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 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. Their many romance imprints (and one mystery imprint, Carina Press) are almost always open to submissions as well, including Afterglow Books, Mills & Boon, Love Inspired & Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Historical, Harlequin Heartwarming, Harlequin Medical Romance, and Harlequin Intrigue.
Chronicle Books
Chronicle is a large independent San Francisco-based publisher that publishes highly acclaimed children’s books, bestselling cookbooks, gift books, and a variety of nonfiction. Most have a strong visual element. Their books are beautifully made. They are not currently open to Children’s books but are open to adult trade submissions.
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. They recently expanded into the adult horror market. 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.
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.
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.
Turner Publishing Company
Turner publishes books in a wide range of categories and formats—fiction and nonfiction. They publish mainly in print but have electronic options as well. They are a major independent publishing house that has a number of imprints. They publish everything from mystery to self-help books.
Kensington Press
Kensington is a large independent publisher that is open to direct submissions. Kensington publishes mainstream novels, and nonfiction including memoir, and seems to put a fair amount of pressure on the authors to promote their books. They publish a large number of books per year.
Tuttle Publishing
The Tuttle Publishing company was originally founded in 1832 in Vermont. This makes it one of the oldest American publishers still in operation. In 1948, the company established a publishing outpost in Japan, and since then they have become much more focused on producing English-language books about the arts, languages and cultures of Asia. In fact currently Tuttle Publishing is only open to unsolicited submissions of work on “Asia-related topics”. This includes Asian languages, cuisines, martial arts, arts and crafts, Eastern philosophies, etc. Do not submit any work outside of those topics to them. They are not interested in any fiction submissions.
Entangled Publishing
They’ve run into a number of issues over the years, which are covered by our review, but they are still one of the largest and most responsive independent romance publishers. They have published a lot of bestselling books over the years.
Crooked Lane
Crooked Lane was founded in 2014 as a press specializing in crime books. They have an experienced staff and have managed to publish some well known authors already. They publish a range of mysteries that lean towards the cozy, and they are not opposed to publishing a series of books. You can see their catalog here. They have recently started publishing horror fiction, also and are open to submissions in that genre as well.
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.
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.
Inner Traditions and Bear & Company: Accepting Proposals
Founded in 1975 by Ehud C. Sperling, Inner Traditions has always focused on publishing work related to spirituality, the occult, as well as Eastern religion, philosophy, and practices. In 2000 they acquired Bear & Company, which focused more on Native American culture, alternative Christianity, New Age, and healing arts. You can learn more about the founding and growth of Inner Traditions here. They are currently distributed by Simon & Schuster.
Holiday House
Holiday House is an established and reputable children’s book publisher. Holiday House has been around since 1935. 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.
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.
Hera
Hera is a digital publisher and an imprint of Canelo Books. They are currently seeking submissions of manuscripts in the following genres: mystery and thriller fiction, romance (including romantasy) and women’s fiction, family sagas and horror fiction. They are not interested in nonfiction, young adult or children’s fiction, poetry, science fiction and fantasy or short stories. They are particularly interested in submissions from underrepresented authors.
Aethon Books
Aethon Books is a print, eBook, and audio book publisher that focuses on science fiction and fantasy. They are open to all sub-genres within these genres including hard sci-fi, epic fantasy, space opera, military SF, alt/history, and time travel. They recently started accepting thrillers.
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.
Entwined Publishing
Originally named the Totally Entwined Group, this Romance publisher rebranded as Entwined Publishing in 2024.
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).
Bookouture
Bookouture is a digital publisher that was purchased in 2017 by Hachette. Bookouture was extremely successful in their own right. They started out in the UK but they have outposts in a number of countries now. They focus on publishing commercial fiction. They primarily publish women’s fiction, romance, thrillers, and chick lit. They recently started a new imprint called Second Sky that focuses on publishing science fiction and fantasy books. You can learn more about Second Sky here.
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.
The Quarto Publishing Group
The Quarto Publishing Group is an international publishing house known for its illustrated books. They publish most of their work through a number of niche imprints each with their own focus. All of their US imprints are distributed by Hachette.
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.
Rockpool Publishing
Rockpool Publishing is an established press with international distribution, largely through Simon & Schuster. They are based in Australia and their primary imprint is focused on “Mind Body Spirit; Health and Wellness; Self-help and Gift titles”. They publish books as well as Tarot, Oracle, and Affirmation card sets.
No Starch Press
No Starch Press is a small press that focuses on publishing work on technology, particularly work with “a focus on open source, security, hacking, programming, alternative operating systems, LEGO®, science, and math.” Their motto is “the finest in geek entertainment.” They are distributed by Penguin Random House.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2025 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.
