There are a lot of publishers out there and it can be overwhelming to try and find the right ones. We have offered tips in the past on how to avoid the wrong ones. However we try to help authors by reviewing one publisher a week. Mostly the reviews are positive as we try to avoid giving additional publicity to publishers who only have their own best interest at heart, however half of our reviews are mixed, and one has been entirely negative.
Below are the top publishers that we have reviewed in 2014. All of these publishers are open to pitch or manuscript submissions from authors without an agent or previous publishing experience. The list is in no particular order. To read the full review of the company and to see their contact information, click on their name. Not all are open to manuscripts or pitches at this time, but many are.
There are some reviews of great publishers forthcoming in the next few weeks, so subscribers should keep their eyes peeled.
Hotkey Books is a great publisher of children and young adult books. They have a well known editor, a large staff, a great website, and a number established authors working for them.
Dzanc is a respected publisher of literary books and the publishing house behind the respected literary journal the Collagist.
A respected publisher since the 1970s, they publish literary works and have made inroads into several niche markets.
A great independent publisher of cookbooks, non-fiction, gift books, and children’s books, this San Fransisco company has excellent distribution and many bestsellers and award winning books under their belt.
They publish around 100 works of non-fiction and literary fiction every year now. They work with distributors and authors worldwide.
Not a traditional publisher, they are more a combination of agent and publisher. They work mainly with female authors publishing chick lit and young adult novels. They aggressively work towards movie and tv deals and have already had a number of success stories including Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl.
The science fiction and fantasy imprint of Penguin is open to query letters. They have published some of the most beloved and famous science fiction and fantasy novels.
A great publisher that focuses on producing books that have a social conscience. They have published some big names and some bestsellers.
As a reader of mystery books, I already owned a number of Felony & Mayhem’s books prior to my review of them. They publish great niche mystery stories and they have good distribution.
