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.
Orison Books
They say they hope to “publish spiritually-engaged poetry, fiction, and nonfiction of exceptional literary merit.” They clarify that spiritual writing, in their opinion, isn’t based on the subject matter but in the “transcendent aesthetic effect on the reader, and reading it can itself be a spiritual experience.”
During the month of October they are open to general fiction and nonfiction submissions, as well as anthology proposals. They also run a number of contests in different genres, but a fee is attached to these contests, so we do not list them. There is no fee attached to the October submission period. They do accept optional donations, but donations do not impact their decisions or the outcome of a submission.
Rebel Satori
Rebel Satori Press is a LBGTQ+ press was founded in 2002. They have many imprints and two open calls for submissions from now through the 31st of October. One of their open calls is for submissions of book-length nonfiction about witchcraft and the occult, and is open to all authors although “LGBTQIA+ voices are particularly encouraged to submit”. The other call is only open to LGBTQ+ authors, for their new speculative fiction imprint, “queer space”.
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 feel for what they have published in the past, you can go here. They also are open to direct submissions of YA manuscripts and adult horror manuscripts. They are distributed through Macmillan in every country but Canada (where they have a different distributor).
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.
Shepheard-Walwyn
Shepheard-Walwyn is a UK-based nonfiction publisher. They were founded in 1971. The areas they most interested in are: Ethical Economics, Politics, Society and Social Change, Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Art History, Literary Criticism, Environmental issues, Self-Help, Personal Development, Autobiography, and Literary Memoirs. You can get a feel for what they have published in the past here.
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.
Querencia Press
Querencia Press is a small press that describes themselves by saying, “Querencia Press is an independent publisher from the Chicago-land area amplifying marginalized voices & creating a safe space for writers and artists to share their stories. We are especially interested in work that has been looked over in the past and challenges conventional genre placement.” They publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction and hybrid work. They publish a journal which we’ve reviewed here as well as an additional journal named Scavengers.
Lund Humphries
Lund Humphries’ tagline is “Publishers on Art, Architecture, and Design since 1939”. It is easy to get a feel for what they publish here. They are an established and respected independent publisher. Their books are beautiful and widely distributed. They publish books by Visual Arts scholars, professionals, students and art enthusiasts. It’s easy to see if they might be a good fit for your project or not, because they have clear perimeters in terms of what they do and do not publish.
Castle Books
Castle Books is a new imprint of the Quarto Publishing Group. Castle Books says, “our mission is to delve into the unknown—giving voice to the eerie, the unexplained, and the supernatural. From spooky-themed cooking and legendary tales to drawing mysterious creatures, our titles explore the fascinating realms of the paranormal and the strange. We invite readers to embrace the thrill of the mysterious and discover the stories that lurk just beyond the veil.”
Harlequin Special Edition
Harlequin Special Edition is an imprint of Harlequin Romance, which is an imprint of Harper Collins.
Harlequin Special Edition focuses on publishing books that feature contemporary characters and situations. They want to tell stories of “relatable men and women with friends, family and careers, as they experience the journey to true love.” They don’t want to show just the main characters, they want family, friends, and co-workers to play a role in the story too.
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.
