For the first few years of Authors Publish, even though I only reviewed romance publishers that were over a year old, I had no lack of options in terms of romance publishers to review. They were the easiest genre to find publishers open to direct submissions, other than those focused on non-fiction.
Particularly in 2016 and 2017 the number of publishers seemed almost endless, then after a year of slower growth in 2018, the market quickly started to shrink. In 2018 this list contained 40 publishers, in 2019 it contained 33. It continued to dip, and for a few years I stopped putting together a list. By the time I created a new list in 2023 it had 44 publishers on it. It has continued to grow from there.
Part of this great swing in numbers was because of diminished eBook sales and part of this is the fact that there were too many romance publishers for the market to support.
Now there are even more romance publishers than were once on this list, and although some of the presses included in this list were open the whole time, we simply had not reviewed them yet.
On this list there are traditional print publishers, established romance stalwarts, up and coming eBook publishers, and everything in between. We do not review publishers who have been around for less than a year. So all of these publishers have at least a small track record. If the imprints are distinct enough we list them separately. Harlequin has a lot of imprints, although not all of them are listed here.
These publishers offer traditional book contracts, and a number of them offer advances. To learn more about the publisher, click on the link in their name; most of these link to our full review. The full review contains information about submission guidelines and links to their website.
Some of the publishers only publish romance, but many are also open to erotica. Some are only focused on YA but most publish adult romance primarily. The list is in no particular order, although I have tried to group publishers and their imprints together.
Most of the publishers contained in the list are currently open to submissions, but not all of them are. So make sure to check on the publisher’s site before submitting.
Not all of these publishers’ websites are something most people would feel comfortable opening at work, so please keep that in mind.
Harlequin
Harlequin is easily the most famous romance-only publisher out there. In fact, their name was synonymous with romance novels when I was growing up. They have wide distribution, from grocery stores to bookstores. They are everywhere. Most of the famous romance writers got their start at Harlequin. They were acquired by HarperCollins a number of years ago.
Harlequin Presents (M&B Modern)
Harlequin Presents (M&B Modern) has a word count limit of 50,000 words. They describe themselves by saying that what they are looking to publish is “bold, outrageous, addictive and escapist. We want to see the drama and intensity dialed right up to eleven! In Presents, you’ll often find stories featuring pregnancies, marriages of convenience, royals, forbidden romances, enemies becoming lovers, revenge schemes, workplace/office romances, and Mediterranean settings. How can you combine some of these themes in a thrilling and unique way? “
Carina Press
Carina Press is Harlequin’s digital-first adult fiction imprint, publishing first in digital, and then depending on the numbers, releasing audio and print versions as well. Unlike most of Harlequin‘s imprints they don’t just focus on romance, although they are open to all subgenres of romance, including contemporary, erotic, paranormal and urban fantasy, and science fiction.
Afterglow Books
Afterglow Books is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on more mainstream contemporary romance. Their tagline for Afterglow books is “From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way.” This is how the editors describe what the new imprint is seeking: “Depth, relatability and sizzling spice, too: these characters are determined to live their best lives — and find the romance that makes them feel seen, unapologetically. In the pages of Afterglow Books, characters from all walks of life, all types of diverse identities, will pursue their dreams and discover love isn’t far behind. Because everyone deserves a happily ever after that’s true to who they are.”
Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK, and like Harlequin in the US, it is now an imprint of HarperCollins. Mills & Boon was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher, and it has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but it has always focused on publishing romance novels.
Love Inspired
Love Inspired is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on the Christian romance market. They describe themselves as publishing “Contemporary inspirational romances that feature Christian characters facing the many challenges of life and love in today’s world.”
Love Inspired Suspense
Love Inspired Suspense is an imprint of Harlequin that focuses on publishing work where romance and suspense are both major elements. They describe the work they publish as “Edge-of-the-seat, contemporary romantic suspense tales of intrigue and romance featuring Christian characters facing challenges to their faith…and to their lives”.
Harlequin Intrigue
Harlequin Intrigue is an imprint of Harlequin Romance, which focuses on thrillers and procedurals. They want both a fully realized high intensity crime story, and a romance, both with complete plot arcs.
Harlequin Romantic Suspense
Harlequin Romantic Suspense books are romance-focused stories with a suspense element. Romance is at the core of the story. They particularly want “Relatable main characters falling in love under extraordinary circumstances. Harlequin Romantic Suspense concentrates on the developing love story more than the suspense. Each character should be a force to contend with—complex, strong and smart.”
Harlequin Medical Romance
Harlequin Medical Romance is looking to publish manuscripts of 50,000 words set in the medical world.
Harlequin Special Edition
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.
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 their is a romance component that ends happily ever after. They are open to M/M, F/F, M/F, LGBTQIA pairings.
Ylva Publishing
Ylva Publishing is the home of lesbian fiction and fiction about women-loving-women, and not surprisingly given the context, they only publish women. They mainly publish romance genre, but they are open to other genres, including historical fiction, crime, action, mystery, young adult, and erotica. They are currently closed to submissions.
Tiny Ghost Press
Tiny Ghost Press is a small press that focuses on publishing Young adult and New Adult fiction that centers LGBTQIA+ characters.
Hera
Hera is a female-led, independent digital publisher. They focus exclusively on publishing commercial books, including romance.
Decadent Publishing
Decadent Publishing is only interested in publishing romance fiction. They are open to fiction of any heat level (they define their heat levels as part of their submission guidelines) and most sub-genres of romance. Some of what they have published can be definitively classified as erotic romance.
Deep Desires
Deep Desires is a press that publishes romance and erotic romance. Deep Desires Press was founded 2016 by a group of authors and editors, including bestselling erotica author Cameron D. James, in addition to editors that have worked on bestselling erotica and erotic romance books. The founders also have substantial self-publishing experience.
Deep Hearts
Deep Hearts YA is a new publisher of fiction for young adults. They focus on publishing LBGTQ+ stories, in all genres and sub-genres, including aro and ace lead characters. They are primary a romance publisher, but romance does not have to be the main focus of the manuscript if self-empowerment or self-realization plays a central role.
Blind Eye Books
Blind Eye Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance novels featuring LGBTQ protagonists. They are a print publisher and their book covers are beautifully designed and really stand out. The books they have published have won and been nominated for a number of awards, including the Lambda.
Alcove Press
Alcove Press is a new imprint of the established publisher Crooked Lane (which is owned by Bookspan). Alcove Press is focused on publishing upmarket Book Club fiction that “explores family, friendship, and community”. They are actively trying to publish debut authors as well as established ones. A lot of what they publish falls under the Contemporary Romance umbrella or the mainstream romance umbrella.
Kensington Publishing
This large independent publisher is based out of New York. They publish a wide variety of mainstream fiction and nonfiction books, with a particular focus on romance. They publish an average of 600 books a year, so they accept a lot more submissions than most independent publishers.
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 author to promote their books. They publish a large number of books per year.
Shadow Mountain
In the Romance genre only consider Contemporary Romance and Young Adult Romance and they are open to submissions a few times every year.
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.
Mischief
Mischief is the YA imprint of the romance publisher Entangled Publishing, that focuses on younger YA readers. They focus on publishing general YA for readers 13 and up, with fantasy, sci-fi, horror, contemporary, thriller, with sweet romantic elements. Work they publish is between 80 and 100k in length. These books can contain romantic themes and even occasional strong language and action and conflict, but nothing is overly graphic.
Mayhem
Is the YA imprint of the romance publisher Entangled Publishing, that focuses on older readers. They focus on publishing YA for readers 16 and older fantasy, sci-fi, horror, contemporary, thriller, with romantic elements. Work is between 90 and 120k in length. These books generally feature stronger language, more intense violence, and mature romantic themes.
Bold Strokes
Bold Strokes Books publishes only LGBTQ books. They publish general and genre fiction, with an emphasis on romance. They have great print distribution.
Changeling Press
Changeling Press is an eBook publisher that also offers print on demand. They only publishe erotic fiction targeted at a female audience. However, within that genre they publish many subgenres including Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Dark and Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, BDSM, Action Adventure, and Guilty Pleasures (Adult Contemporary Kink).
Evernight
Evernight is an eBook publisher of romance and erotica novels that is currently open to submissions from writers. They also publish print versions of some books. They publish a lot of books and have a relatively high acceptance rate. The authors that have published with them have had a mixed experience. A number of the books they have published have been on the Amazon Bestseller list, but rumor suggests that those books tend to be written by the owners.
Bookouture
Bookouture is a digital publisher that was purchased in 2017 by Hachette (you can learn more here). 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.
Brother Mockingbird
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press committed to discovering writers from the American South, but they are also open to good fiction, regardless of where the author is based. They publish a wide range of genres including romance.
The Story Plant
The Story Plant focuses on publishing commercial fiction. They have published a number of USA bestsellers and they cover a whole range of genres, from romance to sci-fi, to mainstream fiction.
Camel Press
Camel Press is the genre imprint of Epicenter Press. Camel Press publishes genre work including romance, in the genres of contemporary, historical, and suspense.
Pelican Book Group
A print and eBook publisher of Christian romance novels.
Siren Bookstrand
Siren Bookstrand is a popular publisher of romance and erotica. They only publish books that end happily ever after. They publish many books every year and most authors seem happy with the work that the Siren Bookstrand editors do. They are primarily an electronic publisher, but they also have print editions.
Bella Books
Bella Books is a press focused on publishing stories about women-loving-women, and they are interested in acquiring manuscripts that involve these stories across all genres, including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc.
NineStar Press
NineStar Press is an LGBTQA+ ePublisher based out of New Mexico that was founded in 2015. They primarily publish romance and erotica but are also interested in literary works about characters that are generally under-represented in fiction, for example ace, aro, trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, bi, pan, etc. They are also interested in genre-bending and fusion genres.
TWB Press
TWB Press’s tagline is “Electronic Publishing for the 21st century.” They have an additional tag line on their main page that says “TWB Press publishes stories of human conflict and redemption through a variety of world views that reflect humanity at its best…and at its worst.” They publish the following genres: Science Fiction, Supernatural, Horror & Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Romance, Erotic Romance, and Mainstream fiction.
Tule Publishing
Tule Publishing started out as a romance e-publisher with multiple imprints. Many of their books have sold well on Amazon. Most books they have published have at least 25 positive reviews. They have published bestselling and award winning authors. They publish a wide variety of romance including western, paranormal, and holiday. They are closed to submissions at this time.
Entwined Publishing
The Totally Entwined Group is an eBook, audiobook, and print publisher that was successful in its own right before being purchased by the Bonnier Publishing group. There have been some shifts in focus since Bonnier purchased it in 2015 but the group still has a mostly good reputation. As of October 1st, 2024, they seem to have moved away from all three imprints, and their original name. They have now rebranded as Entwined Publishing. They also have eight imprints, all with brand new names. Please read the review of Entwined if you are interested in submitting to any of their imprint.
Page & Vine
Founded in 2022, Page & Vine describes themselves as a “boutique romance imprint” (although, honestly they do not appear to be an imprint, but their own independent company). They specialize in “bringing BookTok and social trending titles to bookshelves internationally.” They were founded by #1 NYT bestselling author Meredith Wild.
Inkspell Publishing
Inkspell Publishing started out as an eBook and print on demand Romance publisher in 2011. They now seem to focus on publishing eBooks primarily. Their eBooks have excellent covers, much better than most small and some big romance publishers. A number of their books have good reviews on Amazon, although most have not sold that many copies (although many more than most self-published books).
JMS Books
JMS Books is a small electronic press that focuses on publishing LGBTQ+ erotic romance, romance, and young adult romance. They publish mostly shorter work, but stories between 40,000 and 60,000 words in length are eligible (but not guaranteed) to be published in paperback if they sell 50 electronic copies within the first six months of release. Stories longer than 60,000 words will be released in eBook and print format via print on demand. They use Amazon as their printer and distributor.
Quills & Quartos Publishing
Quills & Quartos Publishing was founded in 2019. They started with a very specific vision, to focus on publishing the best Austenesque romance fiction. This is of course a niche market within a niche market, so if this is not the right fit for your work, please don’t submit or read further. However if you are a fan of Jane Austen’s work and write work that is inspired and influenced by her work, they might well be the right fit. You can get a good feel for what they have previously published here.
CKN Christian Publishing
CKN Christian Publishing is an imprint of Wolfpack Publishing. CKN is currently open to unsolicited manuscripts in Clean Fiction. They are open to the following clean genres but prefer series to stand-alone novels: Romance, Historical Fiction, Western (including romance and non-romance), Amish, Mystery (all sub-genres, including cozy), Post-apocalyptic, and Thriller.
Wild Heart Books
This small press focuses on publishing “historical romance novels set prior to 1950 and woven with the truth of God’s love”. You can see their staff page here. They were founded by an established Christian Historical Romance writer. They really focus on their niche, and seem to be successful within that context. A number of their books have over 70 ratings on Amazon. Their covers are well-designed and genre-appropriate.
Grendel Press
Grendel Press’s tagline is that they are “dedicated to publishing the finest works in dark fantasy, horror, and dark romance”. You can learn more about the press here. They are named after the antagonist in Beowulf. They say “By choosing this name, we pay homage to the complexity of Grendel’s character and the questions his existence raises. What defines a monster? Who gets to tell the story? And what happens when we step into the darkness to see the world from a different perspective?”
Affinity Rainbow
This small press focuses on publishing lesbian and women’s fiction, mostly within the context of the romance genre. They do not publish work outside of these genres. They publish in two formats: eBooks and print on demand.
Primera
Primera is a digital-first imprint of Oliver Heber Books. Oliver Herber Books was founded by the author Tanya Anne Crosby, and you can learn more about the publisher as a whole here. They are based in Michigan. In 2023 they started Primera, which is open to agented and direct submissions from authors. They are open to select historical romance,
dark, sexy contemporary romance, including Mafia, New adult and sports romance, Romantic fantasy, including dark/horror, spicy, and cozy and select romantic suspense
Queerteen Press
Queerteen Press is an imprint of JMS Books which we’ve reviewed here. Please read our full review of JMS Books, alongside this review, as there is some helpful context there.Queerteen Press accepts and publishes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender fiction which is focused on a younger readership. The books they publish feature main characters that are between the ages of 12 and 18. They go on to say “Just because a story contains young characters doesn’t automatically make it a YA story. If your story doesn’t speak to today’s teens, then it isn’t right for our readers.” They also stress that “While we understand sexual exploration is a part of growing up, we cannot accept any books with explicit sexual content for our Queerteen Press line.” You can get a feel for what they publish here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2026 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.
