emily Harstone is the pen name of an author whose work has been published internationally by a number of respected journals. She is a professional submissions adviser. You can follow her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/emilyharstone/
