Updated March 13th, 2024
Prometheus Books is a large established publisher of what they like to call “intelligent non-fiction.” They specialize in publishing non-fiction books that fall into the following categories: popular science, philosophy, atheism, humanism, and critical thinking. They used to run two imprints but recently sold them to Start Media.
For a while their website was down and they were closed to unsolicited submissions. But they continued to publish books during that period. They have a good reputation and are distributed world wide by Penguin Random House.
Prometheus books was started in 1969 by the philosopher Paul Kurtz, who was also the founder of the Council for Secular Humanism. Since 1969 they have published over 2,500 books
The authors they have published include Isaac Asimov, Tom Toles, S. T. Joshi, Philip J. Klass, and Julian Huxley.
If you are interested in submitting, they request that you submit a letter of inquiry first. The letter introduces your topic and briefly outlines your project. This letter should also discuss relevant competing works, the potential market, the availability of the complete manuscript (or its likely completion date), and the manuscript’s (proposed) length. You should also submit a copy of your CV or resume that includes publishing history.
They allow emailed queries and mailed queries, but prefer emailed.
You can read their complete submission guidelines here. You can get a better idea for what they publish by browsing their catalog here. Their website is currently being updated so not all of the relevant information is currently there. So, if the links do not work, that is why.
