All of the presses on this list meet all but one of our guiding principles. All of these presses only accept work from writers with a specific geographic region or nationality.
Because of that, we have never reviewed these presses, but they are still good presses.
This is our update of the initial list, which was a bit of an experiment, but a lot of writers were excited by it, and we got great responses.
This list is organized by country. It only covers a limited number of countries at this time. If this article does well, we will keep expanding the list and include more countries in the future.
Currently, this list only covers the US, Canada, Australia and NZ, the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and Singapore, but we are hoping for that to change.
Not all of the publishers on this list are currently open to unagented submissions, but most are.
I’ve done basic research about the publishers, but I haven’t done in-depth research as I do for a full review, so keep that in mind.
If you know of a press to add to this list, please send me an email at support@authorspubish.com.
United States
This multi-genre small press has managed to end up with a number of books on the New York Times Bestseller list. They are only open to submissions by US-based writers.
At the time of posting this they are closed to submissions, but if they publish within the genre that you write, I would bookmark for future reference. Allium Press of Chicago publishes literary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and middle grade/young adult fiction. All of the books they publish have a strong connection to Chicago. Although the author need not currently live there.
A respected press with great distribution. They publish books of literary fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, regional nonfiction, nature, and art. They only publish work for adults. They accept non-agented submissions in March/April and September/October. According to their website, “Hub City publishes writers living in or from the South. What’s the South? A complicated issue, to say the least, but the short answer for our purposes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. At the same time, we’re interested in boundaries, borders, and in-betweens, so if you want to make a case for a state not listed here, we’ll take a look.”
They publish poetry and prose focused on the American West, with special interest in things relating to Wyoming. They publish about four books a year.
Epicenter Press
Publishing regional nonfiction focused on Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Johnson Books
An imprint of Bower House Books that publishes regional nonfiction focused the mountain and desert West.
University of Georgia Press
They do not have strict geographic guidelines, but much of what they publish is about Georgia and the American South. Although they also publish on a number of other subjects.
Canada
Because of Covid19 they are currently closed to unsolicited submissions, but plan to reopen. A wonderful Canadian press focusing on publishing a wide range of literary works.
Caitlin Press is a British Columbia based literary press. They only publish authors from BC.
They publish literary fiction and memoirs by writers based in British Columbia.
Invisible Publishing publishes literary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by Canadians.
Coach House Books is one of the largest publishers in Canada. They are a wonderful press that only publishes Canadian authors.
Cormorant Books publishes literary fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, and translations of Québécois authors. They are only open to Canadian authors.
One of the largest Canadian presses. They have over 2,500 books currently in print. They publish a variety of fiction and nonfiction.
Ekstasis Editions
A Canadian publisher of poetry manuscripts, fiction, and children’s books. They have been around since 1982.
They are only open to fiction and poetry books submitted by Canadians; there are no citizenship restrictions on writers submitting nonfiction.
A Canadian press that started out as as an imprint but is now independent. They publish literary fiction, literary nonfiction, memoir and graphic literature. They have good distribution.
A literary house that publishes a wide variety of work including children’s books. They accept work only from Canadian citizens or landed immigrants to Canada.
NeWest publishes outstanding literary works by established and emerging Canadian authors at the rate of 10-12 books a year. They have good distribution. They are temporarily closed to new submissions and plan to reopen in summer 2021.
Mansfield Press
This Toronto based small press publishes poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction.
They publish work of significant literary or cultural importance by Canadian authors.
At the very start of their guidelines they state: “We are a Canadian press dedicated to publishing clear, passionate Canadian voices. As such, we publish very few non-Canadians. However, we encourage Canadian authors of diverse backgrounds and communities to submit.” Their books are well edited and beautifully printed.
Australia and New Zealand
Brio Books publishes trade fiction and nonfiction by Australian and NZ authors under four imprints that range from literary to romance. They are currently closed to all submissions but plan to re-open within the year. You can bookmark their submitable page here to check when they reopen.
Hachette is only open to direct submissions from residents of Australia or NZ.
A big five publisher. They are only open to submissions from Australians.
They are open to a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres including memoirs. They only accept submissions from Australians or New Zealanders. They also have a hybrid/vanity imprint and if they try and redirect you there, please do not be re-directed, and please notify us at support@authorspublish.com.
This established and award winning Australian press has imprints that focus on nonfiction and fiction.
Victoria University Press is New Zealand’s leading publisher of new fiction and poetry, and a scholarly publisher specializing in NZ history, biography and essays. Submissions are restricted to people who live in or are strongly connected with Aotearoa/ New Zealand.
They are a publisher of mainstream fiction and narrative nonfiction for adults. On their website they state “We want to publish Australian authors, but we want the books also to have global appeal, as we work closely with our UK sister imprints.”
Ginninderra Press
A small press that focuses on publishing quality nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
UK, Ireland
They are an imprint of Penguin Random House Ireland, that consider manuscripts and proposals, in all genres. They are open to submissions from the UK and Ireland.
Claret Press
This Literary press is only open to submissions from the UK.
Currach Books
An independent publisher of Irish interest books.
A publisher of specialized non-fiction and Children’s books. They are open to unagented submissions from Scottish authors only right now.
Singapore
Epigram Books
They are an independent publisher established in 2011, with imprints in Singapore and London. They say “We are keen to read and publish new writing by Singaporean authors and authors writing about Singapore.” So they don’t have strict geographic guidelines but a specific geographic focus.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2020 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.
