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 20 publishers, however, are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. All of these publishers meet our guiding principles. All of our reviews link to the publishers’ submission guidelines.

Please let us know if one of these publishers unexpectedly closes to submissions. (support@authorspublish.com)

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.

Page Street Publishing

Page Street Publishing is a publisher of full color, mostly hardcover, gift books, cookbooks, and craft books, as well as children’s and young adult books. Most of them have an important visual component. They are distributed through Macmillan in every country but Canada (where they have a different distributor). They publish around 60 titles a year. To learn more, 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 (which unfortunately does not allow unsolicited submissions). The original Workman imprint is open to unagented 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 also have an imprint for young readers. 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.

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 150 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.

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. To learn more, go 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.

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. 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. To learn more, go 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 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. Read our full review here.

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. 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. To learn more, go here.

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. To learn more, go here.

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Sourcebooks was founded in 1987, and in 1996 Sourcebooks Casablanca joined the family and from the start they have focused on publishing romance. They publish romances that fall within the following subgenres: paranormal romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, erotic romance, and historical romance (prior to 1900). To learn more, go here.

Thread

Thread is a new nonfiction imprint from Bookouture which is owned by Hachette. We never review presses that are less than two years old but we are open to reviewing new imprints of established presses and Thread very much falls into that category. Thread was launched in March 2020. To learn more, go here.

Duckworth Books

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. To learn more go here, but please note that this review discusses sexual assault.

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. To learn more, go here.

CamCat Publishing

CamCat Books is a small independent publisher that was founded in 2019. CamCat Books publishes novel-length genre fiction aimed at adults as well as young adults. To learn more, go here.

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 Levine 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. To learn more, go here.

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Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.