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.
Over the decades they have focused on publishing a diverse range of books in the areas of alternative medicine, ecology, and spirituality. They publish fiction, purely academic books, and general nonfiction. They are only currently open to unsolicited submissions of nonfiction accessible to most readers.
To get a good feeling for what they have previously published, visit their catalog. Because their catalog is a little overwhelming with over 1000 books in it, it might help to read through the categories listed on the right hand side bar. These categories include Celebrating Women, Martial Arts, and Society and Policy. There is also a category called “coming soon” which is very informative in terms of what they are publishing now.
It is pretty easy to figure out if they will be interested in your book based on what they have previously published. This is much easier to figure out when approaching a nonfiction publisher versus one that publishes fiction.
They try to respond to all submissions within 12 weeks of receiving them. Submissions can be made through the post or through email. They have clear proposal guidelines so make sure to follow them when submitting.
To learn more please visit their submission guidelines here.