27 Book Publishing Companies For Authors Without Agents

Ten years ago, you never would have dreamed of getting your book traditionally published without an agent. But these days, the sky's the limit for authors.

The pros and cons of traditional vs. self-publishing have been hashed out a number of times.

So you know even though there are plenty of pros to self-publishing a book, there's something validating about writing a book that's so good a publishing company wants to claim and sell it as one of their own. Maybe you're one of the many writers who'd like to have a book published through the traditional route, or you're looking to branch out and try it alongside independent publishing.

You're not alone.

If you've ever considered seeking publishing companies to take a look at one of your books, you could find a literary agent, or there are plenty of legitimate publishing companies that accept proposals from authors without agents too!

Who knew?

In this article, you will learn:
  1. What the deal is with literary agents and why you might not need one
  2. 27 of the best book publishing companies I found that accept proposals directly from new authors–no agent needed
  3. How you can get noticed by publishers and editors
  4. How to spot “vanity presses” and make smart publishing decisions

Caveat: As you all know, I've never traditionally published.  So I want to be upfront and let you know that the below is purely research-based and does not imply that I have used the below publishers. You can search for publishers and agents on websites like QueryTracker.netWritersMarket.com, or PublishersArchive.com.

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Thinking of the Big 5…Maybe Not?!

When you think of traditional book publishers, the Big 5 might be your first thought:

  1. Hachette Book Group
  2. HarperCollins
  3. Macmillan Publishers
  4. Penguin Random House
  5. Simon and Schuster

It's important o understand these guys are incredibly selective and only consider work submitted through agents. If you find a great agent, they will act as a business manager and can handle contract negotiations for you.

However, finding the right agent involves extensive research to avoid scammers or amateurs. And remember, a publishing deal still isn't guaranteed even with an agent. Agents, like authors, face many rejections before landing a publisher.

Also, keep in mind, they take a 15% cut from your book sales. It's a tough journey, so brace yourself for hard work and dedication.

With that being said – publishing through any one of these major publishers and with an agent, isn't the only way to getting your book out on the shelves.

Publishing Companies To Consider (Even If You're a New Author)

Beyond the Big 5, Medium and Small publishing businesses are usually a lot easier to approach and get on their radar more quickly. Reputable ones have more recently have started to accept direct submissions, bypassing the need for an agent. Furthermore, they generally are specialized in certain genres or subjects and will require little to no fame or previous success.

Although small publishing houses don't have the same clout with retailers or the same resources for marketing and publicity, most still have talented editors, designers, and passionate professionals for publishing great books.

One of the book publishing companies on my list is even an imprint of Penguin Random House, and yes, they accept contacts from authors directly. Plus, here's an example of an author who got a contract with Baen Books as a new author and his novel has done very well on Amazon.

So, below is a list of 27 of the best book publishing companies that authors can contact directly.

Note: Be sure to check each of the publishing companies' websites and submission requirements carefully. You'll make a great first impression by applying only to those publishing houses that carry books like yours.

27 Book Publishing Companies That Accept Proposals Directly From Authors

1. DAW

  • Publish science fiction and fantasy
  • A respected and popular publishing company, and an imprint of Astra Publishing House.
  • Submission guidelines
  • They only accept snail mail submissions and full-length novels of at least 80,000 words. They do not accept short stories or novellas.
  • They require submissions to be exclusive to them, however, if they take longer than three months to review your manuscript, then you can submit elsewhere
  • New York, New York

2. Chronicle Books

  • Children's books and Adult trade (not adult fiction)
  • Their books are everywhere as they even have international retail stores
  • Submission guidelines
  • Different guidelines if you're submitting children's or adult trade, so follow carefully
  • Will only respond if interested in publishing
  • Browse their books here
  • San Francisco, California

3. Baen

  • Science fiction and fantasy only
  • One of the most respected publishers of Science Fiction and Fantasy books, they are one of the few established publishers that will accept full-length manuscripts from authors without an agent
  • Submission guidelines here
  • Strongly prefer electronic submission through their submission form
  • Take longer than typical to hear back (9-12 months)
  • Website
  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

4. Flashlight Press

  • Publish children's fiction picture books targeted to 4-8-year-olds
  • Their books are beautifully illustrated and they only publish 2-4 each year. Their company and individual books have won many awards. They distribute internationally.
  • Submission guidelines
  • Please follow the guidelines exactly
  • Books should be less than 1,000 words with a universal theme dealing with family or social situations and fit within their catalog of books
  • If interested, they will contact you within 3 months.
  • Brooklyn, New York

5. Skyhorse Publishing

  • One of the fastest-growing independent publishers in the U.S. with 15 imprints and a backlist of over 6,000 titles.
  • They publish pretty much everything, both fiction and nonfiction, adult, young adult, and children's books.
  • They've had 43 titles on the New York Times bestseller list in the 10 years they've been publishing.
  • Submission guidelines
  • You'll hear from them within 4-6 weeks if they are interested in seeing more of your manuscript.
  • You can browse their titles here
  • New York, New York

6. Free Spirit Publishing

  • Publish nonfiction books and learning materials for children, teens, parents, educators, counselors, and others who interact with young people
  • They produce 20-25 new titles per year and have a strong distribution through major trade and library distributors, in bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, on Amazon.com, and their widely distributed mail order catalog.
  • Submission guidelines
  • They are looking for nonfiction proposals in these categories: Teaching Strategies & Professional Development, Early Childhood, Gifted & Special Education, Bullying Prevention & Conflict Resolution, Character Education, Leadership & Service Learning, Educational Games, Posters, & Jars, and Counseling & Social-Emotional Learning (at the time of this writing)
  • They only accept proposals through mail.
  • Their response time is usually 2-6 months
  • Home page
  • Minneapolis, MN

7. Five Star

  • Open to Mystery and Western fiction submissions
  • Connected to large academic companies Gale and Cengage Learning
  • Without an agent or previous book published, will need to query a general editor (AssociateEditorTekno@shaw.ca) to get full submission guidelines. You should include your name, contact information, and genre. Submissions are accepted electronically only.
  • They will respond, but it may take some time
  • Their website was more difficult than most for authors seeking publishing companies, but they also have a Facebook page for more information
  • Website
  • Waterville, Maine

8. Kensington Publishing Corp.

  • Known as “America's Independent Publisher,” they have a bunch of imprints
  • Publish over 600 fiction and nonfiction titles each year, including a range of popular genres such as romance, women's fiction, African American, young adult and nonfiction, true-crime, western, and mystery titles
  • Published some New York Times bestselling authors
  • Submission guidelines
  • You should review their editors' interests and submit to the one you think is the best fit for your book
  • They will only respond if they are interested.
  • You can browse their book categories and titles here
  • New York, New York

9. Beacon Press

  • Publish serious nonfiction of deep fundamental issues, such as respect for diversity, religious pluralism, anti-racism, justice, equity, and compassion for all humans
  • At the time of this writing, they are not accepting self-help, new poetry, or fiction books
  • Submissions
  • They only accept electronic submissions.
  • They will contact you within 3 weeks if interested in seeing a full proposal after considering your query
  • Website
  • Boston, Massachusetts

10. Black Inc.

  • Publish a variety of fiction and nonfiction, but not poetry or children's books
  • Submission guidelines
  • Open to submissions from Australian writers only and via email only
  • If they are interested in your manuscript, they will contact you within 8 weeks.
  • Explore their website
  • Carlton, Victoria, Australia

11. Persea Books

  • Fiction and nonfiction.
  • They accept literary novels, creative nonfiction, memoirs, essays, biographies, books on contemporary issues, anthologies, and limited poetry and young adult titles.
  • They do not publish genre fiction, self-help, textbooks, or children's books
  • Submission guidelines
  • You should submit your submissions package through the mail
  • Browse their books here
  • New York, New York

12. BelleBooks/Bell Bridge

  • BelleBooks originated to publish Southern fiction before creating the substantial imprint Bell Bridge, which publishes a wide variety of genres
  • Publish everything from anthology to young adult, including children's books, fantasy, nonfiction, romance, mystery, and women's fiction.
  • Submission guidelines
  • This page includes to-the-point answers to questions like What do editors want? Why was your book rejected? And specific submission instructions, editor to contact, and word count by genre.
  • They do not accept simultaneous submissions unless you're agented.
  • Typical response is 3-6 months
  • Browse their books
  • Memphis, Tennessee

13. Seven Stories Press

  • Publish fiction and nonfiction, and the occasional book of poetry
  • Books are distributed by Random House
  • Submission guidelines
  • You should submit the requested materials through mail only.
  • Check out their titles. You'll notice their subjects include feminism, LGBTQ, environmentalism, human rights, and journalism.
  • New York, New York

14. Jollyfish Press

  • Publish a variety of commercial and literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, thrillers, young adult, humor, romance, and women's fiction.
  • A newer publisher started in 2012, was acquired by North Star Editions, Inc. in October 2016
  • Submission guidelines
  • Should submit through email only
  • Their About Us page tells what their editors are looking for, which can be helpful for authors seeking publication
  • Book titles
  • Provo, Utah

15. Oneworld Publishing

  • Nonfiction and literary fiction. Categories include self-help, biographies, religion, history, business, and more.
  • Approximately 100 books per year internationally.
  • Submission guidelines
  • They have a submission form for authors to download and complete
  • Make sure your book fits in with their previously published titles
  • London, United Kingdom

16. Black & White Publishing

  • Fiction and nonfiction, including women's fiction (chick lit, saga, and romance), crime and psychological thrillers, contemporary YA and new adult crossovers, children's fiction … and nonfiction: memoirs, sport (the UK and Ireland especially), humor, food and drink, and activity books
  • A leading independent Scottish publisher open to work by authors from UK, Ireland, and beyond
  • Submission guidelines
  • They prefer you use their online submission form, but they will accept mail
  • You should hear back within 3 months if they are interested
  • Book titles
  • United Kingdom

17. Angry Robot

  • A respected adult science fiction and fantasy publisher, who occasionally publishes horror too
  • British-based but has great distribution in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Part of Watkins Media Ltd
  • Submission guidelines
  • They have “open door” periods periodically (like every 18 months or so) when they accept manuscripts from authors without agents. Check their website to find out if it's currently an open door period
  • You can submit to them anytime if you have a literary agent or if you've been recommended to them by an author already on their list
  • Submissions are only accepted electronically
  • They prefer books targeted to adults rather than junior or young adults. You can browse their books here
  • United Kingdom

18. Evernight Publishing

  • They seek complete manuscripts between 10,000-100,000 words in sub-genres of romance and erotic romance.
  • Submission guidelines
  • Your submission should be exclusive to this publishing house
  • They will make a decision on your proposal within 12 weeks
  • Browse their website to see if yours fits
  • Canada

19. Felony & Mayhem

  • A print and digital literary mystery fiction book publisher
  • Submission guidelines
  • They only accept electronic submissions, preferably in Word docs
  • Word count must be at least 80,000 words. 85,000 is preferred.
  • They prefer mysteries with plots related to literature, philosophy, religion, academia, history, music, art, politics, food and wine, theatre, magic, anthropology, and settings outside the U.S.
  • Their book titles are here
  • New York, New York

20. Chicago Review Press

21. Albert Whitman & Company

  • Children's books from 0-15, from board books to young adult
  • Submission guidelines
  • Picture books, middle-grade fiction, and young adult fiction each have their own submission details to follow
  • You should hear from them within 6 months if they are interested
  • Browse their catalog
  • Park Ridge, Illinois

22. Charlesbridge

23. Peachtree

  • Specialize in children's books, from board books to picture books to young adult fiction and nonfiction. They also maintain a line of adult backlist titles covering consumer references in health, education, and parenting; regional guide books about Southern US; adult fiction, biography, and memoirs with a focus on Southern authors.
  • Submission guidelines – CURRENTLY CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS
  • Send through mail
  • Their review process typically takes 6-9 months
  • Check out their books
  • Atlanta, Georgia

24. Turner Publishing

  • Little bit of everything – children's, health & fitness, cookbooks, literary fiction, thriller/suspense, family & relationships/religion, juvenile fiction, history, humor, science, sports, romance, and nonfiction
  • Submissions
  • Their submissions don't provide a lot of guidelines except where to email your materials
  • They will contact if interested
  • Check out their books
  • Nashville, Tennessee

25. Koehler Books

  • Two publishing models: 1) Traditional model for experienced and agented authors with good sales. 2) Hybrid/co-publishing for new and emerging authors who need help and coaching.
  • A wide array of genres, including memoirs, military, Business, Fiction, self-help mystery, thriller young adult and women
  • Submission guidelines
  • They do not accept previously published books
  • Fill out their submissions form and expect to hear back within 1-2 weeks
  • View their home page
  • Virginia Beach, VA

26. Graywolf Press

  • They publish poetry, memoirs, essays, fiction, and nonfiction
  • Submission guidelines
  • Submissions are opened and closed at different times
  • Publishes only about 30 books annually
  • Browse their titles here
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota

27. Union Square & Co. (Formerly Sterling Publishing)

  • They publish a massive variety of adult, young adult, and children's books
  • They have over 60 years in business and over 5,000 titles in print
  • They have several imprints, including one for food, wine, and spirits; another for body, mind & spirit; another for crafting, decorating, and outdoor living; yet another for puzzles and games.
  • For children's books, they publish both fiction and nonfiction. They even have an imprint that publishes workbooks and flashcards for students in preschool through middle school.
  • Submission guidelines – NOTE: THIS PUBLISHER NOW REQUIRES AN AGENT FOR SUBMISSION
  • They accept submissions from authors through mail.
  • It sounds like they respond to all submissions via mail or phone within several months.
  • Browse their catalogs here
  • New York, New York

Here's How To Find More Publishing Companies

If at this point you still haven't found a publishing company that works for you, then we may need to manually dig a bit deeper and look at individual books similar to yours and see who they are using.

Using a program like Publisher Rocket's category analysis tool, you can easily find a list of traditional publishing companies for any genre by doing the following:

  • Finding your desired category/genre through the Category Search
  • Clicking on the “Insights” link
  • Hover over the “i” icon under the Large Publisher tile
  • Find a list of large publishers in that genre

As a lot of these publishing houses will be traditional publishers, you can reach out to them if you want a traditional publishing deal. Or you might find some hidden gems, like lesser known but successful small publishers.

Publisher Rocket large publisher data
Captured in Publisher Rocket.
Check Out Publisher Rocket Here

Beware of Vanity Pressess…

Now, this might be an unfair term for some who would technically be classified within this category. But I think it’s important to still call them this. Vanity presses are where you, as the author, pay them in order to put your book together and publish under certain stipulations.

I know, sounds pretty scammy right…and not going to lie, many vanity presses are. 

But there are some legitimate vanity presses out there and situations where it’s best for an author to do this. For example, say you're an author who needs to get a book out for professional reasons and doesn’t really have much time to be everything an author needs to be. So they hire a vanity press to do it for them and get what they need done quickly. 

If you do go with this route of choosing a vanity press, be wary of anything that might sound fishy – things like promises of getting rich or being a NYT Bestseller. As I mentioned before, there are still many in the publishing industry out there, more interested in gaining income for themselves. If you're unsure of the difference between legitimate publishing houses and these ‘vanity presses,' check out this helpful guide that will clear things up for you.

Get After It

If the entire publishing process and potential of having your very own book on bookstore shelves is exciting to you, then researching and contacting publishing houses may now be on your to-do list.

And as you've learned, you don't even have to have an agent. You'll probably get a rejection or five, but don't get discouraged. There are plenty of legitimate book publishing companies out there just waiting to find the next talented author.

So why not go after it?

One thing I do know is if you never try, you'll never know.

Side note: if you're interested, I also have an article to help you find the best self-publishing company here.

Cheers,

Dave-Signature

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5 thoughts on “27 Book Publishing Companies For Authors Without Agents

Comments
  1. Tom Speier

    I found your site terribly informative. As a rank amateur, many of my questions were answered. Permit me one dumb question – is it considered improper to submit a work to more than one publisher at a time? Told you i was an amateur.

    1. Dave Chesson

      Glad you’re liking it. As for your question, no, no it isn’t.

  2. mica

    What about Bookouture, they accept manuscripts without an agent. They do not pay advances but pay higher royalties

  3. Ron S. Nolan

    Excellent, informative article.
    Thanks for sharing.

    1. Dave Chesson

      Glad you liked it.

Comments are closed.