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, and Australia, but we are hoping for that to change.
This list doesn’t include U.K. publishers because all of the U.K. publishers we have researched that accept unagented submissions do not have geographic restrictions.
Not all of the publishers on this list are currently open to unaganted submissions, but most are.
I’ve done basic research about the publishers, but I haven’t done in- depth research like 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.
Another New Calligraphy publishes limited-edition books and CDs by Chicago-based artists. Do not submit unless you are based in the Chicago area.
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.
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.
Caffeinated Press publishes works of literary merit by authors connected to West Michigan, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Canada
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 writers based in British Columbia.
Invisible Publishing publishes literary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by Canadians.
A new publisher of middle grade, young adult, and children’s books with a focus on diversity and global themes.
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.
A Saskatchewan based publisher of fiction and poetry. They accept work by Canadians and permanent residents of Canada.
One of the largest Canadian presses. They have over 2500 books currently in print. They publish a variety of fiction and non-fiction.
A Canadian press that started out as as an imprint but is now independent. They publish literary fiction, literary non-fiction, memoir and poetry. They have good distribution.
A literary house that publishes a wide variety of work including children’s books.
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 publish work of significant literary or cultural importance by Canadian authors.
Australia and New Zealand
Brio Books publishes trade fiction and nonfiction by Australian and NZ authors under five imprints that range from literary to romance.
Hachette is a big five publisher, and they are only open to direct submissions from residents of Australia or NZ.
They publish children’s books and are open to submissions from residents of Australia and NZ.
Another big five publisher. They are only open to submissions from Australians.
They are open to a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres including memoirs. They only accept submissions from Australians or New Zealanders.
A literary press that publishes fiction, poetry, and non-fiction manuscripts by Australians.
Victoria University Press
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.
Emily Harstone is the pen name of an author whose work has been published internationally by a number of respected journals. She is a professional submissions adviser and spends much of her time researching manuscript publishers. You can follow her on Facebook here.
