Search Press’s tagline is “the world’s finest art and craft books”. They specialize in “practical, reference and inspirational art and craft books for beginners through to professional artists and crafters”. Everything they publish is highly illustrated, They only focus on publishing nonfiction work that fits into these categories. You can get a feel for what they have recently published by going here. They are based in the UK. They are open to proposals.
As part of their emphasis on the visual aspect of the book, they share, “The images are a crucial part of any book, and particularly in art and craft books. We have our own photographic studio and access to several specialist art and craft photographers, and we also use freelance illustrators where drawings or diagrams are required. The costs of all these services are covered by us.” They also stress that “samples of your work must be of a sufficiently high standard for publication and meet the original brief in terms of both design and style. We normally ask authors to provide examples early in the writing process, to allow plenty of time for work to be revised if necessary.
They have a rare approach to publishing in that they offer two kinds of payments. Payment via royalties or via lump sum.
They share detailed guidelines about what they expect from a proposal here. Please read that page carefully before submitting. They are open to email submissions and post submissions.
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.
